Teachers are joining forces with business people, religious leaders and parents in the hope of setting up a specialist primary school catering for youngsters in the Chapeltown area.

Backers of the project hope to use a disused building near the Sikh temple on Chapeltown Road.

But they say the school will be non-faith and open to all children living in the local community.

Initially, it would be one-form entry for around 30 pupils with plans to extend it year by year.

Sukhraj Singh, who is currently teaching at a school in Bradford, is one of the people spearheading the project.

He said: “We don’t want to set up a religious school, the idea is it will be for everyone. We are planning to use one of our buildings to set up a school teaching more subjects based around science.

“We want to give something back to the community and offer a new opportunity for our younger children to set them in the right direction for a professional career.”

The scheme already has backing from the New Schools Network, a charity funded by the Department for Education, which is currently offering help to free school groups aiming to open in deprived areas by September 2013.

The Leeds Free School scheme is one of 20 across the country to be selected in the first year of its new programme.

Co-ordinators of the project are receiving expert help in showing there is sufficient demand for the school

They are also being given access to legal and business expertise via seminars, workshops and special “boot camps” being held at the charity’s HQ in London.

It is hoped a formal submission will be made to the Department for Education by the end of February.

If the scheme gets the green light, it will be the second free school to open in Leeds.

The Department for Education has already given the go-ahead to Lighthouse School in Pudsey, which will have places for up to 50 youngsters suffering from autism.So far, three free schools have opened in West Yorkshire.

More than 100 are expected to be operating nationwide by mid summer this year.

“The party has fought a long legal battle to revive the voting rights of the Sehajdhari or non-baptised Sikhs,” party’s president P S Ranu said. “As per the latest census 2011, there are 1.74 crore Sikhs in Punjab where only 55 lakh were enrolled by the Gurudwara Election Commission as Sikh voters in the SGPC elections…now it’s the time that these 80 lakh Sikhs will definitely show their strength,” Ranu claimed in a release. While making it clear that they will oppose the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, Ranu said that options to seek support from other parties who support the cause of Sehajdharis will remain open. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Hindustan) also announced its decision to contest the upcoming polls and released names of 14 candidates at a news conference in Patiala.

- PTI SUN

Harpreet

“There are no other museums (on Sikh history) in the country. There are exhibits but not a museum in itself that caters to Sikh heritage,” said Navneet Sidhu, a project coodinator with the University of the Fraser Valley.

The museum will feature photos and artifacts donated by local Indo-Canadian families, including a few who had uncles and grandfathers settle here almost a century ago. The project has been two years in development and is supported by federal government funds, through Canadian Heritage.

The temple, or gurdwara, was declared a national historic site by former Prime Minister Jean ChrŽtien and former Heritage Minister Sheila Copps in the summer of 2002.

Built in 1911 by immigrant Sikhs who laboured at the nearby sawmill at what is now called Mill Lake, the unique wooden temple was the site of a three-day centennial party this summer.

“It’s a big deal to local Sikhs because something like this hasn’t happened before. Future generations will cherish the museum,” said Sidhu.

The year of centennial celebration began in January with a proclamation by Abbotsford Mayor George Peary that recognized the historic and cultural significance of the site and the contribution of Indian Sikh pioneers and immigrants in the development of the city.

Partnering groups have held a commemorative function each month through the year. For example, The Reach Museum and Gallery currently has a display on Sikh history.

Saturday’s opening of the Sikh Heritage Museum will close the year of centenary celebrations.

The Gur Sikh Gurdwara is at 33094 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford.

You can see more at www.canadiansikhheritage.ca.

-Abbotsford Times

With the court orders, the recently constituted body of SGPC would cease to operate and fresh elections will be held to include the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the voters list.

The orders were passed by a full bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice MMS Bedi and Justice Muttaci Jeyapaul of Punjab and Haryana high court while allowing a petition filed by the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation (SSF) and two others challenging a October 8, 2003 central notification which deprived Sehajdhari Sikhs of their voting rights in the SGPC polls.

The petitioners have mainly challenged the union government notification “whereby Sahjdhari Sikhs are not being considered as Sikhs in view of the impugned amended Section 49 and Section 92 of the Gurdwara Act.

The petitioners had submitted that the original Act declared Sahjdhari Sikhs as qualified electors for SGPC elections and the apex court had in numerous judgments held the state could not regulate the definition of religion.

It was also argued by the petitioners that the state authorities could not fetter the definition of Sikhs in general and Sahjdhari Sikhs in particular when religion was not within the bounds of any kind of legislation.

