Irish Police Commissioner Noel Conroy has agreed to meet Sikh community leaders to discuss the ban on turbans imposed on officers.

The move comes after a Sikh trainee officer was told that he could not wear the turban on duty.

Members of Ireland's Sikh community are hoping to convince police to change the ruling.

But police say that religious symbols could lead the public to believe that they are not acting "impartially".

The man, who had already passed three stages of his training, was told of the ban before starting the fourth - in which he would have been working with members of the public.

The Republic's police force, known as An Garda Siochana, requires all officers to wear standard issue uniform - including a cap.

A statement issued on behalf of An Garda said that the public may view variations of the uniform as an indication that the force was not "policing all sections of society equally".

A spokesman for the force told the BBC that they were currently "examining" their policy on all religious symbols, including crucifixes and pioneer pins.

But the president of the Irish Sikh Council, Harpreet Singh, told BBC Radio Five Live that the turban was "a mandatory article of faith that a Sikh cannot take off".

He argued that the rules meant that An Garda were "asking the whole Sikh community to stay out of the police force".

Philip Watt, from the Irish Republic's National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, also told BBC Radio that he thought the police had got it wrong.

"They've perhaps not thought it through full enough, and I think they should go back and review this decision now," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6966535.stm

The Irish Sikh Council (ISC) has denied weekend media reports that it is considering a High Court challenge against An Garda Síochána over the wearing of turbans.

The row broke out after it emerged a Sikh recruit to the Garda Reserve was told he would not be allowed wear his turban on duty.

It had been reported that the ISC had sought advice from representatives of a police officer who successfully overturned a similar ban in New York.

But ISC president Harpreet Singh said no decision has been made on a legal challenge. "The Irish Sikh Council is very much hopeful that the issue can be amicably resolved," he said.

Members of the Sikh community are to meet Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy next week to discuss the issue.

The Garda has rejected claims that its decision to ban the turban from its official uniform was religiously or racially motivated.

Mr Conroy said last week that the Garda sought the advice of UK police forces and met representatives of the approximately 1,000-strong Sikh community in Ireland before deciding that Sikh gardaí in Ireland would not wear a turban.

The issue has forced the Garda to say it will review the wearing of ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday, of crucifixes and of pioneer pins with the official uniform. "All religious items are being reviewed," a spokesman said.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0827/breaking28.htm

26 August 2007  By John Burke
The Irish Sikh Council is considering mounting a High Court challenge aimed at overturning Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy’s ban on Sikhs wearing their traditional turban while on Garda duty.

The Sikh council has also confirmed to The Sunday Business Post that it made contact with representatives of a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer who successfully overturned a similar ban in the New York police force.

President of the Sikh council, Harpreet Singh, said the council intended to ‘‘take the necessary steps in the event that there is no change of position from the Garda’’ after a Sikh Garda Reserve recruit was told he could not wearing his turban while on duty.

The wearing of the turban is considered a religious act by members of the Sikh faith.

Sikh police officers in Britain, Canada and New York are permitted to wear a turban on duty. Singh said the council was examining the issue from a European law perspective but that it would not launch a legal action until meaningful dialogue had ended.

Conroy released a statement late last week re-affirming Garda management’s decision to ban Sikhs from wearing a turban instead of the traditional Garda cap.

In a strongly-worded statement, Conroy said he believed a variation to standard Garda uniform and dress, including those with religious symbolism, ‘‘may portray an image of the force that the public would not want’’.

The statement outlined that the policy was binding on all members of the force, irrespective of religious beliefs.

http://www.thepost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=26139-qqqx=1.asp

Sikh Turbans, A Mandatory Article of the Sikh Faith, Listed as Item to be Screened at U.S. Airports

NEW YORK, Aug 25, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Sikh Coalition, the nation's largest Sikh civil rights organization, strongly opposes new headwear screening procedures put in place by the Transportation Security Administration on August 4, 2007. TSA officials told the Sikh Coalition that the new Standard Operating Procedure includes a guidance recommending that America's 43,000 airport screeners pull aside turban-wearing travelers for secondary screening, based solely on their headwear.

The turban is the only form of religious garb specifically identified by the TSA as an example of headwear that could lead to secondary screening at security checkpoints. Other examples include cowboy hats and berets. The TSA's policy accounts for no difference between the turban, a religious requirement, and fashion headwear.

"Telling screeners to search people in turbans is the same as telling them to search black people or Arabs or Muslims. The policy allows screeners to single out travelers on the basis of their religion. The message this sends to the public is that people who wear turbans are dangerous," said Amardeep Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. "That attitude challenges the spirit of religious pluralism on which our country was built."

The new policy revokes standard procedures, created in November 2001 to address Americans' national security concerns, while safeguarding religious freedom. That policy required TSA screeners to search Sikhs' turbans only when they had not successfully cleared a metal detector. Screeners were required to do as much as possible to avoid physically touching the turban. The new procedures recommend physical pat-downs of the turban, without acknowledging the religious sensitivities involved, and do not include any guidance on how to perform these manual checks.

In addition, these procedures were implemented without input from community groups, and the text of the policy is now being kept secret. Earlier policies had been the result of a joint effort between the Sikh Coalition and the Department of Transportation.

Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of Sikhs have been harassed, beaten, and even killed because of the association of their turbans and beards with terrorism. The TSA procedures put an official stamp of approval on this harmful stereotyping by the public.

http://www.sikhcoalition.org

US Sikh organisations have expressed anger over changes allowing airport security staff to "pat down" turbans.

Until now turbans have been searched or removed only to resolve an unexplained alarm from an airport metal detector.

But now security will have greater discretion to inspect turbans so that they can be manually checked for objects such as non-metallic weapons.

However Sikh groups have responded to the new measures by describing them as outrageous and discriminatory.

Sikh men wear turbans to cover their hair, which they leave uncut in accordance with their religion.

Organisations representing Sikhs have only recently completed a publicity campaign to explain the significance of the kirpan, or religious sword, to security officials.

The Transportation Security Administration insisted the new policy was necessary to counter the threat of improvised bombs and chemical weapons.

In Britain, the government said recently that private searches of turbans might be necessary as part of airport security.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6963314.stm

'I never thought I'd I'd see my face on a bus'

Interview by Elizabeth Flerlage

Published: 20 August 2007

The parents of a Sikh girl want to convert her to Roman Catholicism to win a place at the school of their choice.

Baljit and Bal Singh say they will change their four-year-old daughter's religion if it means she can attend their favoured school next month.

Maya Kaur has been attending a nursery at St Paul's Roman Catholic School in Wolviston, Cleveland, for the past two years.

But her parents have been told there is no place available for her when she starts full-time education in a few weeks.

After losing an appeal, the couple say they are seriously considering changing her religion in the hope she may be allowed into the school, which gives priority to Catholic children.

Mr Singh said: "We think Sikhism is similar to Roman Catholicism so we put her in that school. She's been there for two years, she goes to church with them, she says a prayer before she eats her dinner.

"I'll baptise her as Roman Catholic so she can go to the school."

St Paul's admissions policy gives priority to children who have been baptised Roman Catholic, have been formally received into the Catholic church and live in the catchment area, or who have a sibling at the school. Priority then goes to other Christian denominations before children of other faiths.

The Singhs' extraordinary proposal is likely to be frowned upon within the Sikh religion, which takes some of its identity from ancestors who were persecuted and martyred for refusing to convert to other faiths.

