Common Sense from the US Supreme Court

Why use race to determine whether or not someone can go to a particular school? The US Supreme Court rules that you should NOT. I agree with the decision for two reasons

1. Using race is discriminatory and arbitrary

2. Forcing kids to go to school in a different part of the city from where they live is fundamentally unfair when schools exist in their area that they would be happy to attend

Can you imagine if you had a family function taking place and your school was way off in the 'boonies' and one parent was forced to drive all the way to pick up their child? or your kid had to take a taxi because he missed a bus? How inconvenient would that be? Why should you have to suffer to ensure some bureaucratically set racial quota was filled?

More importantly, why should you have to send your child to a school in an area where you wouldn't want to live? You choose the neighbourhood, or suburb you live in because it suits you. Why should the government essentially deprive you of your freedom to choose?

This is about being free to make your own choices and not have them dictated or limited by government fiat. People accept enough control over their lives from government, deciding where their kids can go to school shouldn't be one of them.

Invariably, the people who are made to suffer are those who don't have the financial means to enroll their kids in a private school where they live. Why should they be made to pay for a racial system designed to make other people feel 'better' about themselves for ensuring 'diversity' in the community?

People advocating for 'diversity' should put their OWN kids into public schools, in the areas they want OTHER people's kids to go to, first.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected diversity plans that take account of students' race for assignments in Seattle's public schools.

The decision, covering two similar cases involving the Seattle and Louisville, Ky., schools could imperil similar plans in hundreds of districts nationwide, and it leaves public school systems with a limited arsenal to maintain racial diversity.

The court split, 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the court's judgment.

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race," Roberts wrote. The ruling applies to school districts that aren't under a court order to remove the vestiges of past discrimination.
....

The decision strips school boards of a tool for offsetting the impact of racially divided housing patterns. Both sides say they don't know precisely how many school districts nationwide have similar rules, though lawyers say the practice is common, perhaps involving hundreds of districts and millions of children.

Federal appeals courts had upheld both the Seattle and Louisville plans after some parents sued. The Bush administration took the parents' side, arguing that racial diversity is a noble goal but can be sought only through race-neutral means.

The Seattle case began when a group of parents formed Parents Involved in Community Schools and sued the district in 2000, claiming the policy of using race as a tiebreaker when determining school assignments was unfair and violated students' civil rights.

Kathleen Brose, president of Parents Involved in Community Schools, fought back tears as she discussed her victory.

"It's been seven years. A lot of people have moved on, but I don't want another parent to go through what I did -- what we did," she said during a news conference.

Her daughter Elisabeth, now 22, wanted to attend Ballard High School, the closet high school to their Magnolia home. But she wasn't able to get into the school -- or into Roosevelt or Nathan Hale either.

She was assigned to her fourth choice -- Franklin -- but the school didn't have an orchestra for Elisabeth to pay her cello. So she ended up at her fifth choice, Ingraham, for a year. She later transferred to a new school that opened at Seattle Center, The Center School.

The move was upsetting to the girl, who couldn't attend high school with her friends from junior high. Children are taught not to judge people by their skin color, yet students were denied access to certain schools because of their race, said Brose, whose younger daughter now attends Ballard High School.

"The public schools are for all of us," she said.

Seattle Public Schools is in the midst of revamping its process for assigning students to schools, and it was unclear Thursday morning how the ruling would affect the district's plans. School district officials were not available for comment Thursday morning, but scheduled a morning news conference to discuss the ruling.

The school district's policy also affected students of color, said Seattle attorney Harry Korrell, who represented the parents. Some non-whites who wanted to attend neighborhood high school Franklin were turned away because there were too many students of color there and the district wanted to enroll more white students.

"It's a sweeping victory for students and parents everywhere," Korrell said.

The racial tiebreaker that the Supreme Court struck down Thursday hasn't been in use in Seattle Public Schools for more than five years.

The tiebreaker was part of a School Board decision in 1997 to allow the district's 46,000 students to attend a school of their choice. The assignment plan they adopted that year aimed to end the district's widely unpopular mandatory busing program and return to a neighborhood schools assignment plan, so students could attend school closer to home.

School officials considered a student's race as one of several tiebreakers at popular schools; their race was a factor if the student's attendance would help bring the high school closer to the district-wide average of about 40 percent white students. The tiebreaker helped some minority students get into predominately white high schools, and vice versa.

A student with a sibling at a school got first priority; a student's race was the second tiebreaker, followed by the distance a student lived from the school.

The district has defended the racial tiebreaker, arguing it is necessary to create more diverse schools in a city where many neighborhoods are still segregated.

The Seattle lawsuit accused the school district of violating the Constitution, the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voter-approved Initiative 200, a state law prohibiting preferential treatment on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender.

The case challenged only the use of the racial tiebreaker for high-school assignments, but the district in 2002 suspended the use of the tiebreaker for all schools while the lawsuit worked its way through the courts.

Since then, the district has used the other tiebreakers, such as whether the student lived nearby or had any siblings attending the school, to determine assignments.

Enrollment records show the racial makeup at some Seattle high schools has changed since the district suspended the use of the racial tiebreaker. A few examples:

# At Ballard High School, white students made up slightly more than 58 percent of the student population in 2000; that rose to more than 62 percent in 2006.

