ECB is about differentiating Sikhs
from the word 'Asian.'
Its a Vision to help raise awareness
of Sikhs in the Western World,
their history,beliefs and identity.
The Dalai Lama [Images] said on Tuesday that his successor would be chosen outside of Tibet if he dies in exile. "If my death comes when we are still in a refugee status, then logically my reincarnation will come outside Tibet," the he said on the sidelines of an inter-faith meeting in the Sikh holy city.
The Dalai Lama said he welcomed the promotion of good relations between India and China. He said he was always ready to negotiate between Tibetans and Chinese government and would always give priority to talks.
"My mission is to spread the message of peace, prosperity and love and this reason brought me here to the holy city of the Golden Temple," added the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan spiritual leader visited the Golden Temple and paid obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum where he was honoured by the Sikh priest with a scarf. The Dalai Lama also paid obeisance at Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, at the Golden Temple.
The Dalai Lama was honoured by the Shriomnai Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar and jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gyani Joginder Singh Vedanti, with woollen shawls, a set of Sikh religious books and a replica of the Golden Temple.
The Dalai Lama is in Amritsar [Images] to participate in the third meeting of the Elijah board of world religious leaders, a group founded in 1996 to promote inter-faith dialogue, that brings together prominent Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
As a Sikh, Sukhvir Singh says he has encountered racial harassment before, but he never feared it could lead to his death.
But on Saturday, police say, the Orange Cab driver withstood a violent attack from a drunken passenger who punched him, bit off a piece of his scalp, called Singh an "Iraqi terrorist" and threatened to kill him. The attack ended after a Metro bus pulled up to the cab and a passenger called 911.
Luis Vázquez, a 20-year-old construction worker from Kent, was charged Tuesday with third-degree assault and one count of malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime law. If convicted, Vázquez faces up to a year in jail, according to a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.
After the attack, Singh was treated at Harborview Medical Center and released. He was later admitted to Valley Medical Center in Renton and remains hospitalized because of kidney problems. He said it's unclear whether the problems are a result of the attack.
Speaking from his hospital bed Tuesday, Singh said it is difficult to talk about the attack, but he is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.
"I live here, and I love America. I love to serve my community and my people here," said Singh, of Kent, a father of two. "It's very hard to think about."
Intoxicated passenger
Singh was stopping at a Montlake neighborhood grocery to grab dinner Saturday before 8 p.m. when Seattle police escorted an obviously drunken man to his cab, said the cabdriver's attorney, Hardeep Rekhi. Singh, a cabdriver for seven years, said it's not uncommon for police to place intoxicated people in his cab so they can be driven home.
Authorities say the passenger was Vázquez. They said he had been kicked out of the Apple Cup football game at Husky Stadium.
While Singh was driving Vázquez home, Vázquez started calling him a terrorist and threatened to kill him, according to court charging documents. Singh said he worried for his life and the lives of other motorists as he drove down Interstate 5 at 60 mph.
Singh pulled over just south of the exit for Interstate 90, according to charging papers.
Vázquez followed Singh as he left the cab and continued the attack, court papers said. It was only when a Metro bus pulled up and Vázquez tried to board that the attack stopped, according to charging papers.
Vázquez later told investigators that he was afraid of Singh because Vázquez "had a buddy in Iraq," according to charging papers. Singh isn't Iraqi. He's an Indian-born member of the Sikh religion, which claims up to a half-million followers in the U.S.
Because the case appears to be a hate crime, the FBI has launched a civil-rights inquiry, said spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs. The facts gathered by agents will be sent to the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and if attorneys there think more information is necessary, the FBI will launch a full-blown investigation, Burroughs said.
The New York-based Sikh Coalition was pushing for prosecutors to file the case as a hate crime.
Rekhi, the Seattle attorney representing Singh, said his client is pleased with the filing decision.
Singh said that even though he has never been called such awful names, his fellow Sikh cabdrivers have faced worse violence and terror.
On Sept. 13, 2001, Farwest Cab driver Kulwinder Singh was assaulted and accused of being a Middle East terrorist by an intoxicated passenger he picked up in SeaTac. Raymond Isais Jr., 21, of San Diego, pleaded guilty to malicious harassment.
"Safe transport"
Explaining why officers placed a drunken man in Singh's cab, Seattle police Sgt. Deanna Nollette said the department's protocol with intoxicated people is to simply find them "safe transport."
The State Patrol, which is also investigating the attack, doesn't believe Seattle police did anything wrong by putting Vázquez in Singh's cab.
"The goal of law enforcement at that venue was getting him home. There was no lawful reason to detain him," said State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill. "For some particular reason, this guy in this scenario snapped."
More than 50 members of the Sikh community and a delegation of OC Transpo employees bid an emotional farewell yesterday morning to the four members of the Brar family found dead in their Grandpark Circle home on Nov. 21.
Santbir Brar, his wife, Amarjeet, and their daughters Manmeet, 20, and Dildeep, 22, died as the result of a murder-suicide. Police believe Mr. Brar, an OC Transpo supervisor, killed his family before turning a rifle on himself.
Four hearses backed up to the crematorium at the Capital Memorial Gardens on Prince of Wales Drive and one by one, the flower-bedecked caskets were carried into the building.
Mr. Brar's brother, Gurinder, who returned from a visit to India following the deaths, had to be helped from the building, overcome with grief. His wife had to be lifted from the ground after she collapsed into the slush after the coffins were taken inside.
Mr. and Mrs. Brar were cremated in the morning following final prayers, while their daughters were cremated later in the day.
A family friend, who did not want to be identified, talked briefly afterwards, calling the afternoon service for the sisters "very emotional" for everyone.
"We just want to remember them," said the woman, adding nobody really knows what happened at the Brar family home a week ago.