Among the stories taught within the faith is that of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the founding gurus of Sikhism who was beheaded in 1675 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for refusing to convert to Islam.

The Singhs insisted that they were doing nothing wrong in trying to get the best for their daughter.

"Two years ago when they took her into the nursery why didn't they say she wouldn't get a place straight away in the primary school?" said Mr Singh.

"I would have got her baptised then - or I'd have put her in another school."

Maya has been offered a place at William Cassidi School, a nearby Church of England school. But her parents claim she is upset and wants to remain with her friends.

Catherine Connelly, head at St Paul's, said the school had received 34 applications this year, compared to the norm of 24. The class size had also been expanded to the legal limit of 30.

"We are proud of our school's inclusive nature and we have children of several different faiths and ethnic groups," she said.

"We allocated the places according to our published admissions criteria which all parents had access to."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=476449&in_page_id=1770

VANCOUVER -Passport Canada will issue an apology --and travel documents -- to three Sikh children whose passport applications were rejected because they were wearing religious headgear. The federal agency will also offer remedial training to passport staff to ensure a similar incident doesn't happen in the future, spokesman Fabien Lengelle said yesterday. "It is resolved," Mr. Lengelle said. "As soon as we became aware of the issue, we called the parents and offered corrective measures." Lakhwinder Kaur Sidhu had mailed passport applications to Ottawa for herself and her husband along with their three children, Gurleen Kaur, 9, Ravneet Kaur, 7, and Gurmant Singh, 4, on May 15. All five had included passport photos in which they were wearing their religious headgear. Although Ms. Sidhu and her husband, Hardip, received their passports last week, the children's applications were denied because their photos did not meet the specifications, as the wearing of a "head covering is unacceptable." Her son was wearing a patka, which is knotted at the top to keep the hair intact, while the girls were wearing head scarves. Sikhs wear head coverings as part of their religious observance after they are baptized.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=a5b9370c-5dde-4649-b653-01428648ab16

London, Aug. 14: A Sikh man belonging to a volunteer reserve police force in Ireland has been banned from wearing his headgear.

The Sikh man, who has not been named, is a qualified IT professional who decided to join the Garda Reserve, the volunteer reserve section of Ireland’s police force Garda Siochana.

Ireland’s integration minister Conor Lenihan on Monday said that immigrants to the country must accept Ireland’s culture but acknowledged the importance of the turban in the Sikh community.

"If we are to take integration seriously, people who come here must understand our way of doing things. When the President and ministers travel to West Asia, they accept cultural requirements of the country and the culture they are operating in. It is a vice versa situation with regard to Ireland," he said. Male Sikhs are required by religion to cover their hair at all times by a turban, an article of faith and an intrinsic aspect of their identity.

As turbans are worn by Sikh police officers elsewhere, most notably the London metropolitan police, a compromise may be reached, news portal independent.ie, a website reported.

In June, Sikhs in France filed a case before the (ECHR) in Strasbourg challenging a French law that demands that turbans be taken off while being photographed for identity cards after Shingara Mann Singh, 52, a French national for over 20 years, was denied a replacement driver’s licence in 2005 and again in 2006 because he refused to remove his turban. (IANS)

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/international/ireland-bans-sikh-from-wearing-his-turban.aspx

London, Aug. 12: Sikh taxi driver Davinder Singh, who complained to police after allegedly suffering a torrent of racial abuse from an aristocratic customer — the Marquess of Blandford — would have understood all, forgiven all and perhaps even sympathised with his tormentor if only he had been familiar with Satyajit Ray’s depiction of the crumbling of a once great zamindari family in Jalshaghar.

Although he belongs to one of the noblest families in the land, the 51-year-old Marquess of Blandford could have inspired an evocative film on the last days of an old aristocratic English line had a person such as Ray existed in Britain.

To the tabloids, Charles James Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, born November 24, 1955, and heir, as his eldest son, to John George Vanderbilt Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, has long been a ridiculous figure.

Marquess he might be and a distant relative of Sir Winston Churchill, but “Jamie Blandford” is now considered the upper class equivalent of Jade Goody, the reality television character with whom Shilpa Shetty clashed on Celebrity Big Brother. However, Jamie appears to have few of Jade’s redeeming qualities.

All of Britain, with the exception of Davinder obviously, also knows that Jamie’s main claim to fame is that he is the UK’s best-known upper class drug addict.

In fact, Jamie’s father is so fed up with his son that he has announced that his inheritance will pass not to son but his son’s son, George Spencer-Churchill.

The boy was born in 1992 to Jamie and his first wife, Rebecca Mary Few Brown, (Rebecca, Marchioness of Blandford), whom he married in 1990 and divorced in 1998. George, incidentally, is called the Earl of Sunderland.

But there is nothing that the 11th Duke can do to stop Jamie becoming the 12th Duke of Marlborough when he dies.

To complicate matters and make all this sound though it was all taken from the pages of a P.G. Wodehouse novel, Jamie’s second marriage to one Edla Griffiths (Marchioness of Blandford), took place on March 1, 2002, at Woodstock Register Office. Although Jamie and his second wife have been living apart since 2004, their daughter, Araminta Clementine Megan Spencer-Churchill (Lady Araminta Spencer-Churchill) was born on April 8 this year.

The latest drama in the life of Jamie took place when one morning recently he summoned a cab from his ancestral home in the Blenheim Palace estate, Oxfordshire, to go to Coventry Crown Court where the heir to the Dukedom of Marlborough was facing a charge of dangerous driving and cutting up, of all people, a policeman on the M42. full Story...........................

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070813/asp/nation/story_8186676.asp

Energy ConsumptionSikhs in India have taken the first steps in reducing the use of fossil fuels in their 28,000 gurdwaras, or temples.

Each gurdwara runs a free kitchen where anyone can be fed, regardless of creed, race or need.

The Sikh community gives food to about 30 million people a day, with the five great gurdwaras of Delhi feeding more than 10,000 people daily.

The new initiative will see solar power installed at Delhi's eight biggest gurdwaras to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used for heating, lighting and cooking. Fuel-efficient cooking stoves will then be installed in rural gurdwaras to reduce energy consumption by 15 per cent.

ECO COFFINS

A unique eco-coffin project in South Africa aims to help rid the country of invasive tree species while also lending a hand to poor people faced with high burial costs.

South Africa has a big problem with invasive trees such as pines and wattles which are draining the land of scarce water resources.

At the same time South Africa's high level of HIV is causing real financial hardship to families, who have to deal with unprecedented numbers of funerals.

The plan is to make coffins out of the timber of these species, selling some at cost to poor people through churches and Hindu temples, and the rest at a higher prices to wealthier families to help support the initiative.

YELLOW-EARED PARROT

Five years ago, two Colombian species - the yellow-eared parrot and the Quindio wax palm - were on the verge of extinction.

But, thanks to a partnership between the Roman Catholic church and environmentalists, both have been saved in one of Latin America's most successful biodiversity conservation campaigns.

Millions of wax palm fronds had been used in Colombia and the United States for Palm Sunday processions, and the practice was killing the trees and destroying the parrots' habitat.

Now, people carry ordinary palms and the parrot population stands at 660 - a remarkable increase from the previously recorded 81. The campaign has gained extraordinary support in Colombia where even rebel guerrilla groups ban the sale of palms and parrots.

For more of Arc's projects, visit www.arcworld.org .

