Sikh Religious Society, Palatine proud to announce the visit of Sikh Politician Sirdar Simranjit Singh Mann, President Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). He will speak and meet members of Sangat on Saturday, April 23, 2005 at Gurdwara Sahib, Palatine, at 6:30 P.M. Everyone is requested to come and meet him.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Swaranjeet Singh
SRS Media Coordinator
srsmediagroup@yahoo.com
XII
Sikh Education Symposium: A Bold First Step
The issue of education is greatly disturbing to many, especially in consideration of how quickly we’ve fallen in the last 100 years. In the census of 1900, Panjab ranked as the highest educated province in British India. However, in the census of 2001, the state of Panjab found itself listed as 17th in the country, out of 23 total states. Terrible indeed.
Although the decline is abysmal, this phenomenon only tells about the condition of general education in Panjab. Imagine the state of Sikh-devoted education, a field with no infrastructure whatsoever.
It is refreshing to see activists in the Diaspora play an important role in addressing this issue. One such group, the Sikh Research Institute, has undertaken a highly ambitious initiative to develop a standardized set of standards, curricula, and lesson plans for Gurmat and Panjabi Schools. According to Naindeep Singh, a coordinator for the ‘Gurmat and Panjabi School System’ project, a large percentage of youth education programs fail to impart Sikhi to the youth.
“Generally speaking, the problem today is that the youth are not being engaged and challenged in their Panjabi classes,” Naindeep said. “We need to reevaluate our teaching methods and systems so we can be more effective.”
As a means of evaluating teaching methods, the Sikh Research Institute held an ‘Education Symposium’ on the first weekend of April that sought advice, input, and counsel from people interested in improving youth education. Participants from around the country collaborated to review and edit an initial draft of standards prepared by the Institute.
Anahat Kaur, Vice-Chairperson for the World Sikh Council-America Region, traveled from California to attend the symposium and offered ideas from previous experience in Sikh education.
“I came in looking to set some standards and to consolidate resources” Anahat said. “In traditional Sikh fashion, we wanted to come together and come to a consensus consistent with our faith.”
According to attendee Manmohan Singh, members of the Detroit community have been active in developing a similar program over the past few years. Manmohan expressed his passion for the topic, and said that he registered for the event hoping to learn and contribute in the developmental process.
“I strongly felt that my goals were met, but I definitely think we need more of these symposiums if we want to move further along. It’s such an important thing that we just need more time to discuss all of these things.”
Reported by Simran Jeet Singh.
XI
Urge UNESCO to Drop Consideration of Siri Darbar Sahib
for World Heritage Status
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2005
Contact: Dr. Tarunjit Singh, Secretary General, 614-210-0591,
contact@worldsikhcouncil.org
The World Sikh Council - America Region (WSC-AR) has urged UNESCO and its
World Heritage Centre to immediately drop the consideration of Siri Darbar
Sahib, Amritsar for world heritage status.
In a letter addressed to Mr. Francesco Bandarin (Director of UNESCO World
Heritage Centre), dated March 25, 2005, WSC-AR communicated that pursuing
this project would entail serious protests by Sikhs around the globe as
interference in their religious affairs.
The WSC-AR has been in touch with UNESCO since January of 2005. Having
reviewed the response from UNESCO and the complete three volume nomination
dossier made available by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
(SGPC) at its website, it is the considered opinion of the World Sikh
Council - America Region that the request to nominate Siri Darbar Sahib as
a cultural symbol of Indian civilization by the State Party of India is
mischievous and wrong. The dossier submitted by the State Party in
collaboration with the SGPC is misleading, has serious flaws, and is
strongly objected to by Sikhs around the world.
Siri Darbar Sahib, located in the South Asian city of Amritsar, Punjab, is
the central Sikh place of worship for 25 million Sikhs worldwide. It was
established by the founders of the faith and holds deep historical and
spiritual significance for the entire Sikh community spread across the
globe. The Sikh Diaspora, including large Sikh communities in Europe, North
America, and the Far East, has not been consulted in this proposal and in
the preparation of the nomination dossier submitted to UNESCO.