She called Mr. Brar and his wife loving parents.
She said they cared about their family and that is why last week's events are so hard to understand.
Baldev S. Vij, an Ottawa real estate agent, said members of the community had been deeply shocked by the deaths. "God knows what happened," Mr. Vij said. "The community will come together to try to figure out what took place."
He said that while the family was known to the Sikh community, in general they tended to keep to themselves.
A woman who declined to be identified said the ashes will be given to family members, who will take them to India to be scattered on a river that is holy to Sikhs.
Before the ceremonies inside the crematorium, mourners were led by the priest from the Ottawa Gurudawara, or temple, in prayers.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone points to bullet holes in a wall at the site of the 1919 massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, yesterday. On April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children in Jallianwala Bagh holding a protest rally. The firing lasted about 10 minutes. According to official estimates, nearly 400 civilians were killed. However, according to private sources, the number was over 1,000, with more than 2,000 wounded. Livingstone is on a week-long trip to India.
Kabul, Nov 25 - 'Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh,' the traditional chant of the Sangat, reverberated in the large hall of the gurudwara at the Dharmasala in Kart-e-Parwan district of Kabul as more than 300 members of Sikh community gathered there to celebrate Gurparb, the birthday of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion.
The nearly three-hour ceremony Saturday at the 45-year-old gurudwara in the district, which is home to most of the Sikh community, was filled with religious chants, prayers and devotional songs.
School children recited their self-composed poems in the honour of Guru Nanak, while several speakers repeatedly conveyed the message of religious harmony, universal brotherhood, peaceful coexistence and humanitarian assistance through their speeches during the ceremony.
India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Rakesh Sood, who was an invitee to the ceremony, conveyed his greetings and good wishes to all members of the community on the festive occasion. 'I am impressed by the organisation and your ability to cherish and celebrate the tradition and culture,' Sood told the attentive gathering.
He also congratulated the children for composing and reciting poems on the occasion.
Afghan Sikhs moved to Afghanistan generations ago and they feel at home in this country. All of them are fluent in Dari and Pastho with some able to converse in other languages like Uzbeki.
'We are Afghans and think like any other Afghan,' said a contented Avatar Singh, a member of Dharmasala management committee, who appears no different from other Afghans with his neatly tied blue turban and shiny and flowing black beard.
Pointing to sizeable presence of Afghan Muslims at the function, Ravinder Singh, another member of the gurudwara management committee, said, 'All these are our friends. We treat them as our own brothers and sisters. Though our worship system may be different, we are part and parcel of Afghan society.'
Ravinder Singh, who speaks Pastho and Dari fluently, is a fourth generation Afghan Sikh living in Kabul. Though his clothes business keeps him busy through out, he makes it point to come regularly to gurudwara to pray with his family.
With a broad grin, he said, 'This is an important festival for Sikhs. The Gurparb in Dharmasala attracts devotees from Kabul but all over in Afghanistan'. For him, functions like Gurparb is also important for renewing the bonds and contacts within the community members.
Gurparb ended with the traditional 'langar' (community meals) served to all the devotees and invitees.
A MEET your Sikh neighbour event is being held in the Capital today as part of Inter-Faith Week.
The colourful Sikh Gurdwara on Sheriff Brae in Leith is hosting the first official event of the week between 2pm and 3.30pm.
The event is an opportunity to gain a brief insight into the beliefs and lives of Edinburgh and Scottish Sikhs. Visitors will be treated to an introductory talk on Sikhism, followed by a short question and answer session.
Sikhs are holding their own three-day celebrations, which started yesterday with continuous 24-hour reading of sacred Sikh scriptures.
They will also have a flag-changing ceremony outside the Gurdwara today at 1pm. Wege Singh, pictured, of the Edinburgh Sikh Gurdwara, said: "This is a significant celebratory and commemoration weekend."
London, Nov 21 - As the issue involving a Sikh girl's suspension from a Welsh school for wearing a kada, a symbol of Sikhism, appeared headed for the courts, hundreds of people from around the world backed the girl through a website set up to support her. Sarika Watkins-Singh, 14, of mixed Welsh-Punjabi parentage, has been suspended three times from the Aberdare Girls School for wearing the kada. The school says that wearing it goes against its code, which only allows watches and stud-earrings. Human rights organisation Liberty, which is directed by Shami Chakrabarti, has taken up Sarika's case. It is arguing that by excluding Sarika, the school's governing body has violated violating the Race Relations Act 1976, the Equality Act 2006 and the Human Rights Act 1998. Angry, passionate messages against the school authorities have been left by visitors on the website www.supportsarika.co.uk. The website features press and video coverage of the case that has hit the headlines across Britain and elsewhere. Anna Fairclough, Liberty's legal officer representing the Singhs, said: 'The governing body of the school has ignored established race and equality protections and shamefully turned a young woman into a pariah by isolating her.
'Legal precedents established 25 years ago make clear that she should be allowed to wear the kara without being intimidated by the school.'
Over the past 18 months of writing on Cif, I have been consistent in my criticism of "community leaders" who claim to speak on behalf of people of minority religious backgrounds. This is for two main reasons: firstly because their motives are never as benign as they claim; secondly because they have a rather cosy relationship with religious extremists of the same backgrounds. This applies to Sikh and Hindu organisations as much as it does to British Muslim ones, though the former attract less media interest for obvious reasons.
Even if they don't command grassroots support, these organisations remain relevant by riding on legitimate concerns. For example, though there is little backing for an independent Sikh state, the Sikh Federation UK retains support by emphasising human rights abuses against Sikhs in India to bolster its cause. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) similarly rides on concerns that Muslims as a whole are being demonised and actively voices their opposition to the war in Iraq. The MCB benefits by taking a hardline position on issues and clearly makes people more wary of British Muslims thanks to its over-the-top assertions and contradictions. There is little point to its existence.