# At Cleveland High School, the percentage of black students increased from 35 percent in 2000 to just over 59 percent last fall; during the same time period, the percentage of Asian students dropped from nearly 43 percent to just under 23 percent.

# At Franklin High School, white students made up about 23 percent of the population in 2000 and declined to just over 9 percent by 2006. Over the same time period, the percentage of Asian students at the school rose from about 39 percent to more than 48 percent.

Louisville's schools spent 25 years under a court order to eliminate the effects of state-sponsored segregation. After a federal judge freed the Jefferson County, Ky., school board, which encompasses Louisville, from his supervision, the board decided to keep much of the court-ordered plan in place to prevent schools from re-segregating.

The lawyer for the Louisville system called the plan a success story that enjoys broad community support, including among parents of white and black students.

The opinion was the first on the divisive issue since 2003, when a 5-4 ruling upheld the limited consideration of race in college admissions to attain a diverse student body.

Technorati Tags: Education, USA, Politics, Race

Is This Woman A Sikh?

It should be a crime to marry someone and then abandon them after getting a dowry or immigration or whatever it is that drove you to marry someone you obviously didn't want to be with, and only used for your own ends. More than that, the person should face a sanction from the Panth for falsely marrying someone in a Gurdwara.

We often hear of abandoned brides in India, but it goes the other way too. In the case below, it was a woman marrying a man only to get a visa and permanent residency in Canada. Anyone, male or female, who marries someone to get a visa and legal immigration status and then abandons that person without showing cause, should be deported after facing jail time for immigration fraud. If she 'fell out of love' with 'Bob' before coming to Canada and didn't want to be with him, then she shouldn't have come to Canada at all considering she was granted status here as a result of the marriage only. The sad part is that 'Bob' will probably have a hard time sponsoring anyone else to come to Canada if he decides to go to India to re-marry.

On another note, what's with the nickname 'Bob', I can imagine 'Babu' or 'Billa' or 'Binder', but 'Bob', it sounds contrived if you ask me?

Man's sponsored wife runs away one week after arriving from India
She's been found but says she won't return to husband, who's financially responsible for her

Jennifer Saltman
The Province

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Burinder 'Bob' Manget, 31, sits in his mother's Coquitlam home Monday. Harpreet Manget, 21, disappeared one week following her arrival in Canada from India after waiting a year for her immigration papers after marrying Bob.

COQUITLAM - When Burinder Manget married his wife in India a year ago, he pictured an idyllic life in Canada.

He never thought that a week after her arrival, his wife would disappear.

"I was just shocked, confused," Manget said quietly. "I thought maybe she was playing a joke."

Now Manget is obligated to his absent wife for the next three years should she demand financial support or need income assistance from the government.

The 31-year-old married Harpreet Dhami on April 12, 2006, 10 days after their marriage was arranged by a relative.

Manget thought 21-year-old Harpreet was shy, nice and respectful, and the couple clicked during their initial conversations.

After the wedding, Manget stayed in India for three weeks before returning to Canada to start the process of sponsoring his bride to become a Canadian resident.

During their time apart, Manget called Harpreet regularly and sent money monthly.

"She was really happy and I was happy," Manget said.

"When she used to call, she goes, 'I'm dying to come there, whenever I get my visa I'm going to come running.'"

Harpreet's visa was approved in May and she arrived in Vancouver June 14.

Sitting on the couch in his mother's Coquitlam home, Manget describes the excitement of finally seeing his wife again after a year of separation.

The house was decorated and Manget's mother was planning a welcome party.

The couple spent a week attending gatherings and greeting family and friends dropping by to see the new bride.

Manget's twin brother Gurinder said everything seemed normal.

"That's why we're so shocked. Usually you'll show signs of being mad or sad or something," he said.

But a week after her arrival, on June 21, Harpreet disappeared.

Her passport, gold jewelry and a few hundred dollars were missing.

No one saw her leave.

Manget and his mother called Harpreet's mother in India and family in Toronto, but no one knew where she was.

Manget called Coquitlam RCMP, who investigated and released a missing-person notice to media the same day.

That night, Harpreet called and spoke to Manget's mother.

She allegedly told her that she was fine and was not coming home before hanging up.

On June 22, after seeing herself on the news, Harpreet called Delta police to let them know she was OK.

Const. Brenda Gresiuk, spokeswoman for the Coquitlam RCMP, said investigators spoke with Harpreet and were satisfied that there was no threat to her safety.

"We've concluded our investigation," Gresiuk said. "This is not a suspicious circumstance."

An uncle in Toronto, who refused to give his name, said he hasn't heard from Harpreet and has no idea where she is staying.

The uncle said he has spoken to Harpreet's mother, Balbir Kaur Dhami, and the whole family is worried.

He said as far as he knew there was no problem with the marriage, and nobody knows why she left.

"I don't know. I have no clue until I speak to her," he said. "Is there anything wrong? What is the problem? We also would like to find out."

Manget and his family, however, wonder if "it was maybe pre-planned," Manget said, questioning whether "she came here just to come here and use me."

"It's not just me that's used, it's our whole family, her family."

Said Manget's sister-in-law Ruby Toor, "it's not like we kicked her out -- she walked out on her own."

Toor said the family has contacted Citizenship and Immigration Canada and was told there is nothing they can do.

