WSO’s International President, Ram Raghbir Singh Chahal said today, “the barbaric kidnapping and murder of Sikhs by the Taliban must be stopped. The Pakistan government must ensure the safety of minority communities in Pakistan. Sikhs have lived peacefully in the tribal areas and North-West Frontier Province for hundreds of years. The Taliban should not be allowed to drive out law-abiding citizens, no matter what their religious affiliation.”

WSO’s Senior Policy Analyst, Gian Singh Sandhu said, “the situation of the Sikh community in North West Pakistan has gone from bad to worse. After initially being forced by the Taliban to pay the jiziya, and being driven from their homes, Sikhs are now being brutally murdered. The situation is no better for people of many other faiths. There is no room in this world for religious intolerance, and the Pakistan government has a duty to act now.”

Founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak, Sikhism is a tolerant religion that recognizes a universal God and supports the right of all to freely practice their faith.

The World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a non-profit international organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status.

Sikh spectators wearing a kirpan must inform security personnel prior to being screened at venues, and must meet the following stipulations:

1. All articles of faith must be worn.
2. The maximum TOTAL length of the kirpan, including the sheath may not exceed 7.5 inches with a blade of not more than four inches and a handle of two inches or less.
3. The kirpan must be worn in keeping with Sikh traditions including being secured into its sheath, attached to a fabric belt and worn across the torso.
4. The kirpan must be worn under clothing and not easily accessible.

WSO Canada President, Prem Singh Vinning said today, “The V2010 ISU’s kirpan accommodation policy is an important move in recognizing the needs of the Sikh community and making the Olympics accessible to them. It is essential that the Sikh community knows the stipulations in the guidelines and follows them closely.”

WSO is available to answer any questions that the community may have about the accommodation policy. If any issues arise during the screening process, please immediately contact WSO. WSO is committed to ensuring that the accommodation of the kirpan occurs smoothly and any issues are quickly resolved.

For further information or questions about the kirpan accommodation policy please contact either WSO or V2010 ISU .

The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status.

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For more information please contact:

1. Prem Singh Vinning
Tel: 604-312-6377
premvinning@gmail.com

2. Gian Singh Sandhu
Tel: 604-341-2755
gian@jackpinegroup.com

3. Balpreet Singh
Tel: 416-904-9110
balpreetsingh@worldsikh.org

4. Gurdit Singh Rangi
Tel: 778-322-9920
grangi@gmail.com

5. Sukhvinder Vinning
Tel: (604) 338-1299
anand75ca@yahoo.com

CBC News

Members of Metro Vancouver’s South Asian community raised $1.5 million for Haitian relief efforts. (CBC) A Sikh temple and three South Asian radio stations in the Metro Vancouver area say they’ve raised $1.5 million in donations and pledges for victims of the Haitian earthquake.
At a joint news conference at the Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Surrey, east of Vancouver, temple president Bikramjit Singh Sandhar said members of the community opened their hearts and wallets after the Jan. 12 earthquake rocked Haiti.
“The Gurdwara [temple] took a lead in it with it, also the radio stations, and just created such an awareness. And with that awareness, I think people just responded,” said Sandhar.
Harpreet Singh of Radio India says seniors and children were among those giving whatever they could.
“For us, the Sikhs, the entire humanity is one,” Singh said. “So we believe it is our duty to help those people in distress and that’s why people came forward — small children coming, elders coming. And people who are working on an average salary, they are also coming and giving $100, $200.”
TV images of the human suffering also inspired the community to donate to help the victims, said Sandhar.
“You can see a child with no parents or nobody to go to now. I mean these are things that touch every individual everywhere,” said Sandhar.
Singh said $500,000 collected by Radio India will be given to Gov. Gen. Michaël Jean, who was born in Haiti, so it can be passed on to aid groups. The rest of the money collected by the other groups will be split among Doctors Without Borders and a group called United Sikhs.
The Vancouver area has a large Sikh population, many of whom come from the Punjab region of India and now live in Surrey.