But this should not detract from the fact that the threat of terrorism is being used by anti-democratic forces to subvert our parliamentary traditions. The first is an attack on our civil liberties, from the threat of extending the 28-day detention period to locking up people for "thought crime". Those who maintain this is business as usual are deluding themselves.
The second problem relates to the continuing media scaremongering about Muslims. There are legitimate concerns such as finding hate literature in bookshops of course, but the scale of outright lies, hysterics and rubbish coverage is really quite disturbing.
In case you missed it, a recent speech by the director general of MI5, Jonathan Evans, essentially said the media was doing the terrorists' work for them. It doesn't get more stark than that.
The inevitable retort is that the threat of terrorism makes this not only inevitable but necessary. But I don't subscribe to the view that a liberal democracy, founded on the principle of equality before law, should discriminate against an entire group based on their faith due to the violent actions of a few. The Japanese American internment of 1948 was wrong and similarly it would have been disgusting to launch a witch-hunt against homosexuals in the 1980s over Aids. Why should ordinary Muslims be lumped with the jihadis?
We know this new legislation is aimed solely at British Muslims and no one else. If British whites were under serious threat of being convicted for thought crimes, there would be a furore. Instead we have a few embarrassing coughs.
Similarly, Martin Amis's racism and the Evening Standard's perniciously titled debate ("Is Islam good for London?") points to the same thing: the intentional demonisation of Muslims has become legitimate discourse.
All the while, British Muslim leadership on these issues is seriously lacking. The MCB's Dr Abdul Bari and Inayat Bunglawala are great at worsening media relations, annoying other religious groups and generally worsening social cohesion. They care about the latter when Muslims are being demonised but not when the hatred is being spewed by Muslims. New Labour can afford to ignore its protests because most Britons view it very negatively.
The MCB can even be relied on to make excuses for the racism of extremist organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir, thereby alienating the left even more. Ordinary British Muslims cannot do anything but watch their civil liberties erode further.
There is only one way out of this impasse. Rather than treating British Muslims as a monolithic group represented by the likes of the MCB, we should regard them as fellow citizens and actively defend the attack on their civil liberties. If we don't do it then the Islamists will step in.
This is vital not only to defeating terrorism but also protecting our democratic rights. On Sunday Henry Porter said "We must not tolerate this putsch against our freedoms". I agree. Under the threat of terrorism this government is doing everything it can in order to curtail our freedoms, hoping it will succeed by tacitly indicating that it will only apply to Muslims.
We can either get organised and resist this or be willing participants.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Clinton campaign's abrupt cancellation of scheduled appearances here is leaving members of the Sikh community dismayed and demanding an explanation.
Traditional food, elaborate costumes, and ritual sword fighting were on display as thousands of Sikhs celebrated a religious festival here yesterday, but the expected guest of honor, Senator Clinton, was a no-show. Mrs. Clinton also scuttled a fund-raising breakfast at a nearby fairgrounds where Sikh leaders had hoped to raise $1 million for her presidential campaign.
Some organizers cited "security reasons" for the candidate's sudden withdrawal. An advertisement in a Sikh newspaper said the fund-raiser, which was also to have featured President Clinton as a guest, had been postponed "due to the advice of the Secret Service." Others involved said some of those planning the fund-raiser failed either the campaign's vetting process or a Secret Service review.
Whatever prompted the late change, many of those who attended yesterday's festival and parade were upset, underscoring the risks of a backlash against Mrs. Clinton as her campaign tightens its standards in an effort to avoid another fund-raising scandal.
"We don't know what the reason is," a trucking company owner who helped arrange the celebration, Tejpal Singh of Bakersfield, said. "They just tell us last night. … Everybody's shocked. They want to see her."
Mr. Singh said he was informed a week or two ago that Mrs. Clinton planned to spend about 30 minutes at the festival, which marks the birthday of one of the founders of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
So here we go again. There was the 'silver ring' case of a girl barred by her school from wearing a piece of jewellery which turned out to be more a campaign symbol than an essential expression of faith. Her parents lost her case, but are appealing. There have been a couple of complaints about airlines, religion and dress codes. Now there is the matter of a Sikh girl told that she cannot wear a bangle to school.
Each of these instances is different. Some involve what looks like the politicisation of the 'presentation' issue, while the latest seems to be about the definition of equal and fair treatment for different sections of the community in relation to specific company or organisational policy.
As for Sarika Watkins-Singh, aged 14, a pupil at Aberdare Girls’ School, who has refused to remove her kara, which reminds its wearers to do good, her case has been backed by the non-religious civil rights group Liberty. So trying to turn this into a catch-all complaint about 'religion' won't work, either. It has wider ramifications for free expression. There are race equality considerations, too.
With some activists trying to push to 'keep religion out of the workplace' altogether, and some religious lobbyists using the power of symbolic representation to reassert themselves at a time when they perceive their influence to be under threat, there is a danger that all sense of perspective and proportion will be lost.
Until recently, with the odd exception, most organisations have come up with pragmatic approaches aimed at keeping everyone on board and included within the bounds of a common (legally sound) policy. That is how it should be, and it is the situation we need to encourage. Less heat, more light for everyone to share.
We should not look at religious clothing and symbols as if they are something entirely separate from the way in which we dress generally, either. We live in a consumer-driven society that encourages us to be distinctive, to be individual, to express ourselves in ways that are different to other people as well as peer-associated.
It seems extraordinary for someone to feel threatened just because one expression of difference (or solidarity) in an intentionally plural society is religious. In monocultural, illiberal or theocratic orders the issue is quite different, of course.