"Sponsorship is a legally binding commitment and it can't be cancelled, regardless of whether a relationship breaks down or not," said Shakila Bezeau of Citizenship and Immigration. "An individual who sponsors someone is pretty well obligated for three years' support for that person."

Manget said that since his wife left, he's heard many similar stories.

"It has to stop," he said.

A Province investigation in 2005 revealed there are thousands of abandoned brides in India.

Palwinder Gill of the Canadian Fraud Marriage Victims Society said there are just as many abandoned grooms.

"This is not a one-sided thing," Gill said. "It has always happened."

Gill said men feel ashamed when their wives leave them, and will not speak out. "They don't talk about it because they think shame," he said. "It's a cultural thing."

Gill said those who flout the law should be punished.

People proven to have married under false pretenses "should be charged as criminals because they enter Canada by fraud. Fraud is a crime."

As for the Canadian Fraud Marriage Victims Society, they should run a marriage bureau hooking up Canadian grooms who were abandoned in Canada by their wives, with women from India who were abandoned by their husbands. They'd have an instant connection and understanding of what each has been through.

Technorati Tags: Relgion, Canada, India, Punjab, Sikh, Khalsa, Crime

Who's Building An Electric Car???

I've written recently about not buying into the hype around Global Warming and Climate Change. However, that doesn't mean I don't support environmentally and economically sustainable efforts to build a better society. One effort along that front is to come up with ways to reduce our dependance on Petroleum as an energy/ power source. Three things would be accomplished by such a move away from Oil.

1. we'd reduce the cost of Oil in the marketplace, which would be great for consumers and

2. We'd reduce the amount of money flowing to regimes in the Mid-East that fund terrorism, create terrorists, and fund the spread of a depraved Islamic doctrine and

3. lower costs for crude oil would also reduce the profit incentive for new exploration efforts and thereby greenfield development which could result in sustaining that particular environment for alternative use (parks, subdivisions, highways, tourism, etc...;-)).

I saw a documentary recently talking about the 'electric car' and who killed it. It's narrated by Martin Sheen and features a number of California drivers, etc... talking about how great the EV cars were and how the automakers' defenestration of the whole concept was done to derive profits from existing internal combustion engine vehicles. GM is vilified along with other companies. Now comes news that GM has developed a vehicle that could revolutionize the entire vehicle concept, with an electric vehicle that has a 1000km range and can be powered by your standard 120v outlet. Not only does this help accomplish the above 3 points, but it also would be cool technology. Not having to stop for gas for 1000km!! Can you imagine that? You could literally drive all night without stopping for anything other than body breaks or to switch drivers on your way to [fill in the blank].

Then all we'd need to do is build nuclear power plants to meet the increased need for electricity generation, which release practically zero emissions into the atmosphere, and we're on our way to a smog free city!!

Fresh off the wire at Wheels.ca, here's the article,

GM adds new spark to electric car's future

Gerry Malloy

Jun 23, 2007

When General Motors introduced its Chevrolet Volt concept car with great fanfare at the Detroit Auto Show in January, there were skeptics among us.

"Just another futuristic technological exercise to divert attention from the need to do something now," was essentially the assessment of more than one pundit. And while others found it technically interesting, many doubted the concept would ever make it to production.

They just might have been wrong.

GM brought the Volt to Toronto this week for its first Canadian showing, at the 2007 Environment and Energy Conference – an event for leaders from both industry and government to address environmental and energy issues of the Great Lakes region.

At the conference, Nick Zielinski, chief engineer for advanced vehicle development at GM, brought attendees up to date on the status of the Volt and its E-Flex powertrain, and what has occurred since its Detroit debut.

The Volt, as you may recall, is an electric car.

That's right. The company skewered in a recent documentary for killing the electric car is developing and promoting one again.

The biggest difference from the first time around is that this electric car appears to have potential commercial feasibility.

In purely technical terms it's a "series hybrid." But GM prefers to call it a "range-extended" electric vehicle because the way it works is quite different from the "parallel hybrids" we have come to accept as typifying a hybrid.

True, the Volt incorporates a gasoline internal combustion (IC) engine, as well as an electric motor. But unlike other hybrids, the IC engine never directly drives the wheels.

They are not even directly connected. The engine's only purpose is to drive a generator to recharge batteries which then provide power to the electric motor.

Those batteries can also be recharged by plugging the vehicle into a conventional 120-volt AC household outlet.

A full recharge takes six hours and that's sufficient for 64 km of city driving without the IC engine ever engaging, GM says. So if your daily commute is less than 64 km, you might never have to buy gas.

If you need to go further, however, the IC engine will extend the range to more than 1,000 km, with average fuel consumption of less than 5.0 L/100 km.

Significantly, Zielinsky revealed, both the Volt and its E-Flex powertrain, which has wider potential application, are being developed as production programs – not R&D exercises.

And the Volt and its derivatives are being integrated into the development of GM's next-generation small cars (Chevrolet Cobalt, Opel/Satun Astra), with which it will share its primary structure.

There are still some technical hurdles to be cleared before a production date can be set, Zielinsky says, but when they are overcome, production can be started quickly.

He wouldn't speculate how soon, but others have suggested between 2010 and 2012.

Chief among the obstacles remaining is the development of lithium-ion battery packs – the kind of batteries typically used in cellphones and laptop computers – for automotive use.