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?tPK=18094565&folderPk=75999&pNodeId=146265

The Irish Independent reports today that a Sikh member of the Garda Reserve will be prohibited from wearing his ceremonial headdress (turban) while on duty. Minister for Integration, Conor Lenihan, has backed the ruling.

The decision is in contrast to the positions of other forces, such as the London Metropolitan Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who allow Sikh members to wear their turbans, a vital part of the rules of their religion. Sikh men are prohibited from cutting their hair or appearing in public without the turban.

It is not clear whether the Garda Reserve member in question will continue with the force or resign his post.

http://www.politics.ie/news_index.php?topic_id=25431

Now it seems that even getting to court is causing problems for the troubled Marquess of Blandford.

He is facing more hot water after being accused of racially abusing a Sikh taxi driver who had driven to collect him for an appearance at Coventry Crown Court.

The revelation comes just days after the wayward aristocrat faced Oxford Crown Court for an unprovoked road rage attack.

It was in July that driver Davinder Singh responded to a booking to take Charles James Spencer-Churchill, known as Jamie Blandford, to the West Midlands for a morning appearance on a different driving matter.

The 51-year-old peer, son of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, called for a cab to pick him up from his farm home, in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, to take him to Coventry.

Mr Singh, 46, said his problems began when he rang to check the exact location of the rural residence. He claims they escalated when he arrived and was greeted by a torrent of abuse. Blandford never made it to court that day.

The shocked driver contacted police and Blandford was arrested and questioned on suspicious of racially-aggravated behaviour the following day.

Last night Mr Singh told how he had been 'paralysed' with shock by the incident.

"It was just unbelievable," said the father-of-four. "I can put up with rudeness but not racism. There is just no excuse for it.

"I was having trouble finding his house so I called him and he said 'Why are you f***ing ringing me? You are the taxi driver you should know where you are f***ing going'."

The driver claimed that when he arrived he was greeted by even more derogatory racial remark and called a Hindu.

"He said I should remember I was a guest in this country and I replied that I was British," said Mr Singh.

"He looked me up and down and said 'You? British?'.

"I was just completely shocked."

Mr Singh, who has been a taxi driver for almost 25 years, said it was then that he turned down the £120 fare and drove off.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=474046&in_page_id=1770

An impression has been created that Monty Panesar is the first Sikh cricketer to represent England. The idea is fast gaining ground because even the hallowed compendium of cricket, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, mentioned in its 2007 edition that no Sikh cricketer has played for any nation other than India.

This statement, however, is not based on facts. The first Sikh cricketer to play for England (then MCC) was Bhupendrasingh, the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1926-27, Bhupendrasingh played in two unofficial Tests under Arthur Gilligan against India. The matches were held in Bombay and in Calcutta.

Bhupendrasingh was not a left-arm spinner in the mould of Monty Panesar but a hard-hitting right-handed batsman, exceptionally strong with the cut and the pull. In 1911, at the age of 19, he had toured England with the Patiala’s All-India team and had created quite an impression.

After representing England in unofficial Tests in 1926-27, he was billed to lead India in the inaugural official Test match. Actually he was selected to captain India in England in 1932, but official duty made it impossible for him to make himself available. As a result, Natwarsinhji, the Maharaja of Porbandar, was nominated the captain. Ultimately, both Natwarsinhji and his deputy, Ghanashyamsinhji, the Maharaja of Limdi, stepped down voluntarily, which enabled the talented C.K. Nayudu to lead India in the inaugural Test.

Bhupendrasingh of Patiala lost his chance to be the leader of the team in an official Test match. Ironically, the same fate befell his son, Yadavendrasingh, the Yuvraj of Patiala. Yadavendrasingh was a batsman of class. He had immense power in his stroke-play and was a magnificent driver of the ball. Like his father, he had a rasping square cut and could be relied to pull the ball high and handsome.

Fathers and sons

He made his debut in the official Test in Madras in 1933-34 against Douglas Jardine’s team. In the first innings, he was India’s highest scorer with a superlative 60 against the likes of Clarke, Nicholls and Verity. In the next innings, he had another creditable outing, scoring 24 runs. That was the last Test of the series and Yadavendrasingh got no other opportunities that season.

However, in 1935-36, Jack Ryder’s Australia came to play a four-Test unofficial series against India. In the first Test, Yadavendrasingh led India but in the following two Tests, he played under the leadership of Nayudu and WazirAli respectively. Thereafter his career paralleled that of his father’s. In 1932, Bhupendrasingh had not been able to lead India in an official Test match. This time around, his son failed to do the same, although he was the favourite, along with Nayudu and WazirAli, for the captaincy.

Indian cricket, even then, was a hub of corruption and parochialism. The undeserving Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, ‘Vizzy’ for short, was appointed India’s captain to England in 1936 while deserving candidates such as Nayudu and Wazir Ali went as ordinary members.

Worse, Yadavendrasingh could not make it to England. If he had gone on that tour, the whole history of Indian cricket would have been written differently. On that tour, India had a fine set of players. But Vizzy’s inept handling of players led to failure. Unlike Vizzy, Yadavendrasingh would have made a wonderful captain. He would have been able to harness the talents of his players and led them to success. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Both father and son, though deserving, missed out on captaining India in an official Test. However, the fact remains that Bhupendrasingh was the first Sikh cricketer to have played for England. Monty Panesar is merely following in the great man’s footsteps.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070801/asp/opinion/story_8088845.asp

For millions of Sikhs around the world, the names Singh and Kaur are imbued with religious significance. Every baptized boy is given the name Singh and every girl the name Kaur to symbolize unity and to remove names used to identify social standing in India's caste system.

But none of that symbolism mattered to Citizen and Immigration Canada. Until this week when a Calgary woman complained publicly, officials in the New Delhi office of the Canadian High Commission routinely told Indian immigration applicants the surnames were too common to process quickly and would have to be changed.

An Immigration Canada spokeswoman first said the policy had been in place for 10 years to help officials with the paperwork and allow them to identify files accurately. But when the story became public, the department quickly tried to call it a misunderstanding based on a "poorly worded letter" and insisted no such practice existed.

But the letter from the high commission office that Tarrinder Kaur of Calgary received was very clear: "The names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada," it said. Kaur's husband Jaspal Singh was forced to legally change his name in India so his immigration application would be processed in time for the birth of their child next month.

While Ottawa deserves credit for finally eliminating this disgraceful policy, it must ensure that bureaucratic convenience never again takes precedence over people's customs or religious beliefs.

At the same time, Ottawa and its officials abroad must never forget the power they wield over would-be immigrants and their relatives who are already here. The fact that few Sikhs in Canada ever complained openly about the policy is a telling sign of their fear of jeopardizing the immigration hopes of their relatives back home.

Canadians have learned that cultural and religious sensitivity are essential in a nation that prides itself on being one of the most multicultural in the world. One that score, our government would do well to follow the example of the people.

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/240717

A Calgary woman waiting for her husband to arrive in Canada is upset by a long-standing immigration policy that forces people with the surname Singh or Kaur to change their last names.

Tarvinder Kaur, who is pregnant, said her husband Jaspal Singh's application to become a permanent resident has been delayed for well over a month because of his last name.

He has no choice but to legally change his name in India so he can get to Calgary before she gives birth next month, she said.

CBC News has obtained a copy of a letter sent from the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi to Singh's family stating that "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada."

"Why are we needing to make a different last name?" said Kaur. "You choose what your last name is going to be and if it's always been a certain way, then why should you have to change it?"