In a fast-changing world, there will always be things that appear strange to others. If it’s not the way people dress, it’ll be the colour of their skin; if it’s not the colour of their skin it will be something else, such as customs, patterns of thought, or language. The question is: how can we learn to cope with that, and even benefit from it?
You cannot and should not ban something just because it makes you feel uncomfortable. Instead of building walls, we should build relationships. We should strive for a situation in which people are prepared to be open towards others, including the variety of their appearance and presentation.
People dress in all sorts of ways that reflect their lifestyle. And it isn’t always straightforward to identify what is, or isn’t, inspired by religion. For example, some people wear a cross for religious reasons, while others wear one simply as jewellery.
I am certainly not opposed to a company or school having a dress or symbol policy that reflects corporate image, equal respect or health and safety concerns. Nevertheless, the idea of introducing a blanket ban on religious symbols in public institutions (such as the Iranian campaigner Azar Majedi has advocated) is only dealing with something by repressing it, rather than by encouraging people to understand each other better, which is the principle a modern, peaceful and fair society should be built upon.
So long as the form of dress is not dangerous, unhealthy, contrary to the needs of the task undertaken, or deliberately designed to menace or threaten someone else — in which case it becomes a public order issue — then we should seek to allow it wherever possible. That should be the default, though there will be exceptions and local circumstances.
Mediation and mutual adaptation should be viewed as the appropriate way forward, rather than prescription and litigation.
I personally feel great sympathy with the view that some Muslim veils can be seen as a tool of oppression. Complete covering is also not part of the tradition, and compulsion is to be deplored. Muslims have argued that, too. But I also respect the views of some women who say that it can be about protecting themselves from the invasive gaze of a male-dominated order.
As a plural society, we’re not going to reach an agreement on whether such veiling is a good or bad thing — but a ban wouldn’t solve anything. It would simply push the issue underground, up the ante for those who wish to squeeze political capital out of it, and cause more bitterness.
Indeed, the debate over religious symbols and dress is often a proxy for more complex political and cultural concerns. In some cases is has been picked up by groups with bigger agendas linked to racism or xenophobia. For individuals, a small fight over a personal item might reflect a sense of injustice about wider issues that are not being addressed.
We should acknowledge that living in a multicultural society has made some individuals feel anxious about their identity. But that anxiety - about self or toward others - will not be resolved by legal measures.
Like Azar Majedi, I believe in the positive virtue of secularity in the public square. But for me that does not mean one in which religious (or indeed anti-religious) expression has to be hidden away — it is one in which we acknowledge that we have to share public space and find ways of communicating with one another across our differences.
A PREGNANT Muslim teenager, allegedly stabbed to death by her Sikh love rival, was disappointed with her arranged marriage, a court heard today.
Sana Ali, aged 17, told her mother she was feeling lonely in the days leading up to her death because her husband was staying out late.
Birmingham dental student Harmohinder Kaur Sanghera, 23, had been having an affair with the victim's husband, Sair Ali, for nearly two years, Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday.
Sarika Singh, with the bangle on her wrist, leaves school with her mother Sanita Singh
Sarika Singh, 14, has refused to remove the silver bangle, or Kara, which she regards as a sign of her faith.
Aberdare Girls' School, in South Wales, said the bangle broke its code of conduct. Pupils are allowed to wear only a wrist watch and one pair of plain metal stud earrings. It added that the rules had been in place for many years and had been set up to ensure equality.
Sarika is the only Sikh at the school. Her mother, Sanita Singh, 38, has taken legal advice and plans to challenge the school's decision.
Mrs Singh, her daughter, and a representative from the Valleys Race Equality Council, a self-styled charitable voluntary organisation, attended a meeting at the school yesterday with the head teacher, Jane Rosser.
Wayne Lee, a spokesman for the council, confirmed that the pupil had been excluded from school again.
"Sarika is very upset and wants to go back into school. She is a good student and she wants to see her friends like any other 14-year-old."
Sarika was taken out of her classes and taught separately for nine weeks pending the outcome of an appeal. She was excluded this month when she continued to ignore the ban.
Her mother said: "We feel very strongly that Sarika has a right to manifest her religion. She is not asking for anything big and flashy, she is not making a big fuss."
Sarika, from Cwmbach, near Aberdare, said: "It is very important for me to wear the Kara because it is a symbol of my faith and a constant reminder that I should only do good work, and never do anything bad, with my hands."
The governors rejected the girl's request to wear the bangle after examining the uniform policy and human rights legislation.
The school said it would not comment until it had told Mrs Singh of the latest suspension in writing.
Liberty, the human rights group, which is providing legal representation for Mrs Singh, said the law lords had ruled that Sikh pupils could wear items representing their faith, including a turban.
Anna Fairclough, Liberty's legal officer, said: "Legal precedents established 25 years ago make clear she should be allowed to wear the Kara."
A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly said rules on uniform were a matter for schools' governing bodies, but issues such as equality and health and safety should be considered. The spokesman added: "Whether a school uniform policy breaches the Race Relations Act 1976 is a matter for the courts."
The Valleys Race Equality Council, whose director is Ron Davies, the former Welsh Secretary, was set up 10 years ago with the aim of working towards "eliminating racial discrimination".
Mr Davies has twice resigned from political office after speculation about his private life.
He left the Labour cabinet in 1998 after a "moment of madness" involving two men on Clapham Common, south London. He denied the incident had anything to do with sex.
He won a Welsh Assembly seat in 1999 but stood down before the elections in 2003 after a newspaper claimed he had been visiting a cruising spot near a motorway layby.
Mr Davies said he was actually badger-watching.
He resigned from the Labour Party in 2004, citing its stance on Iraq as one of his reasons.