The batteries themselves aren't the main issue. They are already well proven.

The issue is connecting the individual low-voltage batteries together in packs to provide the high-voltage output necessary for automotive use – with the levels of safety, reliability and durability required.

GM recently awarded advanced development contracts for battery-pack development to two suppliers, Compact Power Inc. and Continental Automotive Systems. Such contracts are typically a first step beyond the research stage toward a production contract.

Indeed, it appears, the electric car is far from dead!

Technorati Tags: Environment, Religion, Economy, Climate, Canada

Honour Killing Barbarity Revealed

People in the UK have come across this much more than people in Canada. However, unless Canadians are vigilant this may become part of our landscape here as well due to the influx of immigrants from certain countries where this practice is prevalent.



'Honour' killings are sanctioned by Sharia law in Islam as being the crime for adultery, people who say it is a cultural hangover and not linked aren't necessarily being honest with themselves regarding the penalties under Sharia for adultery or apostasy (both of which are used to justify the 'honour' killing)...



From Family Security Matters via Western Resistance and part 3 of 3,

In other non-Arab Muslim societies such as Pakistan, the custom is common. If "honor-killing" is merely a reflection of local tribal customs, then it would be found to the same degree amongst Hindus and Sikhs in India, who share the same ancestors. Among these groups, the practice is rare, although in Maharashtra state women are killed and tortured for being suspected witches. Annually, there are thought to be 5,000 dowry-killings in India, where a bride's family defaults on payment and the wife is killed. Sati or sutti was a Hindu custom where a widow would immolate herself on her husband's funeral-pyre. This custom was banned by the British. Neither sutti, dowry killings nor witch-burning could be seen as "honor killings".



The Kurds of Turkey and Iraq who practice honor killings are not Arabs, nor are the predominantly Pashtun peoples of Afghanistan who engage in the practice. If honor-killing is a survival of an Arab, pre-Islamic custom, then it has been exported to Kurdish peoples and those in Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent, a "fellow-traveler" during the early (pre-Ottoman) historical spread of Islam. Therefore, I do not buy into the argument that honor-killings have nothing to do with Islam. They are a living part of its history. Adultery, according to Sharia principles, is punishable by death, and most honor-killings involve suspected adultery. Apostasy is also, according to some Islamic schools of thought, punishable by death.

Here's a particularly vile case of 'honour' killing, but is representative of the mentality and brainwashing that takes place where women themselves, mothers and daughters are brought up to believe that this is the way things should be, along with the minor penalties if any when someone commits such a heinous crime...

Though not recent, the case of Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud, a mother of nine who killed her teenaged daughter Rofayda on January 27, 2002 shows a callousness that shocks. Rofayda had been raped by her two elder brothers in their shared bedroom in their Ramallah home. She became pregnant. On December 23, 2002, Rofayda gave birth to a baby boy at a women's shelter in Bethlehem. She returned to the family's three bedroom home in the suburb of Abu Qash. The family and village heads signed a promise that they would not harm the teenager. The two brothers were jailed.

Amira Qaoud did not keep her promise. She bought razor blades, and ordered her daughter to slash her own wrists. When Rofayda refused, her mother smothered her with a plastic bag, slashed the girl's wrists and hit her with a wooden stick. The killing took twenty minutes. Amira Qaoud said: "She killed me before I killed her. I had to protect my children. This is the only way I could protect my family's honor." Her nine year old daughter Fatima echoed her sentiments, saying: "My mother did this because she does not want us to be punished by people. I love my mother much more now than before."

In Palestinian territories, a murder is regarded as less serious if it is an honor killing, and thus honor killers receive from six to twelve months' jail. This stems from Jordanian legislation from 1960. Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code affirms that "he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery with another, and he kills, wounds or injures one or both of them, is exempt from any penalty... he who discovers his wife, or one of his female ascendants or descendants or sisters with another in an unlawful bed and he kills, wounds or injures one or both of them, benefits from a reduction of penalty." In addition to this, Article 98 of the Penal Code allows a reduced sentence if a perpetrator kills in a "fit of fury".

Read it all.



Technorati Tags: Crime, Religion, Politics, Islam, Muslim, Sikh, India, Pakistan, England, Europe, Canada

Another Reason to Deny the Hype Around Global Warming Theory

SDA is great, there's usually something interesting and I found an article that encapsulates some of what I feel has taken place regarding the whole global warming/ climate change debate. Now I don't know about the whole mimicry of Christianity part, but I do feel that many people have over-invested their emotions and have tied up their sense of self and the world in the outcome of this debate. The constant harping about global warming, carbon emissions and Kyoto seems to be a huge proselytizing effort, complete with its champions, 'truths' and the all the rest of it.

From SDA, check out the comments where it was originally posted.

Amen

Michael Crighton, September 15, 2003;

I studied anthropology in college, and one of the things I learned was that certain human social structures always reappear. They can't be eliminated from society. One of those structures is religion. Today it is said we live in a secular society in which many people---the best people, the most enlightened people---do not believe in any religion. But I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind. If you suppress it in one form, it merely re-emerges in another form. You can not believe in God, but you still have to believe in something that gives meaning to your life, and shapes your sense of the world. Such a belief is religious.

Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of them, as I don't want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I don't want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I can't talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.

And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.