The fundamental argument set forth in the nomination dossier that Siri
Darbar Sahib represents the cultural heritage and uniqueness of Indian
civilization is misleading and incorrect. Such claims undermine the
religious importance of this site and are offensive. The status of Siri
Darbar Sahib in the Sikh Religion is similar to that of the Kaaba in Islam
and the Vatican in Roman Catholicism. Kaaba is not a Saudi Arabian cultural
site but the center of Islam; the Vatican is not an Italian cultural entity
but the center of the Roman Catholic faith. Neither of these two places is
on the World Heritage List under Saudi Arabia or Italy. Siri Darbar Sahib
is the heartthrob of a living faith; it is not an archeological relic or a
symbol of Indian culture and it is not a cultural tourist site.
Emotionally and spiritually Siri Darbar Sahib has the greatest importance
to Sikhs worldwide. It is managed by the SGPC as a representative body of
Sikhs living in Punjab and Haryana states of India. The SGPC does not
represent Sikhs outside these two Indian states. It certainly does not
represent Sikhs living outside India. The nomination dossier claims on page
I-160 and II-27 that "The SGPC is acknowledged as the highest authority in
religious matters by Sikhs worldwide" and "It [SGPC] takes decisions on
religious matters which are considered final by all Sikhs." Both these
statements are false and we take the strongest exception to these claims.
The SGPC is merely a managing body operating under the laws of the states
of Punjab and Haryana in India. It has no jurisdiction in matters of faith.
Siri Akaal Takhat Sahib is that authority.
Since the overall responsibility for the protection of a world heritage
site lies with the state party, the placing of Siri Darbar Sahib on this
list would effectively cede control of the site to the Indian government.
This is an affront to Sikhs everywhere. The Indian Government interference
in Sikh religious affairs is already considerable because the SGPC has to
operate under laws made by the Punjab and Haryana state governments. The
experiences of the Sikh community worldwide over the last two decades have
shown that the Indian State is attempting to extend not only its control of
Sikh institutions and places of worship but to rewrite Sikh history and
undermine the Sikh faith. Sikhs cannot forget the bloody invasion of Siri
Darbar Sahib in 1984 followed by the attempted reconstruction of Siri Akaal
Takhat Sahib and the construction of Galiyara (corridor) around the complex
to ensure ease of armed intervention in the future.
The importance of the highest authority in the Sikh faith, Siri Akaal
Takhat Sahib, has been significantly understated in the dossier. Decisions
by Siri Akaal Takhat Sahib taken through a Sikh community consultation
process (Gurmatta) are respected and followed by all Sikhs worldwide. The
SGPC has recently been highly politicized. Acting in collusion with and
under directives from the political establishment in India, this committee
has undermined the status of Siri Akaal Takhat Sahib and attempted to make
it subservient. The international Sikh community has been opposed to these
moves and seeks to restore the position of Siri Akaal Takhat Sahib as the
supreme authority not subject to the SGPC or the local politicians
controlling that committee.
In addition, the nomination dossier contains numerous historical
inaccuracies, factual mistakes, and misinformation about the Sikh faith and
its history.
We call upon Sikh organizations across the world to write to Mr. Francesco
Bandarin, Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, expressing concerns
over the proposed project and requesting that the consideration of this
proposal be dropped.
The WSC-AR is a representative and elected body of Sikh Gurdwaras and
institutions in the United States. Its members include 36 Gurdwaras (Sikh
places of worship) and other Sikh institutions across the nation.
X
Kosovo Prime- Minister's Cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal
The Institute Welcomes Kosovo Prime- Minister's Cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal
Washington,DC. - The Institute on Religion and Public Policy welcomes the
willingness of Ramush Haradinaj to cooperate with the International Criminal
Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. Mr. Haradinaj, the Prime Minister of
Kosovo has resigned today upon receipt of the official indictment from the
International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia that has been investigating his
role in the 1998 -99 Kosovo conflict.