-TOI

Fresno police said Mitchell Dufur, 26, stabbed the Sikh man in his 50s in the upper torso Sunday evening near the security checkpoint. No words were exchanged before the attack. The man was standing with his translator when the attack occurred.

Dufur was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a knife in an airport.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the FBI and police Monday to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime.

“Sikh men who wear beards and turbans as part of their faith are often targeted by bigots who mistake them for Muslims,” said Sacramento CAIR Executive Director Basim Elkarra.

Gina Swankie of the FBI’s Sacramento office said agents were having “a dialogue with the group,” but she would not confirm whether they had opened an investigation. Police Lt. Don Gross said investigators have not determined whether it was a hate crime because Dufur has refused to talk to police about his motive.

Two elderly Sikh men were gunned down in suburban Sacramento on March 4. Surinder Singh, 65, and Gurmej Atwal, 78 when they were walking through a neighborhood in Elk Grove. Police are investigating the fatal shootings as a possible hate crime potentially linked to the men’s appearance. Both men wore turbans and long beards.

Sikhism developed in the Punjab region of northern India. Sikhs in the U.S. have occasionally been the target of anti-Muslim sentiment because they wear turbans and have beards.

-AP

He was the first Sikh to be allowed to go on active duty with a turban, beard and unshorn hair in more than 20 years.

Working for the rights of Sikhs in the US, Sikh Coalition was instrumental in Kalsi joining the US Army after he was refused an entry on religious grounds.

Among other reasons for receiving the Bronze Star, an official recommendation from Major Kalsi’s superiors cites his resuscitation back to life of two patients who were clinically dead on arrival; his “expert” emergency care of over 750 soldiers and nationals; coordination of 5 mass casualty exercises.

Major Kalsi had set up camp-wide Internet access for over 200 soldiers at Camp Dwyer in Helmand, Afghanistan where he was deployed.

After his service, he was promoted from Captain to Major. “It continues to be a tremendous honour to serve my country,” said Kalsi.

At present, US military policy forces Sikhs to remove their religiously-required turbans and facial hair in order to join the military.

Over the past two years, the Army granted Major Kalsi and two other Sikh soldiers individual accommodations, which allow only them to maintain turbans and beards.

New Delhi (CNN) – On a Saturday afternoon, Balbir Singh and Malkeet Singh find sanctuary from the Indian capital’s chaos in the landmark Bangla Sahib gurdwara, or Sikh temple. The two friends, like so many young Sikhs, have come on this day to reflect on their faith.

They acknowledge their sin is highly visible.

Neither has a beard. Neither is wearing a turban. Both are important symbols of their religion, intrinsic to Sikh identity.

“I know it’s wrong to cut my hair,” says Balbir Singh, his head covered with a printed black and white cotton scarf – both men and women must cover their hair before entering the gurdwara.

But in 2011, he says, a turban feels outdated and not in sync with the Western fashions adopted by Indian men.

“Besides,” he says, with a smile, “women don’t like turbans.”

Whether it’s style or more pragmatic reasons like getting a job, many younger Sikhs think the turban old hat.

It’s a trend that has alarmed the leadership of the world’s 25-million-strong Sikh community and fueled debate on whether you can still be considered a good Sikh if you cut your hair.

Sikhs discuss the issue of vanishing turbans at a political party meeting in New Delhi.

That debate intensified with the release of a new movie called “I Am Singh,” which looks at the hardships of Sikhs in America who were mistaken for terrorists after the September 11, 2001, attacks because of their turbans.

“We live for the turban. We die for the turban,” say the lyrics of a song in the movie.

Manjit Singh, the local president of the Sikh nationalist political party Shiromani Akali Dal, says he hopes the movie will help revive Sikh pride.

“Sikhs have given their lives for the right to wear turbans,” he says. “It’s a centuries-old tradition. It’s extremely important that we maintain it.”

A decade after Sikh murder over 9/11, community continues to blend in and stand out

Sikhism rose up 500 years ago in India as a monotheistic religion that rejected the caste system and scriptures of Hinduism.

Sikhs have worn turbans since 1699, when the last living Sikh guru bestowed a unique Sikh identity based on five articles of faith. Among them were a steel bracelet signifying a reality with no beginning or end; a sword representing resolve and justice; and unshorn hair as a gift of God and a mark of Sikh identity.

The turban, tied in distinctive fashion, was a way to manage long hair and serves as the most instant recognition of a Sikh.