My encounter with Monty Panesar does not get off to the best of starts. The publishers of his autobiography, Monty's Turn, have organised several one-on-one interviews on the terrace of a hotel overlooking the Thames at Hampton Court, and after The Daily Telegraph it is my turn. But first of all the Telegraph's photographer, for reasons known only to himself, wants his man in a rowing boat. Looking understandably bemused, Panesar clambers into the boat and rows out to the middle of the river, the photographer snapping away frantically as they almost come a cropper in the wash of a passing pleasure cruiser. Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, it has to be said, is no Steve Redgrave.
This surreal episode concludes after almost half an hour with their safe return to shore, but by then heavy clouds have started to invade Panesar's naturally sunny nature. Who knows, maybe that was the Telegraph man's fiendish intention. Whatever, I make what in retrospect is an unwise attempt to introduce some humour into the situation. For The Independent's photograph, I tell Panesar, we would like him to swim to the opposite bank. As an attempt to break the ice it is a spectacular failure. He glares at me. In his dark brown eyes there is fiery pride and indignation, which, were they not directed my way, I would be pleased to see. There is steel in this man, as well as sunshine.
Swiftly changing the subject, I ask whether he goes to Sri Lanka for the forthcoming Test series feeling the burden of expectation. After all, when he last played against Sri Lanka in a Test match, at Trent Bridge in June last year, he took 5 for 78 in the second innings. And one of the five was the barnstorming Sanath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankans know his capabilities.
"No," he says, "I still have a lot to prove to earn expectations. With more experience there will be expectations of me, but I don't feel it."
Whatever he says, his reputation already precedes him. In just 20 Tests, he already has six five-fors and one 10-wicket haul. His first Test wicket was that of his childhood hero Sachin Tendulkar. His first Ashes wicket was that of Justin Langer. His 73 Test victims also include Rahul Dravid (twice), Younis Khan (twice), Inzamam-ul-Haq (three times), Adam Gilchrist (for a duck), Matthew Hayden, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (twice). And he snared Tendulkar again, lbw for 16 at Lord's this summer. It is by any standards an impressive set of scalps, although it is less the identity of the batsmen than the manner in which he celebrates their downfall that has endeared him to the English public; whirling dervishes are less animated than Panesar when he takes a wicket.
In Sri Lanka, on turning pitches prepared for Muttiah Muralitharan, there will doubtless be more of the euphoric high-fiving. Not that he is counting any chickens, let alone wickets. "They [the Sri Lankan batsmen] are very skilful players of spin," he says. "It will be very testing for me. But it's really exciting. I'll be bugging Michael Vaughan a lot. He's toured Sri Lanka before and he's a great player of spin. He's scored a hundred against Murali, so I'll be picking his brain all the time. I hope he doesn't get annoyed. I'll be bugging him so much."
Panesar still has limited experience of Vaughan's captaincy; it was Andrew Flintoff who held the reins at the start of his Test career and Flintoff who told him, in the team meeting the evening before the first Test against India in Nagpur in March 2006, that he was going to make his debut the following day. In his book he recalls, sweetly, that he went straight back to his room, lay on the bed with his eyes closed and whispered to himself again and again that he was about to play cricket for England. He then found some sheets of paper and started marking down the fielding positions he wanted for each batsman. These he took along the corridor to Flintoff's room. In the book he records the captain's response.
"When I knocked on Flintoff's door and handed over the results he seemed a bit bemused. 'This is what I'm thinking of doing,' I said. 'Ah, OK,' he replied, sounding as puzzled as he looked. 'No worries at all, mate. I'll take it on board and you have a good night's sleep.' I decided I ought to leave quickly because I wasn't sure whether he wanted me in his room."
Vaughan, I suppose, might have been less thrown by the debutant's uncommon diligence. "He is different to the other captains I've had," Panesar says. "He sets different fields. Like for example, he has two men on the drive. Normally you will have an extra cover and a drive man. He has a drive man and an extra cover as a drive man. When I bowled at Trent Bridge to Dravid, he pushed one out and got caught at extra cover on the drive. That shows Michael Vaughan's thinking. It's amazing. Sometimes I'll be thinking, 'I want a gully', and I'll turn round and he's already got a gully in. I have total faith in what he says. Blind faith."
The 25-year-old is plainly sincere in his wide-eyed admiration for the most accomplished of his team-mates and the disbelief that he belongs in their orbit is diminishing only gradually. As for the adulation that he gets from the fans, it is hard to imagine him ever taking it as his due.
"It has been unbelievable," he says. "I treasure it, because it doesn't happen to everyone. When I'm fielding, I turn around and see people with fake beards and bandannas. So much warmth and love. I enjoy every minute of it."
I ask him whether he has occasionally felt in danger of becoming a figure of fun? After all, it is not every cricketer whose autobiography contains a reference in the index to catches, dropped. It is a subject covered on pages 39, 105-106, 109, 111, 112, 114, 123, 124, 127 and 140. Catches, held, by contrast, gets only page 112. And here is his description of a skier not so much dropped as mislaid in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
"I ran forward, looked up and saw a bit of sky, a lot of sun, but no red dot. Eventually I spotted the ball... And then I lost it again... I put my hands where I thought the ball would come down, held them there and felt nothing. I've read that it landed between two feet and three metres to my right."
He has been working hard, he tells me, to excise such moments of comic haplessness from his game. "I'm doing a lot of catching stuff with [the England coach] Peter Moores and [team analyst] Mark Garroway. We use these new fusion bats, which has a kind of cushioning on the bat and sends the ball so much higher than a normal bat. I'm getting closer [to becoming a decent fielder, I think he means, not to the descending ball]. But I'm not a natural athlete. I know it's something I need to keep working on."
Let's turn to what he is very good at already: orthodox left-arm spin. I ask whether he has developed a doosra (the off-spinner's delivery that turns from leg to off) for the Sri Lankan tour, in honour of its greatest exponent, Murali? He laughs delightedly, showing perfect, preternaturally white teeth.