Local Sikh communities and Gurdwaras are organizing fundraising drives and soliciting donations to meet the immediate needs of the survivors and to help in the relief effort. WSO Canada’s president, Prem Singh Vinning said, “as per the teachings of the Sikh faith, Sikhs have an obligation to help in the humanitarian effort in Haiti. The Sikh community’s generosity will go a long way in helping the victims of this quake.”

WSO International President, Ram Raghbir Singh Chahal said, “Haiti has suffered greatly over the past several years. Sikhs must do their part in helping the victims and in rebuilding this shattered nation.”

Several Gurdwaras across Canada are organizing fundraising drives, including Gurdwaras in the Vancouver and Toronto area. Punjabi media are also organizing telethons including the successful radio telethon in Vancouver by Radio Sher-e-Punjab 1550AM, Red FM 93.1, and Radio India 1600AM from Thursday and Friday. The Sikh community is once again encouraged to donate generously.

The World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a non-profit international organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status.

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For more information, please contact:
Jasbeer Singh, Media Relations, at 780-457-3333 or (780)235-6000;

e-mail magmaint@hotmail.com or;

Gian Singh Sandhu, at 250-305-2440, e-mail: gian@jackpinegroup.com

While the state administration is expected to keep a finger on the pulse of public opinion, sentiments and sensitivities to prevent any unfortunate developments in a preemptive manner, the Punjab administration appears to have done just the opposite. Instead of preventing an ugly situation from occurring, they appear to have added fuel to the simmering fire by ignoring cautionary warnings from responsible citizen groups and using lethal force to crush a peaceful protest. This resulted in several injuries and innocent fatality.

WSO believes that the government of Punjab needs to restore public confidence in its administrative and law-enforcement policies and practices. It can do so expeditiously by holding a judicial inquiry to critically analyze the incident and ensure it is not repeated in the future.

WSO Canada President, Prem Singh Vinning said, “Governments must ensure that religious sentiments are not unnecessarily inflamed by any person or group. The violence in Ludhiana was completely avoidable and the loss of life was senseless. Security forces must be used to protect the people, not to take their lives.”

The World Sikh Organization of Canada is a non-profit human rights organization registered in Canada. Founded in 1984 with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, social and economic status.

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“I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been selected to lead WSO Canada, an organization that has a 25 year tradition of service to the Sikh community. WSO has continuously strived to build bridges between communities and work for the betterment of not only Sikhs but Canada as a whole. We have a lot of work to do in advancing WSO’s objectives and I hope, with the support of the community, I will be able to make a significant contribution through my term” said Mr. Vinning.

Mr. Vinning will be joined by a vibrant team which includes:

Senior VP – Gurpreet Singh Bal (past President WSO Canada)
Director of Finance – Sandeep Singh Sahota
Director of Administration – Dr. Ramanjot Kaur Sachdev
VP British Columbia – Gurdit Singh Rangi
VP Alberta – Kulmeet Singh Sangha
VP Central Canada – Jasbeer Singh
VP Ontario – Ranjit Singh Dulay
VP Quebec & Atlantic – Gurbaj Singh Multani

In a major step to pass the reigns of the Organization to the next generation, one third of WSO Canada’s new executive are members of the Sikh youth. The newly selected Vice President British Columbia, Gurdit Singh Rangi said, “The attempt to bridge the gap between the generation of older and younger Sikhs is going to be our focus. As a young Canadian-born Sikh myself, I will do my utmost to mobilize other young people to work with WSO in service of the community.”

The Convention concluded with WSO Canada’s banquet at the Chandni Banquet Hall for the organization’s members and supporters from across Canada. The evening featured a keynote address by Vishavjit Singh of www.sikhtoons.com. Vishavjit Singh spoke about his experiences in Delhi during the November 1984 massacre and in New York during the aftermath of 9/11. He also spoke about the importance of young Sikhs entering into careers in the media and the arts.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status. This policy is a reflection of some of the work being carried out by dedicated Sikhs, for the betterment of all.