In India, the turban was first abandoned in large numbers in anti-Sikh riots that erupted after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, says Manjit Singh.

Amidst bloodshed that killed thousands, Sikhs took off their turbans and cut their hair in an attempt to conceal their faith.

That trend was further accelerated by India’s economic growth and rapid Westernizaton in the 1990s.

And then came the 9/11 attacks, when some people in the United States and other Western nations mistook Sikhs as followers of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

Many Sikhs again folded up their turbans in fear.

Since then, Sikh organizations have worked hard to bring back those who gave up their outward identity. In the United States, they have been fighting for their rights to wear turbans in identification card photos and against pat-downs of their turbans at airport security.

“Sikh identity is threatened today,” says Harinder Pal Singh, a member of the top Sikh religious administration based in Punjab, the state that is home to a majority of Sikhs in India.

“Our primary concern is preserving the Sikh character.”

He says it’s not so much that young people are any less spiritual today, but the main ideals of Sikhism get masked by the complexities of the contemporary world.

To that end, Harinder Pal Singh runs unconventional classes on Sikhism outside the traditional learning institutions.

One of his students, Rajendra Singh, shaved off his beard and cut his hair so that he could get acting roles. No one, he says, was going to hire a turbaned man for the stage.

It’s also difficult to get a job in the food industry. Many restaurants don’t want to hire heavily bearded, turbaned men, even if they wear hair nets.

Rajendra Singh, enrolled in religious classes for four months now, disagrees with his teacher on the turban issue. He says he can still follow the Sikh way of life even if his hair is shorn.

But Harinder Pal Singh shakes his head. Sikhs, he says, should not be turbanless.

Then he takes the podium before about a 100 men and women who have gathered to relearn their religion.

One of them is Sarbjeet Singh, who until a few months ago was a clean-shaven, short-haired man.

Rereading the principles of Sikhism, he says, prompted him grow back his hair, his beard. He was born again, even though his father in America won’t wear a turban.

Sarbjeet Singh returned to his Sikh roots. His tattoos reflect his spirituality.

“I have peace of mind now,” he says.

In another part of New Delhi, Manjit Singh of the Akali Dal brings up the subject of turbans at a bi-weekly meeting at a south Delhi gurdwara. His party sponsors camps for children. There, and in Sikh schools, turbans are mandatory for boys when they reach the seventh grade.

Manjit Singh says he doesn’t get why young Sikhs feel they have to lose the turban. He recalls how in his younger days, he wore turbans to turn heads. He even wore one dancing at Studio 54, the famed New York discotheque.

“If you want to make a fashion statement, this is what will get you attention, he says, pointing to his impeccably tied burgundy turban that matches the shirt peaking out from his jacket.

Turban shop owner Jaswinder Singh sells turbans – more than 5 yards in length – in almost 200 different colors. Men bring in their shirts and pants to match them perfectly.

“When I see someone with a short beard or cut hair, I tell him he should be complete. If you cut your hair, you are not a Sikh,” he says.

Though India’s prime minister is a Sikh and always wears a turban, Jaswinder Singh believes young people do not have enough role models to inspire them in their faith. None of India’s mega Bollywood stars are turbaned, he says.

But now, there’s “I Am Singh.” The reviews in the Indian media are not great but Sikh community leaders are hopeful that it might make Sikh men take another look at themselves.

-CNN

The allegations of such targeting at Honolulu International Airport “resulted in launching an immediate and thorough investigation of the behaviour detection programme at HNL,” the TSA stated Thursday.

“TSA’s behaviour detection programme in no way encourages or tolerates profiling,” the agency said. “Profiling is not an effective form of security and our security officers are trained to treat every passenger with dignity and respect.”

The statement came as 38 civil rights organizations led by Sikh Coalition called for an independent audit of the TSA to determine whether the agency engages in racial profiling.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the groups expressed concern about reports that TSA officers targeted Mexican and Dominican travellers for extra scrutiny at airports in Hawaii and New Jersey.

TSA officers at the Honolulu International Airport targeted Mexicans so often that their colleagues called them the “Mexicutioners,” it said.

Sikh travellers are routinely selected for secondary screening at some American airports, even after clearing advanced imaging technology machines without incident, the letter said.

The Sikh Coalition said it believes that “these troubling reports are the tip of the iceberg” for TSA profiling. “Based on Sikh experience, we’ve long suspected that TSA officers are engaged in a pattern of profiling minorities instead of focusing on criminal behaviour.”

-Silicon India