Technorati Tags: Climate, Religion, Politics, Christianity, Environment

Lying to Try and Prove a Theory - Climate Change Advocates

I've been a 'climate change denier' for some time now. I don't believe humans are responsible for 'dangerous' global warming or 'dangerous' climate change. One reason I don't buy the hype around climate change and 'global warming' is that the data is continually being misrepresented or manipulated.

Here's the latest example from NewsBusters via SDA and Cjunk,

Swedish Scientist Accuses UN's IPCC of Falsifying Data and Destroying Evidence
Posted by Noel Sheppard on June 24, 2007 - 19:45.

If you listen to the global warming alarmists working for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or folks like soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore, sea levels across the globe are rising at a rate that will eventually doom us all.

According to Swedish paleogeophysicist Nils-Axel Mörner, who’s been studying and writing about sea levels for four decades, the scientists working for the IPCC have falsified data and destroyed evidence to incorrectly prove their point.

Mörner was recently interviewed by Gregory Murphy of Executive Intelligence Review, and began by making it clear that the sea level claims made by the IPCC are a lot of nonsense (emphasis added throughout, h/t Eduardo Ferreyra):

[W]e can see that the sea level was indeed rising, from, let us say, 1850 to 1930-40. And that rise had a rate in the order of 1 millimeter per year. Not more. 1.1 is the exact figure. And we can check that, because Holland is a subsiding area; it has been subsiding for many millions of years; and Sweden, after the last Ice Age, was uplifted. So if you balance those, there is only one solution, and it will be this figure.

That ended in 1940, and there had been no rise until 1970; and then we can come into the debate here on what is going on, and we have to go to satellite altimetry, and I will return to that. But before doing that: There’s another way of checking it, because if the radius of the Earth increases, because sea level is rising, then immediately the Earth’s rate of rotation would slow down. That is a physical law, right? You have it in figure-skating: when they rotate very fast, the arms are close to the body; and then when they increase the radius, by putting out their arms, they stop by themselves. So you can look at the rotation and the same comes up: Yes, it might be 1.1 mm per year, but absolutely not more.

1.1 mm per year? That means that if this were to continue for 1000 years, sea levels would be 1.1 meters higher. Doesn’t sound very catastrophic, does it?

Mörner then addressed what in his view was a ridiculous error by the IPCC:

Another way of looking at what is going on is the tide gauge. Tide gauging is very complicated, because it gives different answers for wherever you are in the world. But we have to rely on geology when we interpret it. So, for example, those people in the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], choose Hong Kong, which has six tide gauges, and they choose the record of one, which gives 2.3 mm per year rise of sea level. Every geologist knows that that is a subsiding area. It’s the compaction of sediment; it is the only record which you shouldn’t use. And if that figure is correct, then Holland would not be subsiding, it would be uplifting. And that is just ridiculous. Not even ignorance could be responsible for a thing like that.

But that was just the beginning of Mörner’s problems with the IPCC:

Now, back to satellite altimetry, which shows the water, not just the coasts, but in the whole of the ocean. And you measure it by satellite. From 1992 to 2002, [the graph of the sea level] was a straight line, variability along a straight line, but absolutely no trend whatsoever. We could see those spikes: a very rapid rise, but then in half a year, they fall back again. But absolutely no trend, and to have a sea-level rise, you need a trend.

Then, in 2003, the same data set, which in their [IPCC's] publications, in their website, was a straight line—suddenly it changed, and showed a very strong line of uplift, 2.3 mm per year, the same as from the tide gauge. And that didn't look so nice. It looked as though they had recorded something; but they hadn't recorded anything. It was the original one which they had suddenly twisted up, because they entered a “correction factor,” which they took from the tide gauge. So it was not a measured thing, but a figure introduced from outside. I accused them of this at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow —I said you have introduced factors from outside; it's not a measurement. It looks like it is measured from the satellite, but you don't say what really happened. And they answered, that we had to do it, because otherwise we would not have gotten any trend!

That is terrible! As a matter of fact, it is a falsification of the data set. Why? Because they know the answer. And there you come to the point: They “know” the answer; the rest of us, we are searching for the answer. Because we are field geologists; they are computer scientists. So all this talk that sea level is rising, this stems from the computer modeling, not from observations. The observations don't find it!

Pretty extraordinary, wouldn’t you agree? A "correction factor." Honestly, the way these folks manipulate data is nothing less than astounding.

Yet, Mörner wasn’t finished, as he later detailed an incident when IPCC scientists actually destroyed evidence which refuted their rising sea level claims:

This tree, which I showed in the documentary, is interesting. This is a prison island, and when people left the island, from the '50s, it was a marker for them, when they saw this tree alone out there, they said, “Ah, freedom!” They were allowed back. And there have been writings and talks about this. I knew that this tree was in that terrible position already in the 1950s. So the slightest rise, and it would have been gone. I used it in my writings and for television. You know what happened? There came an Australian sea-level team, which was for the IPCC and against me. Then the students pulled down the tree by hand! They destroyed the evidence. What kind of people are those? And we came to launch this film, “Doomsday Called Off,” right after, and the tree was still green. And I heard from the locals that they had seen the people who had pulled it down. So I put it up again, by hand, and made my TV program. I haven't told anybody else, but this was the story.