Traditional Sikh names

Singh and Kaur are common names in the Sikh community. In a tradition that began more than 300 years ago, the name Singh is given to every baptized male and Kaur to every baptized female Sikh.

The names are used differently by different people. Some use Singh or Kaur as middle names, while others use them as their last names.

Karen Shadd-Evelyn, a spokeswoman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the policy preventing people from immigrating to Canada with those last names has been in place for the last 10 years.

"I believe the thinking behind it in this case is because it is so common. [With] the sheer numbers of applicants that have those as their surnames, it's just a matter for numbers and for processing in that visa office."

Citizenship and Immigration Canada says there is no such policy against other common last names.

Kaur, who was born in Canada, says that's unacceptable.

"If it's going to be a standard policy it should be standard with all common last names. Why is it that it's only Singh or Kaur that's being attacked by this?"

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/07/23/names-immigration.html

A Sikh-Canadian group is slamming the long-standing immigration policy that forces people with the surname Singh or Kaur to change their last names.

Jasbeer Singh, of the World Sikh Organization, said the policy is incredibly out of synch in this day and age.

"The reason we should be concerned is this is a very sneaky attack on our individual rights and freedoms and persona," Singh said. "Today they are challenging or don't like Singh or Kaur. Tomorrow they will not like Mohammed. And how soon will it be before they are asking all Browns and Smiths to change their names?"

The policy came to light after a Calgary woman waiting for her husband to arrive in Canada learned her husband's application to become a permanent resident has been delayed for well over a month because of his last name.

The Citizenship and Immigration department says the policy to ask people to provide a third name has been around for 10 years. It's used only in the New Delhi visa office and does not apply to any other last names.

Karen Shadd-Evelyn, a spokeswoman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the reason for the policy is that it helps officials with the paperwork and allows them to identify people's files quickly, efficiently and accurately

A Sikh-Canadian group is slamming the long-standing immigration policy that forces people with the surname Singh or Kaur to change their last names.

Jasbeer Singh, of the World Sikh Organization, said the policy is incredibly out of synch in this day and age.

Immigration Canada sent a letter to Jaspal Singh stating "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada." (Click the link, right, for a larger, PDF version.)

"The reason we should be concerned is this is a very sneaky attack on our individual rights and freedoms and persona," Singh said. "Today they are challenging or don't like Singh or Kaur. Tomorrow they will not like Mohammed. And how soon will it be before they are asking all Browns and Smiths to change their names?"

The policy came to light after a Calgary woman waiting for her husband to arrive in Canada learned her husband's application to become a permanent resident has been delayed for well over a month because of his last name.

The Citizenship and Immigration department says the policy to ask people to provide a third name has been around for 10 years. It's used only in the New Delhi visa office and does not apply to any other last names.

Karen Shadd-Evelyn, a spokeswoman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the reason for the policy is that it helps officials with the paperwork and allows them to identify people's files quickly, efficiently and accurately.

Singh and Kaur are common names in the Sikh community. In a tradition that began more than 300 years ago, the name Singh is given to every baptized male and Kaur to every baptized female Sikh. There are millions of Singhs and Kaurs around the world.

Shadd-Evelyn said that while the department recognizes the tradition of having the names Singh and Kaur, it's their understanding that it is already a common practice for people in the Sikh community to have a third name.

"Generally, when we ask for that, they are accustomed to that and are used to providing a third name," she said. "They have it. It's not something that they're just making up on the spot."

Immigration lawyer Peter Wong said the policy is enforced only some of time. None of his clients has ever officially complained, he said.

"Most people don't find it worthwhile to do and are, quite frankly, scared that they're going to be hurting their immigration applications for their loved ones."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/24/name-singh.html?ref=rss

NEW DELHI: Endless buffets, rivers of alcohol and extravagant decorations have become staples at upper-class Indian weddings — but Sikh leaders are considering creating guidelines to tone down the glittering events, a newspaper reported Saturday.

A group of Sikh leaders called for a July 28 meeting of representatives from New Delhi's more than 400 Sikh gurdwaras, or temples, to discuss ways to rein in over-the-top weddings, the Times of India reported.

"The committee feels that ostentatious weddings are leading to increasing competition among families to outdo each other," Paramjit Singh Sarna, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said in the report.

"A lot of money is being wasted," he said.

India's economic growth has surged in recent years, with the gross domestic product — the total value of goods and services produced in the country — growing by more than 8 percent annually in the past four years.

The boom has created a new class of incredibly wealthy Indians who can afford palatial homes, imported luxury cars and wildly elaborate weddings, often at five-star hotels.

The religion of Sikhism was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak, who broke from Hinduism, India's dominant religion. He preached the equality of races and genders, and the rejection of image-worship and the caste system.

Sikhs make up less than 2 percent of India's nearly 1.1 billion people.

The Sikh leaders said the deluxe wedding trend puts an unfair burden on brides' families, who traditionally pay for the parties.

"Our fight is against this exploitation by those who pose demands on the girl's family to organize elaborate weddings," the newspaper quoted the group's general secretary, Balbir Singh, as saying. "The ceremony should be simple."

Sarna said it was more a matter of values than taste.

"The idea is to create moral responsibility within the community," he said.

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee could not immediately be reached for comment on the report Saturday.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/14/asia/AS-GEN-India-Extravagant-Weddings.php

July 12, 2007

SACRAMENTO — The state Board of Education declined to act Thursday on new complaints from the Sikh community about a seventh-grade textbook the Sikhs say is offensive.

The board voted in March to ask a textbook publisher to remove a picture of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, that many followers said was offensive and inaccurate.

The controversial image in "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600" shows Guru Nanak wearing a crown and with a closely cropped beard. The depiction runs contrary to Sikh faith, which requires observant men to wear a turban and not to shave their facial hair.

Many of the same people who argued at the March meeting were back before the board Thursday, unsatisfied with publisher Oxford University Press' plan to reprint the textbooks and replace the approximately 520 copies that have been distributed so far to 16 California school districts.

The Sikhs argued that the inaccurate picture should have been replaced with a more accurate one, not removed entirely. The revised textbook will have no picture at all accompanying its description of the Sikh faith, further worsening the problem Sikhs said they face when people confuse them with members of other religions, such as Islam.

The book is "wonderfully, lavishly illustrated," so the absence of an accurate picture of Guru Nanak is even more glaring, said Jeff Brodd, a religious studies professor at Sacramento State University who testified at Thursday's hearing.

Those who spoke at the meeting also objected to the title accompanying Guru Nanak's name in several places in the book, in which the word 'devi' is used. Devi is a feminine title, not for men, they said.

"It's like calling a king a queen, a Mr. a Mrs.," said speaker Prubhjot Parhar.

The board didn't take a vote on the Sikhs' request, but Tom Adams, director of curriculum for the state Department of Education, said he would contact the publisher immediately and try to have the title corrected if the new texts have not yet been printed.

Oxford plans to distribute the new books to the school districts this summer, he said.

In other action, the board voted to oppose AB1177, a bill by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana, that would set up a three-year pilot project to create alternative instructional materials for about 25,000 English learners.

Board members were concerned the program would undermine their authority to approve all instructional materials used in California classrooms.

40.trb.com/news/ktxl-071207sikh,0,1220472.story?coll=ktxl-news-1

San Grewal
Staff Reporter
In response to what it describes as a “dishonest and highly offensive” characterization made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a $110 million civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of the World Sikh Organization against the national broadcaster.