Posted 4 days ago

Each and every (person) on this earth should be fed.
Edmonton’s Sikh community stepped up with a hefty holiday donation for Edmonton’s Food Bank last week.

The group gave over $75,000 and four tonnes of food in celebration of the 540th anniversary of the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism.

“The response was tremendous,” says radio host Gursharan Buttar of the Punjabi Media Association, who used a radio-a-thon to gather donations.

The city’s Sikh community has now given over $200,000 to Edmonton’s Food Bank over the last three years, taking donations at all four local Sikh temples, or Gurdwaras.

Buttar says sharing with the needy is a key aspect of Sikhism.

“That is one of the fundamentals of Sikhism, that nobody should go to bed hungry,” he says. “Each and every (person) on this earth should be fed.”

Food bank resource development co-ordinator Tamisan Bencz-Knight says the donation is a significant contribution to the food bank’s $900,000 Christmas drive goal.

“What’s wonderful about the Sikh and the Punjabi communities supporting Edmonton’s Food Bank is that, like many communities, they send money overseas back home. But they also have taken the stance that this is their home as well, and so they do believe in making sure that they contribute locally as well as internationally,” she says.

But she is no liberal in religious matters. She and two other women in a youth slate of 18 won a decisive victory in their election to the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, B.C., promising to reintroduce traditional customs.

The slate defeated community leaders who have run the institution since the mid-1990s.

Born in the neighbourhood of The Golden Temple in India, Sikh’s holiest shrine, Gursimran Kaur said Monday her stand on behalf of women’s rights is grounded in the centuries-old traditions. “In our religion, the first guru told us equality for women is very important because she is the one who creates the whole world, she is the creator,” she said.

“ This is a movement to address the needs of Canadian-born youth. ”
— Sukhminder Singh Virk
Throughout the campaign, Gursimran Kaur, a Simon Fraser University student majoring in mathematics, received phone calls from women saying the temple needed advocates for women’s rights. She quickly realized this would be her role.

Other women “would raise their voice through me,” she said.

The victory of religious Sikh youth with progressive ideas reflects a significant shift in the community, holding out the promise of recasting the image of the turbaned Sikh in B.C. The official returns, signed by independent chief returning officer Ron Laufer, show that the 18 youth slate members each received support of around two-thirds of the 21,188 ballots cast in the election.

The newly elected management committee members are mostly too young to have played any role in confrontations within the Sikh community in recent years. Most were born and grew up in religious families in Canada, although Gursimran Kaur, who lives with her parents, came to Canada when she was four.

“This is a movement to address the needs of Canadian-born youth,” Sukhminder Singh Virk, another member of the youth slate, said in an interview. The temple needs “a better connect with this demographic,” said Mr. Virk, a 26-year old who just received his bachelor of law.

Temple politics in B.C. have been dominated by sharp religious differences for more than a decade. The disputes erupted in violence in 1997 over whether they could use table and chairs in the temple dining hall.

The community has also been under a shadow since the Air India disaster in 1985, the deadliest act of terrorism in Canadian history. Bombs planted on airplanes in Vancouver in protest over political issues in India killed 331 people.

The youth slate, who are mostly in their 30s, ran on a two-pronged platform. They advocate a return to traditional religious observance, and an expansion of temple programs mostly to respond to the needs of young families and youth. They promise better maintenance of the buildings and tighter management of finances.

They plan to develop programs to combat drug use and gang violence, and hold workshops on Sikh scripture and rituals in English to appeal to the younger generation. Their platform also includes new community services programs at the temple. Long range plans call for a safe-house for women.