They call themselves scientists, and they're destroying evidence! A scientist should always be open for reinterpretation, but you can never destroy evidence. And they were being watched, thinking they were clever.

Think Katie, Charlie, or Brian will be interviewing Mörner any time soon?

No, I don’t either.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Climate, Religion, Politics, Crime, Asia, Europe, England

Salman Rushdie Affair - A Sane Muslim Responds

Sikhs in the UK would have heard in detail I'm sure about the Muslim reaction to the Rushdie Knighthood and the toadying by UK politicians of various hues afterwards to placate the Fundos (or Fundies - Fundamentalists) afterwards. I wrote about the 'demented' reactions of Islamonutters as well (though they may have a large following, they are still 'nutters').

What you may not have heard was a sane response from a Muslim (at least I think she's a Muslim). Well I found one via Kathy Shaidle and The Augean Stables. Please see the original post for all the links (meanwhile, I've just added The Augean Stables to my reading list...)

India Knight, the British daughter of a Muslim shows more courage than the English who taught her their Western values. Just the kind of voice we need to hear.

June 24, 2007
Rushdie, the man they love to hate
Surely there’s a difference between careful diplomacy and pandering to extremists
India Knight

What an extraordinary, if depressingly predictable, fuss about Salman Rushdie’s knighthood. Eighteen years after the fatwa was issued, Ijaz ul-Haq, tPakistani religious affairs minister, last week told his country’s parliament that “if someone exploded a bomb on Rushdie’s body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the ‘sir’ title”.

Union Jacks were burnt in Pakistan, with rioters shouting “Kill him!”. If I were Pakistani, I’d be more inclined to riot about the monstrous off-the-scale corruption that riddled my government, and the corrupted version of Islam that brainwashed disenfranchised young men in the madrasahs, but anyway. A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said that to honour “an apostate and one of the most hated figures in the Islamic world” indicated that Britain supported “the insult to Islamic values”.

One might respectfully suggest that if people who seek to impose their grotesque distortion of Islam on their unfortunate peoples will insist on making these inane pronouncements, they might at least do so with a degree of calm and a semblance of rationality, because otherwise it’s hard to take them seriously (assuming one were inclined to do so, which is quite an assumption).

It’s as though the Vatican took such exception to The Da Vinci Code that, instead of putting out composed-sounding statements and seeking (not entirely successfully) to reassure people that super-creepy Opus Dei is not in fact creepy at all, its spokesmen started foaming at the mouth like nutters and ordered crusades against Dan Brown for having the temerity to invent a story and write fiction.

Muslim world inflamed by Rushdie knighthood

A Pakistani minister said that Rushdie’s knighthood justified suicide bombings amid offers of rewards for his assassination
British minister: ‘We stand by Rushdie knighthood’

Actually it’s not like that, because Rushdie is a brilliant writer and Brown is a sort of rich monkey with a typewriter, but you get the gist. And no sooner is the knighthood announced in the Queen’s birthday honours than politicians such as Jack Straw are tripping over themselves “sympathising” with the “hurt feelings” of the “Muslim community” and volunteering his opinion of Rushdie’s oeuvre: “I’m afraid I found his books rather difficult and I’ve never managed to get to the end of any of them.” This just makes him sound thick, I’m afraid.

Midnight’s Children is hardly Finnegans Wake, and with the exception of The Satanic Verses none of Rushdie’s books is remotely “difficult”. So either Straw is remedially dim, poor thing, or he’s making the point that since Rushdie’s work is not his cup of tea, neither is Rushdie, and nor, by extension, is his knighthood – nothing to do with me, guv, so please keep voting for me, Muslim constituents.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said she was “sorry” for any offence caused. An unnamed Labour MP told a newspaper that “anybody with common sense would have blocked this”. Thank God for John Reid: the home secretary said that although the issue was “sensitive”, the protection of people’s rights to express their opinions in literature, argument and politics was of “overriding value to our society”.

What on earth is the point of pussyfooting around like pathetic craven saps (and I write as someone who is the daughter of a Muslim and also has some Iranian blood)? Surely there’s a difference between careful diplomacy and pandering to extremist Muslims who violently oppose everything people in this country stand for and believe in?

We live – thank God, Allah and everybody else – in a democracy. We have, and cherish, the right to free speech. It is a glorious thing. People are allowed – encouraged – to have an imagination and to write books, which some people may like and some people may not, but there you go: nobody forces anybody to read anything (though perhaps they should: I’d love to know how many fatwa supporters read the 560 pages of The Satanic Verses).

So what I don’t understand is why, when the knighthood was announced and gracefully acknowledged by Rushdie – “I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour” – it should have been met at home by carping and wriggly apology instead of celebration. Is it too much to ask for our politicians to stand up and paraphrase Voltaire’s “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”? Yes, apparently, because it seems that pandering to the tiny proportion of the Muslim vote that is both extremist and fundamentalist is worth more than art, beauty, reason or morality.

Part of the problem – and it’s an objectionable one – is that Rushdie is viewed in many quarters as being insufficiently grateful for the protection the (Conservative) government afforded him during the fatwa. Apparently, if millions of people are encouraged to kill you and the country you live in quite rightly thinks that’s a poor show, and helps you, you forfeit the right to express an opinion about anything, whether it’s the price of a pint of milk or the niqab.