The lawsuit, filed in the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto also names reporter Terry Milewski and Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh for comments they made in a June 28, 2007 feature story titled “Samosa Politics” that aired on The National.

A similar version of the story, which linked Sikh extremism to the WSO and highlighted its ties to the mainstream Canadian political scene, also aired on CBC Radio, with a print version posted on the CBC News website.

The WSO describes itself as a non-profit human rights group established in 1984 with national bodies around the world that defend not only Sikhs but the rights of all people. Representatives would not say how many members there are in Canada or worldwide.

“It is the WSO’s view that the CBC documentary contained significant and numerous factual misrepresentations about the World Sikh Organization,” said Gian Singh Sandhu, a policy advisor with the group’s Canadian body, who spoke at a press conference held today in downtown Toronto.

“The WSO’s lawsuit for defamation, libel and slander arises from the airing of the documentary noted above.”

Sandhu added that the story, which he says was written about in Indian newspapers and mentioned by media in other parts of the world, has resulted in, “significant damage to the reputation of the WSO and the Sikh community.”

A CBC spokesperson said the broadcaster was not aware of the suit until it was informed about the press conference yesterday and that “if and when” the suit was received it would be given “due consideration.” Until then, the CBC will not make any comment.

A spokesperson for Mr. Dosanjh, MP for Vancouver South, said he had not been served as of 4 pm eastern time and had no comment about the suit, but stood behind his statements made in the CBC news story.

When asked what Mr. Dosanjh specifically said in the story that the WSO objected to, Mr. Sandhu said it was obvious that the MP was making a connection between the WSO and Sikh extremism.

A segment of the story included comments by Dosanjh, stating that at the Dec. 2006 Liberal leadership convention in Montreal the WSO exercised significant influence. He then states that a Sikh delegate told Dosanjh’s wife, not knowing who she was, not to vote for Bob Rae.

Dosanjh then states in the story that the delegate said Rae, in a 2005 report to the federal government, was openly critical of Sikh extremists behind the 1985 Air India bombing, and should not be supported.

As for factual errors that the WSO believes were included in Milewski’s reporting, Sandhu said after the press conference that, contrary to what appears in the news story, a man with alleged ties to convicted Air India-bomb maker Inderjit Reyat, named Daljit Singh Sandhu, was never the leader of the WSO.

Another mistake, according to Sandhu, is the CBC news story’s assertion that the WSO released a 2000 press release with the title: “Sikhs did not bomb Air India 182”, which, according to the CBC “claimed that a cargo door fell off the plane.”

“There was no such press release from the WSO,” Sandhu said.

He added that the story’s characterization of a 1984 convention at New York’s Madison Square Garden where Sikhs were videotaped calling for violence, as a WSO event is factually incorrect.

“That was not a WSO function. Mr Milewski needs to do his homework.”

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/234761

England cricket ace Monty Panesar, the England team’s first Sikh, has been signed as the latest celebrity to front Walkers crisps.

Panesar will promote the new chilli and lemon crisps, which will launch this week, aimed at Britain’s 2.5 million strong Asian population.

The new flavour will include product information in Hindi on the packa

http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/Home/Articlex/41baff88f11a47ba9fd7fe09b5273af4/Panesar-bowls-in-for-Walkers.html

Published: Monday, July 09, 2007

TORONTO - Paramount Canada's Wonderland awarded compensation to a Sikh man after he complained he was discriminated against for refusing to take off his turban and wear a helmet to drive a go-kart.

The amusement park has since asked the provincial regulator to allow it to exempt turban-wearing Sikhs from the helmet requirement, which is standard at go-kart operations throughout the country for insurance purposes.

Gurcharan Dran bought tickets for the Speed City Raceway attraction but was not allowed to ride because of a helmet use regulation, the Ontario Human Rights Commission reported last week.

He filed a complaint with the commission but due to a backlog, the case -- dating from 2001 --did not go to tribunal until last year. Mr. Dran reached a settlement with Paramount Canada's Wonderland last October, which included payment of an unknown amount.

Mr. Dran could not be reached for comment but Kevin Fox, his lawyer, said Mr. Dran "thinks [Paramount Canada's Wonderland] could have handled it a bit better when they told him to get off."

Mr. Fox said he did not know the details of the confrontation, but said Mr. Dran was in his fifties at the time.

Adam Hogan, a spokesman for Paramount Canada's Wonderland, located in Vaughan, said he was unfamiliar with how much Mr. Dran had been compensated and the details of the incident because it occurred in 2001.

But he did say the helmet requirement has not changed at the amusement park since the incident.

"Nobody can ride the ride without a helmet," Mr. Hogan said. "When it comes to safety, we don't make exceptions."

Paramount Canada's Wonderland and other businesses with go-kart tracks are required to enforce helmet use by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, an arm's-length government agency.

The regulation is part of Ontario's Technical Standards and Safety Act, which also regulates roll bars and seat-belt use in go-karts.

As part of the settlement, Paramount Canada's Wonderland agreed to request an exemption to the helmet requirement for Sikhs from the Ministry of Government Services and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. Both parties are in the process of reviewing the request, said Tom Ayres, a lawyer with the organization.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission is also seeking an exemption for Sikhs at all go-kart tracks in the province.

"We do take the requirements of the Ontario Human Rights Code very seriously, but this is a complex issue," said Sam Colalillo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Government Services. He said it was too early to speculate if and when an amendment would be made to the helmet law.

Hart Schwartz, the director of the Ontario Human Rights Commission's legal branch, suggested alternatives to the law such as designing safer cars or asking patrons to sign a liability waiver.

But in order to get exemptions to any regulations, there would have to be a safe alternative, Mr. Ayres said.

"No one's been able to give us a measure that will serve the same purpose as a helmet from a safety perspective," he said.

Similar laws for go-kart racing exist in other provinces, but not all. Richmond Go-Kart Track in Richmond, B.C., asks patrons to wear helmets, but only because the business's insurance company instructs them to, said employee Jack Picken.

"If someone with a turban came in, we'd encourage them to wear the helmet, but we wouldn't force them," he said.

Peter Primdahl, underwriting director at K&K Insurance Group in Mississauga, said he would be very reluctant to insure an amusement ride business if they allowed some patrons to ride without helmets -- even if the helmet law is amended.

"Any breach of [safety regulations], should it cause injury, would certainly have an impact on the insurance pricing and would be a very difficult insurance claim to defend," he said.

Religious freedom and helmet use legislation have come head-to-head before.

In November, a case is scheduled to be heard in Ontario involving a Sikh man who was charged with riding his motorcycle without a helmet.

In Manitoba and British Columbia there are exemptions to motorcycle helmet laws for Sikhs who wear turbans.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=325bc24f-4b3f-4c55-95f8-53d2606088a9

ByDavid Doyle

THE SIKH community has reacted angrily to the selection of Cllr Virendra Sharma for the Ealing Southall by-election.

The Sikh Federation, who lobby for more Sikhs to take part in UK politics, say the absence of women or turban-wearing members of the religion has denied local residents a proper choice.

Jagtar Singh, vice-chair of the Sikh Federation says the process has imposed Ealing Southall residents with a Piara Khabra clone - and had thwarted another chance to get the first visible Sikh' - one who wears a turban - or Sikh woman into the House of Commons.