The youth slate’s campaign looked like a page torn from mainstream politics, with a Facebook site and Twitter messaging. They organized phone banks to contact voters in the days leading up to the election; they had 10 buses bringing temple members to the poll to vote. Despite pouring rain, some members waited more than 90 minutes to cast their ballots. The lineup stretched close to a kilometre at one point.

The incumbent slate of moderates were, on average, about 20 years older. Paul Gill, an active supporter of the moderate slate’s candidate for president, Harjinder Singh Cheema, said their slate also brought voters to the poll. However their supporters “changed their mind” in the ballot booth and voted for the youth slate, he said.

“Many people have [joined] the temple in the past five to seven years,” he added. “They do not realize what has happened in the past.”

The moderate slate was undermined by this open approach to the membership. “Those that support the moderate philosophy are not that committed. They are like floating on the edge and do not have strong allegiance to either side,” he said.

“Some people say, we can change now and we can change again in three years. . . we have to regroup and wait for another day.”

For Gursimran Kaur, the introduction of workshops on violence against women and on women’s rights is now her top priority.

“Domestic violence is one of the biggest issues in our community,” she said. “No matter if they are older or younger or kids, they will … learn how to live their life and what rights they have. We’re going for women’s rights first.”

President Obama was his inspiration.

It was after Obama was elected the United States’ first black President that Ravinder Singh Bhalla decided Hoboken was ready to elect its first Sikh councilman.

“That election made me believe the country has reached a phase where qualifications matter more than race,” said Bhalla, 36, who, according to the Sikh Coalition, is one of just two Sikhs holding elected office nationwide.

Bhalla ran on acting Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s ticket and was elected councilman at large by a wide margin in June, taking office July 1. He received the most votes of 11 other candidates — despite the fact that Hoboken’s registered voter population is less than 1% Asian and the city is home to only about 10 Sikhs, including his wife, Navneet, a human rights lawyer, and their 2-year-old daughter, Arza.

“I think residents are looking for honest, competent and professional individuals in government, and I think that desire supersedes other considerations such as race, religion and gender,” Bhalla said.

A native New Jerseyan and a civil rights attorney, Bhalla first became involved in local politics in 2005, when he successfully represented two Hoboken council members in a challenge to a lawsuit by then-Mayor David Roberts, who was trying to force the council to pass his budget.

“It gave me a better sense of what the issues were on the local level,” Bhalla said. “The city council’s refusal to pass what they saw as an underfunded budget and the mayor’s attempt to force them to pass a budget they didn’t believe in gave me an intimate look into the intersection of law and politics at the local level.”

Bhalla has also fought to advance Sikhs’ rights. He won a battle to have a Sikh NYPD traffic officer reinstated after he was fired in 2001 for refusing to remove his turban and trim his beard, both forbidden by the Sikh religion.

That case helped pave the way for the Army’s first acceptance of a turbaned Sikh recruit in 23 years, announced last Friday.

In 2002, Bhalla spurred a federal prison policy change after filing a complaint because guards had ordered him to remove his turban for a search while he was visiting a client at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

Now, visitors to those facilities can’t be required to remove head coverings worn for religious purposes “without probable cause,” he said.

Bhalla credits his father, Ranbir, an India-born inventor with a Ph.D. in physics from Penn State University who “came to the U.S. with less than $50 in his pocket,” with helping instill in him the importance of not compromising his religion to fit in.

In West Paterson’s public schools, Bhalla’s turban made him a frequent target of bullies, but he still played Little League and tennis, earning an all-state ranking in high school. “I saw it as an equalizer,” the avid Yankee fan said. “I really felt like on the playing field, if you knew how to pitch or hit, people respected you.”

Similarly, he found that after participating in locally televised debates with the other council candidates, he won respect for his performance.

“After the debates, people would come up to me in the streets and say, ‘You were the only person out there who made any sense,’ ” recalled Bhalla, who has degrees from the University of California-Berkeley, the London School of Economics and Tulane University. “The debates helped break a perception barrier between appearance and substance.” kangel@nydailynews.com