Mr. Haradinaj is a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
that led war with Serbian security forces. He led Albanian militants into
Western region of Kosovo where 40 civilians were killed according to UN
crime investigators. He currently heads Kosovo third largest party, Alliance
for Future of Kosovo, a political formation of KLA that in October 2004 took
seats in Kosovo parliament. These elections were largely boycotted by the
Serbian population of Kosovo.
“Acknowledging the complex history of interethnic relations in the region,
we believe that the proper investigation and justice should be rendered on
those who have inflicted suffering on their neighbors in Kosovo, regardless
of ethnic or religious affiliation,” commented Joseph K. Grieboski, the
President of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. “Honoring the of
the International Tribunal indictment demonstrated by Mr. Haradinaj’s
resignation is a step in the right direction that will allow to deal with
the legacies of Kosovo atrocities by proper judicial means as becomes
civilized society.”
IX
Harvind Kaur: A Community Based Filmmaker
Emmy Nominated producer Harvind Kaur announces the launch of her latest project. She is currently working on a series of programs designed to highlight the achievements of Panjabi’s across the globe.
The first installment of the series titled Sikh Portraits: Glorious Past, Brilliant Future will focus on the life and achievements of US Congressman Dalip Singh Saund. She is currently seeking sponsors for this biography. It is a dynamic and necessary project. She intends to debut the first show in the series in Oct.-Nov. 2005.
Kaur is a professional documentary producer and works on various other long form programming. She is working on several mainstream projects but continues to apply her talents for the benefit of her own community. Her works have aired on PBS and her community related work was showcased at the Spinning Wheel Film Festival in Toronto.
This is her second on-going community related project. Her first project which is still in production deals with the unheard voices of India s minority communities. The project titled, India: Democratic Miracle or Mirage? has a corresponding website www.democraticindia.org. This visionary and provocative program was premiered and launched at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago in 2003. The trailer can be viewed on-line. The project has remained on hold due to lack of funding. However, she is committed to completing the documentary which probes an ongoing issue of global importance.
Harvind Kaur is open to project ideas and can discuss these projects with you further. She also seeks your financial sponsorship. In order to make these projects available for widespread use your support is needed. Ms. Kaur can be contacted at Harvindkaursingh@gmail.com.
VIII
Seminar on Ethnic Violence and Conflict Resolution, February 18, 2005
The Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, Institute for Conflict and Peace Studies and Voices For Freedom would like to invite you to the seminar on Ethnic Violence and Conflict Resolution. This is designed to promote a discussion of a range of key issues confronting multicultural and multi-ethnic societies. There will be three sections to it. Through a mixture of case studies and historical and thematic treatments, the seminar shall progress from a discussion of the history and dynamics of ethnic conflicts to a consideration of creative approaches and mechanisms for conflict resolution, including third-party intervention by official and non-official sources. The agenda should move to an analysis of the role played by public policies in mitigating ethnic tensions and promoting accommodation and pluralism. The media has come to play an increasingly powerful and visible role in political, social and economic affairs. The role of media will be discussed in ethnic conflicts zones and areas.
Speakers: Dr. Robert Keith Collins, Assistant Professor, Department of Native American Studies, UC Berkeley, Prabhsharandeep (teaching at UC Berkeley), Attorney Harvinder Singh Phoolka, noted Human Rights/Social Activist and advisor to Voices For Freedom, Voices For Freedom West Coast Representative -TBA
Location: Berkeley University, San Francisco
Room: 101 Moffitt Hall, University of California, Berkeley
For more information, please call: 1-510-552-4964 or 646-219-2863
email: events_at_ucb@yahoo.com
Date: Feb 18th 2005 : 6:00pm 8:30pm
1) 6:00pm - 6:30pm: The Nature of Ethnicity and the reasons for the upsurges in Ethnic Conflicts
Discuss a wide spectrum of policies ranging from constitutional guarantees of human rights to arrangements for devolution and sharing of power; from state investment, expenditure and resource allocation to affirmative action policies; and from assimilation to cultural pluralism especially with regard to language, religion and education. You can use examples to discuss themes in connection with any two groups of people in particular: ethnic minorities in South East Asia.