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"Our vision is for many Sikhs, born and brought up in the country, to start to taking an active part in politics," he told the Ealing Times.

"We expect the Labour party to not only to look to Sikh candidates but also to ensure in safe Labour seats that we will see a Sikh in the Houses of Parliament.

"We were hoping the Labour Party would have put forward a shortlist including women and visible Sikhs so that Labour members could decide - that would have been the best thing in terms of democracy.

"We feel the Labour members haven't had much of a say - the Labour party aren't giving the opportunity or much of a choice.

"The mould is the same; we have a fairly old Asian MP. I'm not saying he is exactly the same as Piara Khabra,but he is a councillor from the same sort of area or background.

"People are not happy there was a shortlist of two."

The federation has now also warned some of the candidates they feel should have been in the final shortlist may now stand as independents.

They say it has not been overlooked that young professional Sikhs have been overlooked by an "aging non-Sikh" from the long list of possible candidates.

http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/asianspotlight/spotlight/display.var.1530412.0.sikh_byelection_reaction.php

It wasn't long after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that Sikhs living in the United States realized something was terribly amiss. They had a big bull's-eye across their chests, or at least it felt that way.

Sikh men were wearing turbans -- so of course, they must be anti-American terrorists. That case of mistaken identity has been well documented and, for the most part, remedied.

But one young man in the Sacramento area didn't think it went far enough. Harkirat Hansra, a 17-year-old Mira Loma High School rising senior, wrote a book to explain who he is, what he believes and clear up the whole thing about the turbans once and for all.

His book is about Sikhs but not for them. His audience is everyone else.

Although Hansra never felt in danger, he recalls a time soon after 9/11 when someone shouted, "Terrorists, go back to Afghanistan."

For one thing, Hansra was born in San Jose and his parents came to the United States from India.

His book is called "Liberty at Stake" and is subtitled "Sikhs: The Most Visible Yet Misunderstood Minority in America."

It went to press through the self-publishing venture iUniverse and costs $12.95.

Male Sikhs are visible because of their turbans.

As Hansra notes at the beginning of his book, he is one of two students at his high school who wear one.

As most people know by now, Sikh men don't cut their hair for religious reasons. Hansra's hair is now down to his lower back, and he doesn't shave his face.

Hansra opens his book with scores of bullet points about the Sikh religion, hoping that even if people flip through the book and don't buy it, they will learn a thing or two.

One heading states that "Sikhs DO NOT believe in: terrorism or hurting people, hate or racial profiling, war based on religion and converting other people to Sikhism."

He also points out that the turban must be worn in public at all times.

Hansra is in many ways a typical American young man. He is a serious student who dreams of a career in the sciences.

He loves sports and has played soccer for 10 years. He has also dabbled in basketball, baseball and tennis. And he wears a gold rubber wristband, indicating he is a big fan of the San Francisco 49ers.

Because he didn't have a publishing contract and, thus, no deadline, Hansra said he had to discipline himself to write the book in a timely manner. He said his primary motivation was serving the Sikh community. In greater Sacramento, there are an estimated 10,000 Sikhs.

"I wanted to take away the fear of the unknown," he said.

Earlier, he created a Web site -- www.infoaboutsikhs.com -- as a school project to do the same thing.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/257285.html

By Michael Fitzgerald

Record Columnist

July 04, 2007 6:00 AM

Time again for "Self-Appointed Censor," today involving a Lodi veteran and others who insist a Sikh temple fly the U.S. flag higher.

The veteran is Dennis Regan, 63, an Air Force veteran. Regan lives near the temple. The Sikhs fly the Sikh emblem higher than the U.S. flag, though not on the same flagpole.

"As a veteran, that offends me," Regan said.

Regan generously instructed the Sikhs on choices that would not offend him: "Maybe they should be Americans first and use their religion second."

In addition to telling the Sikhs what priority their religion should occupy, Regan offered other life coaching. Flying a Sikh flag high alienates people, he explained.

The Lodi community will better accept Sikhs if they don't keep to themselves, he added. He was one of several letter writers who upbraided Sikhs in a Lodi paper.

With due respect to Regan, a country based on freedom of religious expression allows any religious group the right to fly its flag as high as it deems proper.

The protection exists precisely because others, usually others in the majority, want to impose their values. But the Sikh temple isn't about their values. It is about Sikh values.

Besides, flying the Sikh emblem higher than the U.S. flag does not automatically mean - well, anything. Appearances can deceive.

If I were an al-Qaida operative, I would fly a bodacious U.S. flag high outside my home, just to throw off those who place such importance in symbols.

Besides, it's a temple. A temple doesn't need to fly any national flag at all.

If the fear is that the flag's placement expresses more devotion to religion than to country, then the Sikhs are dwarfed in this respect by certain evangelical Christians.

Yet I doubt Lodians are firing off letters to the editor about those fundamentalist Republicans who seem to see the U.S. Constitution as a barrier impeding the spread of their brand of Christianity to every level of government.

Or if the fear is that the flag's placement signals allegiance to the Sikhs' home country over America, the whole Fifth Column thing during wartime, then I suspect the problem may not be flags at all.

It is an increasingly diverse Lodi where some in the majority prefer ethnic homogeneity and the good old days of cultural dominance.

Or maybe it is just a time of fear. A time when others are suspect. When a narrow, judgmental patriotism holds the country in its thrall.

Then again, maybe not. Maybe a civilian can't grasp how hard it is to suspect a flag is being disrespected when your buddies have died for it.

But then, there may be sacrifice behind the things Sikhs stand for, too, as well as the flag they fly.

Then there's the human side.

Lodi's Sikhs must be keenly aware of the federal government's recent terror investigations, deportations and prosecutions of Lodi's Pakistani Muslims.

The Sikhs probably fear jingoistic Americans confuse them with Muslims and doubt their patriotism. They must have nightmares that hostile government agents unloosed by the Patriot Act may appear and destroy their lives.

So the Sikhs may ratchet up the U.S. flag as high as the pole will allow. Then what will be achieved? Hollow flag-waving. As if there isn't enough of that already.

Lodi's Patriot Posse should realize being "offended" does not mean anything to the law. It merely means the Sikhs expressed values with which they strongly disagree.

And possibly not even that. They're flying the flag, after all. They deserve static? Half the Christian churches don't fly a flag. Churches serve a different authority.

I don't know ... calling for submission to majority ideas seems a poor way of selling the Land of the Free.

It would be better to actually visit the temple. To talk to members, not at them. To exchange ideas over coffee or kacchi lassi.

People on the receiving end of that sort of Americanism will wave the flag on their own. Full article

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/A_NEWS0803/707040316/-1/A_NEWS

By Neil Mercer

July 01, 2007 12:00am

SYDNEY police have circulated CCTV images of a Sikh having a turban ripped from his head while travelling on a public bus after he complained officers did not take the incident seriously.

Inderjeet Singh Dhaliwal said he was distraught when two young men stole his turban - of great religious significance for Sikhs - at Seven Hills as he travelled to work.

The men, who had possibly been drinking, ran off the bus, leaving an embarrassed Mr Dhaliwal to cover his head with a piece of cloth while another passenger laughed.

Mr Dhaliwal reported the attack immediately, but said police did not comprehend the religious significance of the turban or how traumatised he was.

"They said: 'It is not an assault - it is a minor theft,''' he said. "They asked how much the turban was worth.

"I was so disheartened when they talked to me.''