"No, I haven't tried bowling the doosra. It will take time. It has taken Muralitharan time. It's good to have a doosra, definitely. But you can work on some new things so much that you forget what you've already got." Which is what? "An orthodox stock ball, with different variations of pace and different angles at the crease." Is there no secret weapon, then, like Murali's doosra or Shane Warne's flipper? He chuckles again; he appears to have forgotten his rowing-boat tribulations. "Not unless you know something I don't..."
There must have been times, though, when he has breached a batsman's defence by sheer guile, outwitting him? "To be honest, I'm still learning to really outwit batsmen. I'm not there yet, not like Shane Warne, bowling off stump, off stump, off stump, then slider ... lbw."
Panesar's modesty becomes him, but he is a fellow, I remind him, with 10 wickets in a Test match to his credit. "Yes, well, the man upstairs helps out, a few blessings from him. All I do is bowl stock ball, stock ball, stock ball, with little variations of pace. Outwitting a batsman is a different skill and I'm still only 25, which is pretty young for a spinner.
"I wouldn't say I've ever outwitted a batsman. If the ball kicks a bit more at pace and there's a chance for a bat/pad [catch], I might move a fielder close to get a bat/pad, but I think outwitting batsmen is a different kettle of fish. Bowling wide, wide, wide, then hitting off stump with the arm ball, that's an amazing skill, such a subtle art. David Parsons [England's spin-bowling coach] is helping me with that."
Is there anyone whose repertoire he covets? "Daniel Vettori; if I could be half as good as him ... or Bishan Bedi, you know. My father has talked a lot about him. His flight, his smoothness of action, all that artistry."
He considers the best spinner he has ever faced, however, to be Warne. "He makes you wait between deliveries, and you just feel his presence. In Sydney I came out as a nightwatchman, and Kevin Pietersen said to me 'Watch out for his slider, he'll beat you lbw with the slider'. He tossed it wide, wide, wide, then the slider came. Such a skill he has. Amazing."
There is a lovely story in Panesar's book about an episode during the third Test in Perth last year, when, while batting against Warne, he got so excited about picking the googly that he shouted "Googly" as the ball travelled towards him. The Aussie fielders made hay. "You're finished Warney, Monty's sussed you out," called Ricky Ponting. But when the series was finished, Warne sat with Panesar in the Australian dressing room at the Sydney Cricket Ground, sharing his insights into the art of spin. "I was a little bit afraid to ask him," Panesar tells me. "But Terry Jenner [Warne's coach] was in there, and I know him a bit, so I said, 'Do you think he'll talk to me?' He talked for about half an hour. He's a great, great man."
Panesar is endearingly eager to heap praise on all spin bowlers bar himself. He admits to studying Phil Tufnell scrupulously and adopting some of his methods. It's a good job, I venture, that he did not also adopt Tufnell's famously relaxed work ethic. Nobody will ever be able to criticise Panesar for not putting in the hours. On which subject, does he think it fair to conclude that his Sikhism, and the self-control it entails, has intensified his discipline as a cricketer?
"For me, religion is a faith and cricket is a dream; they are separate," he says, with a frown. Nonetheless, the discipline of teetotalism, for example, must be useful for a sportsman? Especially in the light of certain revelations about England cricketers getting tanked up.
"Any religion gives a sense of discipline," he says, impassively, "and that helps in cricket, just as the discipline in cricket helps in religion. They complement each other." He does not disapprove of occasional carousing on tour, he insists. "There is nothing wrong with a drink. We all want to enjoy ourselves sometimes, but it is not good in anything to go overboard." Especially in a rowing boat on the Thames, I almost add, but think better of it.
'Monty's Turn – Taking My Chances' by Monty Panesar is published by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £18.99
I'm delighted to send my warmest greetings to everyone in our Hindu and Sikh communities on the auspicious occasion of Diwali.
Diwali is such a wonderful inclusive festival, which reaches beyond your communities to people of many backgrounds all over the world. The symbolic lighting of lamps, representing life, hope and new beginnings sends a powerful message of unity and peace to us all.
I know that Diwali is a special time for families, who come together to celebrate and reflect on the year gone by.
And it also gives me an opportunity to recognise and reflect on the huge contribution made by British Hindu and Sikh communities to our country's prosperity and our culture. Your involvement in every sphere of our national life is something we can all immensely be proud of.
Once again, my very best wishes for a joyous occasion.
A Sikh teenager has been suspended from school for refusing to remove a religious bangle.
The parents of Sarika Singh, 14, are now considering a legal challenge against the school, a girls’ comprehensive school in Aberdare, South Wales, that taught the girl “in isolation” for nine weeks before excluding her.
Jane Rosser, the headmistress of Aberdare Girls’ School, said that the code of conduct permitted only two items of jewellery, a watch and a pair of plain metal stud earrings. The school bans all visible religious symbols, including Christian crosses and Muslim headscarves.
Miss Singh has won the backing of the Valleys Race Equality Council and her parents are now considering a challenge in the High Court.
The metal bangle, called a kara, is one of five items all Sikhs are expected to wear. It is supposed to be a visual reminder to do only good work with the hands. Miss Singh, who has been suspended for five days, began wearing it two years ago after a family visit to India, but the school took action only in September.
Her mother, Sanita Singh, said: “Sarika told us, ‘I don’t go to school any more, I go to prison’.”
Ian Blake, chairman of the school’s governing body, said: “We made our decision only after prolonged research into the previous stated cases across the UK, interrogation of the law, including human rights and race relations legislation.” The governors have rejected an appeal.
The mother of a 14-year-old Sikh girl is planning a legal challenge after her daughter was excluded from her school for wearing a religious wrist bangle.