2) 6:35pm - 7:00pm: Potential and limitations of third-party intervention in ethnic conflicts
To indicate some of the warning signs of impending conflict and windows of opportunity for intervention - the time during which preparations for violence are being undertaken. Once conflict has broken out, the process of conflict resolution is accelerated when the external actors are either neutral to the conflict or united in their approach to it.
3) 7:05pm - 7:20pm: Policy approaches that facilitate ethnic accommodation in diverse societies
Constitutional engineering is one of the most obvious responses to ethnic diversity. Cultural and Economic policies should take into account effects on different ethnic groups. Conditions that encourage all groups to feel a shared interest in the society as a whole - to support, in other words, the creation of a sense of civic identity. This is an identity that cannot be forced on people, but that they must adopt themselves. People are most likely to do so when they feel that their society respects and meets their common needs, including their need for a sense of ethnic identity.
4) 7:30pm - 8:30pm: Dinner will be served
Sponsored by: Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley, Institute for Conflict and Peace Studies and Voices For Freedom.
VII
Education Symposium, April 2-3, 2005
The Sikh Research Institute invites you to participate in an Education
Symposium to develop standards and curriculum for a Gurmat and Panjabi
School System on April 2-3, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Institute is seeking input, development, and task assignments and
especially request people with a background in education to help be a part of this solution-oriented project.
The most pressing issue before the Sikh Sangat in the Diaspora is the
education of their children. Growing up in a foreign environment, we have seen our youth suffer from identity crisis and lack of belonging. In some situations, it has become so dire that we have seen the children turn towards drugs, alcohol, and depression. Understanding the glorious heritage, taking pride in our identity, and forming a sense of community are necessary preventative measures in not only raising the social standards of our youth, but in the preservation and transmission of the Gurus' message.
The Sikh Research Institute has taken the initiative in addressing this
problem through the development of a professional Gurmat Studies and Panjabi Language program. Using the latest developments in curriculum design, integrated subject studies, instructional approaches, and qualitative evaluations, the Institute seeks to create a standardized and, proven program that can be implemented in the existing Gurduara-based Gurmat and Panjabi schools.
The preliminary process of collecting existing materials and studying
current educational models is already underway. The next phase in this
critical and exciting process is its actual development. It is here we need your help. We are especially looking for people with the following
backgrounds and experiences:
* Veteran Panjabi School Teachers
* Educational and Child Development Psychologists
* Curriculum Specialists
* Professional Public School Teachers
* School Administrators
The Sikh Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seeking to develop a principle-driven community by protecting the core and enlarging the resource pool. The Institute's mission is “to facilitate training and development by inspiring Sikh values, create global awareness of Sikhi, and provide solutions to the key challenges faced by the Sikh community.”
-- Rupinder Kaur
Program Developer
Sikh Research Institute
A Faith-Based Community Development Initiative
PO Box 690504, San Antonio, TX 78269-0504
P 210.582.3371 | F 210.582.3002
rupinder.kaur@sikhri.org
VI
Right to Health! Access To Medications
Stop HIV/AIDS
Right to Health! Access To Medications
26 February, Global Day of Action against Indian Patent Ordinance
Global Day of Action
To urge India to maintain support for affordable AIDS medication
Changes to India’s Patent Act threaten global access to generic medication!