In addition to this perceived lack of gratitude is the political perception of Rushdie. To the right, he’s a leftie, which is ironic because he was helped and protected by a Conservative government and a Labour premier, Tony Blair, whom many would consider a kind of low-level Tory.

To the left, he is problematic in the extreme, because the left courts the Muslim vote. “Courts” isn’t quite right – “toadies” is more like it. And in the process, moderate Muslims who practise their religion peacefully and with grace don’t seem to feature: they’re lumped with the extremists and given a hard time as a result, for the reasons outlined above.

There’s a third issue here. Art matters. Literature matters. They matter much more than the ravings of some overexcited, barely literate oik of a cleric with a gift for oratory, even if – especially if – said cleric ends up having global influence. When you cut to the chase, all that remains is this: Rushdie, who was 60 last week, is an exceptional writer who has written great books, for which he has been awarded prizes and awards both here and internationally. Unlike most exceptional writers, he walked around as a living target for 10 years under constant police protection.

People associated with his books were also targeted, injured – his Italian translator was beaten and stabbed; his Norwegian publisher shot and left to die – and even killed, in the case of his Japanese translator. All because he wrote a book, used his imagination, made up a story, got it published, and didn’t or wouldn’t foresee the calamitous consequences of his act of creativity – because those consequences were unimaginable to a civilised mind living in a democracy. His knighthood recognises all of this, as well as his talent. I couldn’t be more delighted for him.

Can we get it right this time. Time to get the joke.
Hitchens gets it, and look at how he stiffens British backbone with his remarks.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Muslim, England, Europe, Pakistan, India, Asia, Sikh, Religion, Politics, Crime

Personal Skin Care - What you Should Know

Something a little different. With the summer heat, you may be looking for ways to keep your 'natural' shine and protect your skin... Here's some advice I found from eMaxHealth by Gurusimran Khalsa. I have no affiliation with Gurusimran or Banyan Botanicals. I bring this article up, as I've some family members who are concerned about their skin care and thought this may be enlightening.

Natural Ways To Keep Skin Healthy, Smooth, Itch-Free This Summer



With temperatures rising, more exposed skin and more plants in full bloom, people are more prone to experiencing rashes, acne outbreaks and other skin inflammations.



Ayurvedic natural remedies can help keep your skin healthy, clear and beautiful, according to Gurusimran Khalsa, Ayurvedic expert and vice president of marketing for Banyan Botanicals, the leading provider of organic Ayurvedic herbs and products in the U.S.



"Even though Ayurveda is thousands of years old, people in Western countries are paying attention to it now more than ever because major studies have proven its effectiveness in restoring and maintaining health," said Khalsa. "Leaders in the field of natural health like Drs. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra have also helped bring it to the forefront."



From an Ayurvedic perspective, problems such as rashes, acne, hives, boils, psoriasis and eczema occur when too much heat accumulates in the body, explained Khalsa. This can happen any time of year, but the warmer temperatures make heat-related imbalances of the skin more prevalent in the summer. Excess heat is normally eliminated through the GI tract, but when the system becomes overloaded with toxins, heat becomes trapped and is absorbed into the blood. The body then resorts to using the skin as an organ of elimination of the toxins. This will usually manifest as some type of skin inflammation.



Ayurveda takes a holistic approach to maintaining and regaining health. For skin flare-ups, Ayurvedic remedies incorporate the use of herbs to cool and restore balance in the body, dietary recommendations, and quick yoga and breathing techniques. A daily dose of the traditional Ayurvedic formula Triphala will eliminate excess heat from the body, remove toxins from the GI tract, support healthy elimination, and promote the skin's natural healing process. Cooking with spices like tumeric and using neem on the skin helps remove toxins from the blood. Neem has antibacterial and antifungal properties. It can be used in the form of oil you rub on your skin, soap to clean and cool irritated skin, or powder that can be applied as a paste to weepy, oily or oozy skin inflammations, Khalsa explained. For this reason, neem is great to use on poison ivy or poison oak.



If your skin is irritated, avoid consumption of spicy foods, minimize alcohol and coffee consumption, drink plenty of fresh water and eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially cooling foods like greens vegetables, basmati rice, sweet juicy fruits, coconut, cucumber and cilantro.



These easy moves can also help, according to Khalsa. A simple seated forward bend cools the system and releases heat from the body. Shitali Pranayama, the cooling breath, is excellent for eliminating heat from the body. The practice is as follows: Curl or roll the sides of your tongue upward into a tube or straw. Inhale slowly through the rolled tongue, and then close the mouth and exhale normally through the nose. If you are unable to roll your tongue into a tube, lightly clench your teeth together with the tongue pressed against the teeth. Inhale the air through your teeth and sides of your mouth. Practice for 10-26 rounds of breath.



"It's important to try to keep your body in balance and listen what it's telling you," advises Khalsa. "The skin tells you a lot about what's going on inside."

Technorati Tags: Health, Sikh, Khalsa, India, Punjab, Canada

Honour Killing Among Muslims in the UK

The article below outlines events that are vile...... Visit Western Resistance to read the comments.

Dishonourable killing... Visit Family Security Matters for Part 2...