Sarika Singh was sent home by the school after she refused to remove her silver Kara bangle as she felt it was “a constant reminder to do good.”
Aberdare Girls School in south Wales said it had a clear code of conduct and it had temporarily excluded a pupil for refusing to accept a ruling from the governors.
Jane Rosser, the head teacher, said that wearing the Kara was against regulations because it was a piece of jewellery.
The only two forms of jewellery that girls were allowed to wear in school were a wrist watch and one pair of plain metal stud earrings.
However the Sikh girl's supporters claimed the school's decision infringed her human rights.
The girl's mother Sanita Singh, 38, said she was taking legal advice and was considering seeking a judicial review.
She had the support of several local politicians and the Sikh Federation UK, she added.
She said the teenager would remove the bangle for gym classes, or wood and metalwork, for safety reasons.
She added: “It is not jewellery. It is part of our faith and symbol of our belief.”
She added: “We feel very strongly that Sarika has a right to manifest her religion. She is not asking for anything big and flashy, she is not making a big fuss, she just wants a reminder of her religion.”
Her daughter's interest in the Sikh faith intensified after the family visited India, including the Golden Temple in Amritsar, two years ago.
"I don't believe in putting pressure on children to follow a certain religion, but Sarika decided for herself that she wanted to be a practising Sikh,” Mrs Singh, a mother-of-two, added.
Sarika, of Cwmbach, near Aberdare, said: “I am a Sikh and it is very important for me to wear the Kara because it is a symbol of my faith and a constant reminder that I should only do good work, and never do anything bad, with my hands.
“It is a comfort to me and a confidence booster when I am doing my exams. The reason I am fighting for my right to wear the Kara is because I want to stand up for the right of all the other Sikh pupils across the country to wear their Karas in school.The governors rejected the girl's request to wear the bangle after examining the uniform policy and human rights legislation in detail.
The family has been backed by the Valleys Race Equality Council, whose director is the former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies.
He said: “We have arranged for her to see a solicitor and an application will be made to the High Court for a judicial review of the school's decision.
“We believe the school is acting in contravention both of the 1976 Race Relations Act and of human rights legislation.”
A leading member of the Sikh community and a south Wales AM have spoken in support of a 14-year-old excluded from school for wearing a religious bangle.
Sarika Singh has been temporarily excluded after Aberdare Girls School said her bangle or Kara broke its code of conduct, aimed at ensuring equality.
The secretary of Sikh Federation UK said the Kara was an article of faith and the school was breaking the law.
Leanne Wood AM said she was "surprised" by the school's decision.
Governors said they had made their decision after significant study of the legal background.
Sarika Singh was excluded for a day on Monday, and on Tuesday her mother said she was told she had been excluded for a fixed period.
Sarika has said of wearing the bangle: "It's very important to me, it constantly reminds me to do good and not to do bad, especially with my hands."
Jagtar Singh from the Sikh Federation UK claimed the school was breaching the 1976 Race Relations Act.
He said: "The department for education and schools in England have said that if a head teacher or governing body were to deny a Sikh child one of their articles of faith such as the bangle then they would be breaking the law.
"If you are a practising Sikh, you have no choice, you have to have the Kara. It is the one symbol that virtually every single Sikh wears."
Sarika's mother Sinita Singh has said the teenager would remove the bangle for gym classes, or wood and metalwork, for safety reasons.
She has spoken of her intention to take legal advice, saying: "She's not asking for anything big and flashy, she's not making a big fuss, she just wants a reminder of her religion."
Governors rejected Sarika's request to wear the bangle after a "significant period of research", examining the uniform policy and human rights legislation in detail.
When she continued to wear the bangle to classes, Sarika was excluded by head teacher Jane Rosser.
Ms Rosser said the school's strict code of conduct had been in place for many years and had been established to ensure equality.
She said: "The code clearly states the only two forms of jewellery that girls are allowed to wear in school is a wrist watch and one pair of plain metal stud earrings."
Ian Blake, chair of the school's governing body said the school continually reviewed the code to reflect the population of the school and its surrounding community.
"The fact remains the code has to be upheld and we made our decision only after a significant period of research into previous cases across the UK, interrogation of the law, including human rights and race relations legislation and seeking legal guidance from the Local Education Authority," he said.
'Discrimination issues'
South Wales Central AM Leanne Wood called for the assembly governnment to issue clear guidance for schools about pupils wearing religious symbols.
She said: "I'm surprised and disappointed at the decision of Aberdare Girl's School to exclude Sarika, and I've yet to be convinced that they've got a good reason for doing so."
A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson said there was no legislation in place specifically covering school uniforms, and whether a school's policy unlawfully breaches the Race Relations Act 1976 was a matter for the courts.
The spokesperson added: "School uniform and appearance issues including the wearing of jewellery, are local matters for individual schools to decide upon.
"The Welsh Assembly Government will shortly be issuing guidance on a range of issues associated with school uniform policies and the wearing of school uniform including equality, health and safety and discrimination issues."
BEAUTIFUL paintings, colourful clothing and informative displays were among the many exhibits seen by the many visitors to an exhibition depicting the fascinating world of Sikhism.
Scores of school pupils and residents have viewed the collection being shown at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara temple, in Newark Road, Fengate, Peterborough.
The exhibition was opened by chief exective of Peterborough City Council Gillian Beasley during a special ceremony attended by a host of city dignitaries including leader of the city council John Peach, Cllr John Holdich and Cllrs John and Judy Fox, and former chairman of Peterborough Race Equality Commission Harmesh Lakhanpaul.
Also attending the event were representatives from the Royal Anglian Regiment whose soldiers, many of whom have recently returned from serving in Afghanistan, were urging young Sikhs to choose the Army as a career option.