Join us in a peaceful rally at
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC (near Dupont Circle metro) on
Saturday, February 26, 2005 – 3.30 pm
Organized by Global Campaign Against the Indian Patent Amendment (GCAIPA), Including:
. National Working Group on Patent Laws, New Delhi
. Affordable Medicines and Treatment Campaign (AMTC), Mumbai
. People's Health Movement Secretariat (Global), Bangalore
. Association For India’s Development Washington, DC, USA
Contact: Vineeta Gupta Email: guptahr@yahoo.com Ph. 202-296-0838 Ext.207
Contact: David Bryden Email:dbryden@globalaidsalliance.org Ph. 202-296-0838 Ext.211
Contact: Asia Russell Email: asia@critpath.org Ph. 267-475-2645
More info: www.gcaipa.org
Background
India is under pressure to comply with the TRIPS agreement on Intellectual Property Rights, as dictated by World Trade Organization (WTO). This peoples’ mobilization effort is aimed at building solidarity around pressurizing the Indian Government to reassess the Bill to take into account all the flexibilities offered by TRIPS. The bill in its current form is even more stringent than what the TRIPS regulations demand.
If India’s patent laws are changed to favor international market demands, majority of Indians who can barely afford medicines and health care even in the current scenario and as many as 200 developing countries, would be severely affected by this. Costs of medicines will be dictated by a few multi-national companies in US and Europe, and borne by those suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, malaria and other life threatening diseases.
Many Indian organizations and international groups are making intensive efforts to prevent these amendments from coming into effect. We believe that a collective struggle can bring a significant impact on the Patents Act. A major global mobilization for “right to health” is underway! This campaign is trying to interact with members of the Indian parliament to urge them to stop this draconian law from coming into existence, in the interest of people’s right to health.
What The York Times has to say about this issue
January 18, 2005
EDITORIAL
India's Choice
...or an AIDS patient in a poor country lucky enough to get antiretroviral treatment, chances are that the pills that stave off death come from India. Generic knockoffs of AIDS drugs made by Indian manufacturers - now treating patients in 200 countries - have brought the price of antiretroviral therapy down to $140 a year from $12,000.
That luck may soon run out. India has become the world's supplier of cheap AIDS drugs because it has the necessary raw materials and a thriving and sophisticated copycat drug industry made possible by laws that grant patents to the process of making medicines, rather than to the drugs themselves. But when India signed the World Trade Organization's agreement on intellectual property in 1994, it was required to institute patents on products by Jan. 1, 2005. These rules have little to do with free trade and more to do with the lobbying power of the American and European pharmaceutical industries.
India's government has issued rules that will effectively end the copycat industry for newer drugs. For the world's poor, this will be a double hit - cutting off the supply of affordable medicines and removing the generic competition that drives down the cost of brand-name drugs.
But there is still a chance to fix the flaws in these rules, because they are contained in a decree that must be approved by Parliament. Heavily influenced by multinational and Indian drug makers eager to sell patented medicines to India's huge middle class, the decree is so tilted toward the pharmaceutical industry that it does not even take advantage of rights countries enjoy under the W.T.O. to protect public health.
In November 2001, members of the World Trade Organization agreed that countries can issue compulsory licenses to permit generic production of patented drugs without the patent holder's agreement in order to protect public health, at home or abroad. But under the Indian decree, getting a compulsory license would be slow and difficult; each application would face a fight from multinational drug firms and the governments that do their bidding. India should adopt laws that expedite compulsory licenses, including allowing challenges to proceed after production begins instead of holding it up. In addition, India must close an important loophole affecting the sick overseas: under the current rules, Malawi, for example, could not import from India an inexpensive version of a medicine that is not under patent in Malawi. This needs to be changed.
Industry lobbyists managed to insert two noxious provisions in the decree that go well beyond the W.T.O. rules. The decree would limit efforts to challenge patents before they take effect. Also, it is uncomfortably vague about whether companies could engage in "evergreening" - extending their patents by switching from a capsule to tablet, for example, or finding a new use for the product. This practice, a problem in America and elsewhere, extends monopolies and discourages innovation.