He said police had only taken the March 31 incident seriously after community groups raised the matter with his local MP, Nathan Rees, who in turn wrote to the minister.

Police had subsequently asked him to make a formal statement. "They said they had upgraded it from a theft to an assault or a race hate crime,'' Mr Dhaliwal said.

Police told him CCTV footage was being circulated in a bid to identify the young men.

However, the quality of the footage from the bus-mounted cameras - introduced to stop such attacks - is poor and has so far yielded little.

Mr Dhaliwal said he had also received a letter from Ministry for Police director general Les Tree, assuring him the matter was receiving attention.

Mr Dhaliwal, a father of two from Westmead, called on NSW Police to be better trained in  "cultural and religious awareness'' as the officers appeared ignorant about the significance of the turban.

full story http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21995351-5006009,00.html

The chief constable of West Midlands Police yesterday spoke of the force's role policing a Sikh demonstration outside its headquarters which he described as a "very difficult episode".

As part of a report made to the West Midlands Police Authority yesterday, Sir Paul Scott-Lee said a police presence was necessary at the demonstration which was sparked by claims that a Sikh woman had been forced to convert to Islam.

The teenage student, thought to attend Sutton Coldfield College, was placed under police protection after an armed gang smashed their way into a house in Erdington in May and threatened the occupants, apparently in search of her.

Concerns had been raised by members of the community that she had been held against her will.

At the time, the police confirmed the teenager had been placed in protection and was safe and well. It has since been claimed that she converted by choice.

The chief constable said Operation Resemble, the name given to the policing of the planned march from Soho Road to Lloyd House earlier this month, was set up to ensure it passed peacefully.

full story

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/news/tm_headline=police-chief-tells-of-sikh-demo-challenge%26method=full%26objectid=19375399%26siteid=50002-name_page.html

Defence chiefs have abandoned plans to raise a regiment of British Sikhs amid fears that the move would be branded racist.

The proposal to create the regiment, reminiscent of those that fought for Britain in the two world wars, was dropped by the Ministry of Defence after discussions with the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).

Sikh leaders had informed Army recruitment officers that they could easily find enough volunteers to form a 700-strong regiment. However, despite the infantry being under strength by 3,000 soldiers, the offer was rejected.

Lieutenant General Sir Freddie Viggers, the Adjutant General with responsibility for recruitment, is understood to have accepted the argument put forward by race commissioners at the CRE that creating a Sikh regiment would be divisive and amounted to "segregation"....

Kuljit Singh Gulati, the general secretary of the Sikh Temple in Shepherd's Bush, west London, said: "The Sikhs have a long and distinguished heritage of serving with the British Army.

"I know there are many, many Sikhs who would join up and would serve wherever required. But if you want to get them in large numbers they need their own regiment, something they would take a huge amount of pride in.

"They would regard it as very prestigious. It is a shame that it now looks as though it will never happen."

Leaders of Britain's 500,000 Sikhs were supportive of the idea of a new regiment....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/24/nsikh124.xml

Mourners lined up a street in Kent to pay their last respects to a Sikh cab driver and a prominent member of the community who was allegedly murdered.

Gian Chand Bajar, 71, died in hospital Thursday after being found severely injured in Gravesend while on duty last month. A man who intended to kill him apparently ran the cab over him.

Investigators have arrested and charged a 20-year-old man with the murder.

A fleet of 100 cabs followed the horse and carriage carrying his body from Gravesend to the crematorium. Black ribbons were tied around the wing mirrors of the cabs as a mark of respect.

Many members of the Sikh community gathered at the Guru Nanak Education and Sports Complex ground, a site where a new gurudwara is coming up. Bajar had worked tirelessly to build the 12 million pound gurudwara, which is nearing completion, Kent News reported.

"We cannot imagine how we will cope without him," said Verinder Bhoombla, Bajar's son-in-law. "He was a person who led by example, who was there not just for the family, but for the whole community."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=c1495fcc-a6f8-43d2-b364-b01e25b8ae42&&Headline=Hundreds+mourn+murder+of+Sikh+cabbie

By Crime Reporter

WITNESSES are being asked to come forward after a violent assault during which a Sikh's turban was knocked off his head.

A group of Asian men from the Sikh community were in Fort Gardens, Gravesend, when they were approached by a group of teenagers.

The teenagers were drinking beer and began playing football close to the men.

The football was then directly kicked towards the group, knocking the turban off one of the men.

The youths then started throwing stones, and when they were asked to stop, one member smashed a beer bottle and approached the men.

He punched one of them in the face, causing bruising and swelling to the victim's left eye.

The teenagers then shouted racist comments as they walked off towards the canal basin.

Police want to speak to anyone who witnessed the attack which took place on May 25 at around 5pm, or anyone who knows who the youths are.

The group is thought to be local and may have visited the gardens before.

They are all white and believed to be aged between 14-17-years-old.

Three girls and three boys made up the group and one of the girls was wearing a green top.

The boy who carried out the assault is described as around 5ft 6 tall and was wearing a white t-shirt.

Detective Constable Richard Debnam of Kent Police, who is investigating the case, said: "This mindless act of violence on law-abiding members of the local community will not be tolerated.

"Everybody should be able to enjoy the gardens and parks of Gravesend in peace without being subjected to this kind of harassment.

"I would encourage anyone who may have any information to contact us so that we can put a stop to this anti-social and destructive behaviour."

If you have information which may help police with their inquiries, or witnessed the incident, please call DC Debnam at Gravesend police station on 01474 565 282 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.1490533.0.witness_appeal_after_violent_assault.php

PRIMARY school pupils have welcomed a visitor from the Sikh community.

Roop Singh spent the day with students from Leyburn Primary School. Children from the town's other primary school, St Peter and St Paul's, also joined in the activities.

Mr Singh, from Leeds, started the day with a talk in assembly about perseverance.

He then talked to year three children about the significance of the symbols in the Sikh religion.

After lunch with boys from year five, he took part in arts and craft activities with children in year three again.

Leyburn primary deputy headteacher Lucy Hall said: "The children had a wonderful day and learnt a lot about a different religion and culture in a fun way.

"Some of the pupils thought it was the best day they had ever had at school.

"http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/newsbyedition/northyorks/display.var.1487122.0.sikh_visitor_entertains.php

By Sam Sheringham

June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Monty Panesar, dubbed the ``Sikh of Tweak'' by U.K. newspapers, became England's highest-ranked spin bowler in 30 years after taking a series-leading 23 wickets against the West Indies.

Panesar, a 25-year-old Northamptonshire left-armer, surged to sixth in the world rankings today from 12th and earned praise from Derek Underwood, the last England spin bowler to feature as high in the sport's elite.

``Already he is a world-class spinner,'' Underwood, who took the last of his 297 Test wickets in 1982, told the Daily Mirror. ``I would love to think that he will go and pass me in the wicket-taking list. He certainly has the ability.''

Panesar's emergence as a spinner capable of dismissing leading batmen on all surfaces has given England's attack a dimension it has lacked for several years. Australia's leg- spinner Shane Warne, who retired from international cricket in January, and Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan are Test cricket's all-time highest-wicket takers.

Since bursting into the team last year, Panesar has taken 65 wickets in 17 Tests, six fewer than Underwood at the same stage of his career. Panesar has six five-wicket hauls to his name, one more than his predecessor Ashley Giles managed in 54 elite matches.