Sikhism in Peterborough has only a relatively short history. It started when a dozen Sikh families moved to the city to find work in the city’s brick factories in 1970, and a temple was soon built in Cromwell Road.
But as Peterborough has grown in the last 35 years, so has the Sikh community, and today there are more than 1,000 Sikhs living in the city, who worship at temples in Royce Road and Fengate.
The exhibition has been prepared by the Kohinoor Project Trust, a Leicester-based voluntary group which is supported by The National Lottery’s Awards for All scheme and Peterborough City Council.
It also received extensive help from the Punjabi Indian Community Association in Peterborough, and its president Ram Singh Kalra said it was proving a huge success so far.
Mr Kalra said: “We have had lots of schoolchildren coming in to look around the temple. We even had a group from Sleaford, in Lincolnshire, who were overwhelmed by it all.
“We want to make sure people know all about our religion and this is a great way of doing so.
Sikhs like to help people and welcome people from all walks of life. “A problem we do have is a perception that we are linked with the Taliban. Of course, this is not the case, and hopefully this festival will help get rid of this misconception.”
Visitors are able to make chapattis – a traditional Punjabi food – and also learn about other traditional recipes during their visit. They can also learn about the traditional Sikh costumes such as turban tying and trying on Punjabi suits.
Mr Kalra added: “This was a huge success, and I was told that the regiment (Royal Anglians) got a good response from the Sikhs who looked at their exhibition.”
The festival continues until November 25, to celebrate the birthday of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
n Group visits can still be arranged by calling 01733 562048 or 01733 324594. For more information, visit www.sikhwebsite.com
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Sikh civil rights group has filed a complaint with Fairfax County police after an officer allegedly used a religious slur to justify searching a man outside of a Centreville bar.
The complaint, filed last week, stems from an Oct. 5 dispute between Inderpal Singh Chawla and a bouncer at O’Tooles Restaurant Pub and Billiards. It alleges Chawla was turned away from the establishment after refusing to remove his turban. During the confrontation, a patron commented that he “probably has a bomb on his head,” according to the complaint. A nearby officer then told Chawla to “turn around and put his hands on the wall,” according to the document.
“Mr. Chawla responded ‘are you serious?’ To which the police officer stated, ‘Yes, apparently you have a bomb on your head,’ ” the complaint said.
The officer is not named in the Oct. 24 complaint, filed by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Fairfax County police have begun an administrative investigation into the group’s claim, said Lt. Chris Marsh, commander of the department’s internal affairs investigations division. Marsh would not comment on specifics of the case. The review, he said, could take as long as 60 to 90 days.
“We have a strict policy against any sort of racial or religious discrimination. We take it very seriously,” he said. “This case will be investigated as thoroughly as possible.”
But neither side has been able to identify the officer, which could complicate any investigation. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund was able to describe the officer only as a “white male,” according to Marsh.
The inability to name him “doesn’t inspire any confidence in us that the investigation is going to go well,” said Rajbir Singh Datta, the group’s national director. The department receives a “tremendous number of baseless complaints,” though all are taken seriously, said Marshall Thielen, president of the county’s police union. Thielen said he was not familiar with Chawla’s case. Practicing Sikh men refrain from cutting their beards or hair, which is often wrapped and covered with a turban.
Neither Chawla nor the owner of O’Tooles Restaurant Pub and Billiards could be reached forhttp://www.examiner.com/a-
A delegation of British Sikhs this week demanded in parliament that they should be permitted to carry their ceremonial dagger, the Kirpan, through security checks at the European Parliament, at Windsor Castle, the London Eye and other places protected by tight security.
The delegation met the All Party Parliamentary Group for UK Sikhs and told them in a briefing document: “The Passport Office, Immigration Offices, Driving Standards Agency offices, some schools, London Eye, Windsor Castle etc. are all operating security policies without conducting a proper evidence-based risk analysis regarding the Sikh Kirpan. Institutions such as the European Parliament and the UN Human Rights Council have also denied practising Sikhs from the UK the right to meet elected representatives in person in Brussels or raise issues about religious freedoms in Geneva. Practising Sikhs are therefore being denied free access to public places in the UK and elsewhere, unless they are prepared to compromise their religious identity.”
The Sikh delegation insisted that the dagger was an essential “article of faith” that all observant Sikhs must carry. The Government had promised to create a code of practice that would offer guidance on this matter, but had so far not come up with it. Since 9/11 the situation had changed dramatically.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: “This is utterly ridiculous. I was stopped and interrogated at an airport in the United States because I had omitted to remove a very small corkscrew from my hand baggage. I had forgotten it was in there and, of course, gave it up instantly it was detected on the x-ray machine. The idea that a large dagger could be permitted on air liners or in places such as parliamentary buildings that are prime targets for terrorists is completely crazy. Don’t these people know that knives were used to hijack the planes that were used in the attack on New York?
Mr Sanderson continued: “Who is to say that once such an item is through security it can’t be stolen and misused or even that its owner might have malign intentions. This is taking the religious symbols argument way too far – and those requesting this exemption are quite obviously looking to create a confrontation in which they can once again portray themselves as victims of discrimination. They may well find that on this occasion it will backfire on them.
“They claim to want equality. If that’s true, then they shouldn’t demand ‘rights’ that are denied to everyone else on the planet.” 2 November 2007
A GROUP of 15 Sikhs from Slough joined 150 others lobbying 25 politicians, including Slough MP Fiona Mactaggart, at the houses of Parliament on Tuesday.
The group raised issues concerning human rights in Punjab and a possible code of practice covering Sikh articles of faith to ensure their rights in public places.
The group also held a candlelit vigil for the 20,000 Sikh victims of the pogroms of November 1984 in Parliament Square