While some drugs - those that existed before 1995 - will always be off patent in India, some widely used drugs are at risk. So are new generations of much more expensive AIDS drugs that will soon be needed worldwide as resistance builds to current medicines. If the decree is not changed before Parliament approves it, it will be very difficult for India to supply them. India's parliamentarians must keep in mind that this arcane dispute is actually a crucial battleground for the health of hundreds of millions of people in India and worldwide.
V
Request for Commemorative Sikh Stamp Issue by USPS
February 8, 2005
Dear members of the Sikh Community of the United States,
Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh
The World Sikh Council - America Region (WSC-AR) has requested the United
States Postal Service (USPS) to consider the recognition of one of the
annual holidays and/or religious celebrations associated with the Sikh
faith and also the forthcoming celebration in 2008 of the 300th anniversary
of the dedication of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib for commemorative issues of
USPS stamps. There are already editions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, and
Kwanzaa in general circulation. We would like the Sikh community to be also
recognized in this manner.
Following the guidelines established for such a request, the WSC-AR has
initiated contact for this purpose with the USPS and now needs your
participation. Our target is to have every state of the US covered, and as
many Sikh and non-Sikh supporting letters as possible.
Please prepare and send letters of support to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory
Committee as soon as possible. In order to assist you,
we have four suggested letter formats that you can use. These are:
- Draft letter for Sikh Organizations (Gurdwaras and other Sikh organizations)
- Draft letter for Non-Sikh Organizations (Interfaith, Civic, Social,
Cultural, etc.)
- Draft letter for Sikh Individuals
- Draft letter for Non-Sikh Individuals
It may also be helpful for your Khalsa school children to write letters to
USPS in their own handwriting.
For further information on WSC-AR's efforts to have a USPS stamp issue on
Sikhs, please contact Sardar Manmohan Singh, Project Coordinator and Member
of WSC-AR Regional Committee, at sewadhar@hotmail.com or at (972) 684-4638.
Please inform Sardar Manmohan Singh of your intention to write a letter to
USPS.
Please write letters on your organization's letterhead with address, and
telephone number to:
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
Stamp Development
United States Postal Service
1735 North Lynn Street, Room 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432
We appreciate your consideration of this request. Best wishes and warmest
regards,
World Sikh Council - America Region (WSC-AR)
P.O. Box 3635, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
Phone: 614-210-0591, Fax: 419-535-6794
Email: contact@worldsikhcouncil.org
Website: http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org
IV
Letter to Editor in Chief of Tribune (Chandigarh)
This letter was sent to us by the personal secretary to S. Simranjit Singh Mann. -- Editors
DO/SSSM/2005/010
Quilla S. Harnam Singh,
February 7th, 2005.
Dear Mr. H.K. Dua,
Fateh,
I wish to bring to your kind notice that I held a
press conference at Jullundar on 19.1.2005. Though
your senior journalists here were informed well in
time by our General Secretary Dr. Harjinder Singh
Jakhu, no one from the Tribune attended the press meet at Hotel Sekhon Grand. On 21.1.2005 I held a press conference in Chandigarh in Sector IV. Your correspondent arrived at the fag end of the meet, took my written press handout but never reported it in your paper.
On 23.1.2005 I addressed a press conference at
Ferozepore. Mr. Gupta your correspondent attended the meet but never reported the news. On 2.2.2005 I held a press conference at Jullundar. Mr. Varinder Singh your correspondent attended the press conference but never reported the news. On 29.1.2005 I called on Mr. Jaswant Singh your correspondent at Phagwara on my way to Mukerian and handed him papers about my letters to the Indian Foreign Minister and the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi regarding maintaining peace in South Asia. He reported the matter but it was not published by your paper. On 4.2.2005 I held a press
conference at Ludhiana. Your correspondent Mr. Vipul Sumbli attended the conference but his report was not published.
Yesterday again I met your correspondent Mr. Jaswant Singh in Phagwara. He reported the news
but your paper did not publish it in today’s paper.
I had earlier, when you came as Editor in Chief,
reported this total nonchalance of your paper towards our party. Matters improved for some time but again our relations are on the nose-dive.