Throughout England's 3-0 series victory, the Windies batsmen struggled to cope with Panesar's range of flighted, turning deliveries. He snared six first-innings wickets at Lord's, his first 10-wicket match haul in Manchester and finished off the tourists with a four-wicket burst in Durham yesterday afternoon.

`Unbelievable Series'

While a dry pitch full of cracks in Manchester was conducive to spin, Panesar's displays amid damp, overcast weather at Lord's and Durham showed he was capable of deceiving batsmen whatever the conditions.

``It's been an unbelievable series,'' Panesar told the post-match presentation. ``I feel very lucky with the way things have gone.''

With the final Test drifting toward a draw yesterday afternoon, as England's seamers failed to break a partnership between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo, captain Michael Vaughan turned to Panesar.

Bravo went on the attack, lofting Panesar to the boundary before trying to repeat the shot and skying a catch to Ryan Sidebottom in the deep. Panesar then dismissed Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin in quick succession before ending the innings by bowling Chanderpaul, who had batted for almost 18 hours in the series without losing his wicket.

`Perfect' Delivery

Panesar's delivery to remove Ramdin drifted toward the right-hander's pads, dipped and spun sharply off the turf to beat the bat and clip the top of his off stump. Vaughan called it the ``perfect ball.''

``That delivery will be shown to left-arm spinners for a long time,'' said Vaughan. ``He's going to put a lot of good players under pressure.''

Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England, made an instant impact in Tests, claiming record century-maker Sachin Tendulkar as his first victim in March last year. Dropped in favor of Giles for the first two Tests of the Ashes series in Australia, he took five wickets on the opening day of the third match in Perth.

Panesar, who wears a patka head-covering and has a thick beard, is celebrated by fans for greeting his wickets with a leap and a wide-eyed charge at teammates. His tendency to drop catches and make fielding blunders has added to his popularity, prompting U.K. media to coin the phrase ``Monty-mania.''

Panesar's next challenge will be a three-Test series starting July 19 against India, whose batsmen have honed their skills on the spin-friendly pitches of the Asian subcontinent.

``He will know there are going to be tougher days to come and he will have to cope with them just as well as he has done with everything else so far,'' said Underwood. ``He will be in the England team for many years to come.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601077&sid=ayvgFqDax1A4&refer=intsports

By Rebecca Rosen Lum

CONTRA COSTA TIMES Article Launched: 06/18/2007 03:03:13 AM PDT

Floats festooned with flowers rolled through the streets of El Sobrante on Sunday as 8,000 Sikhs from the Bay Area and beyond celebrated an annual holiday that extols interfaith harmony. The "spiritual peace march" began at the Sikh Center of the San Francisco Bay Area, where tour buses brought worshippers from Stockton, Sacramento, and Yuba City. Nagar Kirtan has its roots in a traditional event commemorating the martyrdom of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sahib Ji, who was tortured to death by India's Mogul rulers 401 years ago. The holy book Ji contains hymns sacred to religions and castes throughout India. The holiday's name literally means the singing of spiritual songs.

The more than 500-year-old Sikh faith began in the Punjab region of India. Today, adherents number nearly 23 million worldwide. Estimates in the United States range from 190,000 to 440,000.

Sikhs hold that all religions serve God and share a vision of love and peace. This is the second year the Sikh Center has made a community party of the holiday. The public ceremony serves to educate Americans, who have been known to confuse Sikhs with members of the Taliban. "America has gone from a Christian country to the most diverse nation in the world," said J.P. Singh, president of the temple, or gurdwara. "The education hasn't kept up."

Last year, Christian fundamentalists showed up to leaflet their disapproval of both the march and the faith. This year, a center delegation invited the faithful of other denominations to join it at Sunday's event in a show of harmony and mutual respect, Singh said.

"We got a very warm welcome from the Mormons," Singh said. "They sent us a very warm e-mail." Methodists also extended their hands, he said. Early Sunday, Sikh women in colorful shawls and men dressed in white sprayed the streets, then swept them clean to make way for the parade and its performers. Long ribbons of flowers swung from the main float, which carried the holy book.

A group of boys and girls from the Fremont gurdwara performed a precision Gatka martial arts routine that involved lots of leaping, spinning and split-second landings on deeply bent knees while tossing a lasso-style rope wheel from one to the other. Members of the Fremont temple drove a gilt replica of the Golden Temple in Punjab. Some parade watchers clasped their hands or bowed slightly as the procession passed by.

Earlier in the day, Graciela Lechon of El Sobrante drove to the hilltop center to inquire about the festivities. "The people were just so lovely and welcoming," she said. "I thought, what a wonderful opportunity to bring our communities together."

But as the procession moved downhill, a man inside a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall turned away. The congregation had refused to accept printed invitations to the event, Singh said. Regardless of the reception, believers say the story of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sahib Ji bears some likeness to other faiths. "Arjun Dev Ji sacrificed for the nation," said Baljeet Sidhu, who came to this country two years ago. "He was placed on burning fire. Hot sand was put on his head. He was so peaceful he never cried." Ishvinder Pajmaj and Jitinder Kaur of Hayward carried orange banners bearing the circular Sikh symbol. "It means 'God is one,'" Pajmaj said. Posters on the floats spelled out Sikh virtues or quoted the Fifth Guru. "No one is my enemy, nor is anyone a stranger to me," read one.

Another listed prized social values: democracy, fortitude, freedom, liberty, status of women and egalitarianism.

Ten-year-old Harkiran Chahal's family drove from Rockland for the festivities.

"It's fun to look all around at all the different cities," she said, waiting in line with her two brothers for an Indian lunch, which the center provided for free.

The event ended with a two-hour ceremony in the gurdwara.

"This is only the second year," Singh said, panning the cheerful crowd. "It will grow."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6168710?nclick_check=1

A group of Sikhs from around Europe is issuing a legal challenge to the French law that bans the wearing of turbans on ID document photos. A case was lodged before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg on 11 June.

The director of United Sikhs, Mejindarpal Kaur, said that “if left unchecked, the French law, which undermines the freedom for thought conscience and religion, will have a domino effect on this freedom globally.”

The case before the ECHR will be the first such since France passed a law in March 2004 banning the wearing of religious symbols, including the Sikh turban, in public schools. A British Member of the European Parliament, Neena Gill, urged France and other EU member states to reflect upon the British model. “In Britain those wearing articles of faith including Turbans are treated equally. Many Turban-wearing Sikhs are police officers, army officers and judges. Therefore I would ask French authorities to reconsider their position and treat Sikhs as equal members of their society,” said Gill, who lives in the UK.

Shingara Mann Singh, 52, a French national for over 20 years, told journalists that his replacement driver’s licence was refused by the French authorities in 2005 and again in 2006. France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil D’Etat, has ruled that public security justifies a law which requires Sikhs to remove their turbans to be photographed for driver’s licences. “I will give up my head but not my turban, which covers my unshorn hair,” he underlined.

Shingara Singh’s lawyer, Stephen Grosz, told the press conference that “forcing a Sikh to remove his turban is an affront to his personal dignity and an insult to his religious beliefs. France is almost alone in imposing this unnecessary requirement,” he added.

Another lawyer, Francois Jacquot, from France, said that almost every country in the world where there is a Sikh community allows a Sikh to wear his turban on ID photographs. An estimated 10,000 Sikhs live in France. Gill said Sikhs were facing similar problems in Belgium and Germany also.

http://www.secularism.org.uk/sikhschallengefrenchturbanban.html