Your Amritsar office and the Jullundar office shows
our party total disconcern while Mr. Parkash Singh
Badal, the BJP, RSS and Capt. Amarinder Singh say the same things day after day but their repetitions are carried in bold head lines.
If there is anything wrong with our party we would only be too glad to be informed and correct ourselves but not change our stance in condemning Hindutva and upholding the principles for which the Shiromani Akali Dal came into being.
I would be glad to come and see you if you find the
necessity of my calling on you. But I will plead that this bias towards us must end.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Simranjit Singh Mann,
President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)
III
London screening of MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Invitation
to the film screening of MISTAKEN IDENTITY - Winner of 3 Film Festival Awards
Date: Monday 7 February 2005 Time: 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Place: The Nehru Centre, No. 8 South Audley Street, London W1K IHF (tube stop - Green Park).
Event: A Celebration of Cultural Diversity Speaker: Lord Baron Navnit Dholakia
Q & A Host: Dr. Savi Arora
Synopsis of film: "MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Sikhs in America" produced to inform and educate mainstream populations
in UK, USA and Canada about Sikhs and Sikhism, mistaken for terrorists simply because they wore turbans and beards.
Hosted by 22-year old Amanda Gesine (Greenwich, CT) who never had a Sikh friend in school or college, she believed
that racial profiling, verbal abuse and physical assault was due to ignorance and fear. In the film, she breaks new
grounds in demystifying the enigma of Sikhs and shares the hope and desires of people from all walks of life who seek
to close ranks against bigotry and hate, and take a united stand against terrorism. The film focuses on tolerance, respect
and understanding of next door neighbors.
Visit: www. mistakenidentity. tv and review 3 min of the film via streaming video.
More information: www.cultural-diversity.biz/presentation.htm,
Farhud Finally Granted Recognition as Holocaust-era Pogrom
Institute On Religion and Public Policy
Press Release Contact: Lidiya Zubytska
For Immediate Release Phone: 202-835-8760
Washington, D.C. - The Institute on Religion and Public Policy warmly
welcomes the recognition given today by Holocaust museums across American to
the 1941 Farhud as a Holocaust-era pogrom against Iraqi Jews. “The Farhud is
a long overlooked travesty that is finally being recognized by leaders
across the globe as an important element of Holocaust history and Jewish
heritage,” said Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski.
The Farhud was a 48-hour murderous riot against Iraqi Jews that began with
an alliance between Iraqi leaders and Nazi Germany. The alliance was
orchestrated by the Mufti of Jerusalem during the years he was headquartered
in Baghdad and revolved around the exchange of Iraqi oil for the
annihilation of the Jews in Palestine and Eastern Europe.
The Farhud, which was stopped by a British invasion force, launched a decade
of official persecution and looting against Iraqi Jews. The Farhud and the
consequent persecution led to the displacement of over 120,000 Jews.
The memory of the Farhud was recently resurrected by Edwin Black in his
award-winning book, Banking on Baghdad.
”The Farhud is an event rarely covered in today as Holocaust history and
little understood by policymakers across the globe,” continued Grieboski.
”As the saying goes, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”
I
Appeal for Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar
Jan 18, 2005
Hamdard Punjabi News
by Kamaljit Singh Banvaint
(paraphrased in English from Punjabi by Gurwinder
Singh and Jaspreet Singh)
Prof. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who has already
been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India,
appeared in a court session regarding his mercy appeal
to the President of India. In his appeal, Prof.
Bhullar is asking that his death sentence be changed
to life imprisonment. Prof. Bhullar has repeatedly
spoken out about his innocence, saying that he was
forced to admit the crime under torture, a crime which
he never committed.
The Supreme Court has already rejected Prof. Bhullar's
appeal, so now it is up to the President of India to
decide his fate. The President hears final appeals on
capital punishment and can grant mercy if he wishes by
commuting the sentence to life imprisonment. The next
hearing for the mercy appeal is scheduled for February
25, 2005.