Mutilation And Killing For Muslim "Honor"
Part One: The Other Side Of Multiculturalism

Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha was a beautiful young woman whose family had migrated to Britain in 1998 from the Kurdish region of Iraq. Banaz, aged 20, lived in Mitcham, south London. On Monday, June 11, 2007 her father and her uncle were found guilty of killing her. Her father had ordered the killing, and his brother had carried it out. A shoelace was tied around Banaz's neck, strangling her. Her decomposing body was found in Handsworth, Birmingham, 70 miles away, on April 27 last year, three months after she had "disappeared".

Another man, Mohammed Marif Hama, who was not a relative but belonged to the Iraqi Kurdish community, pleaded guilty to murder on March 9 this year. Another member of the Iraqi Kurdish community, Pshtewan Hama, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. The reason for Banaz being killed was because she had a boyfriend, 28-year old Rahmat Suleimi, a Kurd from Iran.

After Banaz's father and uncle pleaded guilty, he said: "She was my present, my future, my hope. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I couldn't ask for anything better than that. Banaz was the nicest and the sweetest person I have ever come across. She had the best personality. If you met Banaz once you would never forget about her. After I met Banaz she just changed me and I became a completely different person. She hated to argue with anyone, she hated to see anyone suffering from anything. She just wanted to help anyone. She wanted to be a happy person. She wanted to see everyone be happy."

He said of honor killings: "I just hope that one day this is going to stop and there is going to be a way out for people. I know it is too late for me and Banaz. If there's anyone out there in the same situation, do something about it before it's too late. Once it's too late, it's too late - you will never get your life back."

The convictions last week were the latest in a series of Muslim honor killings in Britain. Banaz and her boyfriend had been repeatedly threatened. Just three days before she officially "vanished", a group of men Kurdish men had tried to abduct Rahmat Suleimi in a car. Even though British police did not take Banaz's appeals seriously while she was alive, her death spurred a massive police inquiry. There were 47 searches of houses, 22 arrests, 779 statements were taken. Sixteen people were bailed to reappear before police. It is thought that several people who had been involved in the plot to kill the young woman had left the country.

In the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq, where Banaz's family had come from, the regional prime minister promised a hard line against such killings this week. Neghervan Barzani said: "recently there have been horrendous crimes commited against women in some areas of Kurdistan. While we condemn these crimes, we also rebuke the government ministers and other bodies for not having applied suitable solutions to prevent such episodes reoccurring."

Barzani recommended that honor killing, classed in the penal code as a separate offense to murder, should be reclassified as "murder". Honor killing is viewed as a "justifiable homicide" and in many Muslim societies, it is not viewed as seriously as murder.

Over the past decade in Britain, there have been at least 25 confirmed honor killings in the Muslim community, but this is only the tip of an iceberg. The police have acknowledged shortcomings in their approach to Banaz's pleas for help, and this summer, the Association of Chief Police Officers is planning to launch an action plan on "honor violence".

After the conviction of Banaz' uncle and father, Diana Nammi of the London-based Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organization said of honor crimes: "We're seeing an increase around the world, due in part to the rise in Islamic fundamentalism."

In 2000, the United Nations announced that every year, 5,000 girls and women were killed in "honor crimes", though that figure may be a low estimate.

In the politically correct climate of Britain where 1.8 million Muslims live, the issue of honor killing has never been addressed seriously. Since the 1960s, communities of Muslims have evolved in Britain's inner cities, where integration and assimilation have not happened. Instead of attempting to integrate Muslim communities within the greater fabric of a British society, politicians have praised the values of multiculturalism. And in Britain's ghetto communities, separatism and segregation are the chosen aims of many. Arranged marriages are still the norm, particularly amongst Britain's Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origins. Such unions constantly import more people, who have little experience of Britain, who automatically become citizens of an increasingly segregated nation.

Honor killing is one aspect of Muslim society that perpetuates traditional customs which flourish in Kurdish Iraq, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Most honor killings and acts of "honor violence" happen in Britain because a young woman (or man) has chosen to embark upon a relationship not sanctioned by their parents or peers. Sometimes merely becoming "too Western" is used as an excuse to kill. During the trial of her killers, it was stated that the family thought one of the "crimes" of Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha was to be "too Westernized".

familyTake the case of 49-year old Mohammed Riaz's family, who lived in Accrington, Lancashire, in the north of England. Riaz objected to the way his wife Caneze was bringing up their four daughters, Sayrah (16), Sophia (15), Alicia (10) and Hannah (3). An inquest hearing in February this year heard that friends and relatives claimed that the father was a "conservative" Muslim. He had planned for his children to undergo arranged marriages, but Caneze would not allow this. When the girls had been bought Western style clothing, Mohammed Riaz burned the garments.

On November 1 last year, while his wife and daughters slept, Riaz poured gasoline outside their bedrooms, across the hallway and down the stairs. He then set it alight. His wife and daughters were killed in the conflagration, yet Riaz was pulled out alive. He died two days later of 65% burns. Tragically, the only member of the family to survive was the son, 17-year old Adam. He was not in the house at the time as he was in hospital in Manchester, battling Ewings Sarcoma, a type of leukemia. Five weeks after his family had burned to death, Adam died.

Another young woman who was murdered for being too "Westernized" was Heshu Yones. Like the family of Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha, Heshu's family had arrived in Britain to escape the persecutions of Saddam Hussein in Kurdish Iraq. Heshu had become used to Western freedoms, and had developed a relationship with a Lebanese Christian man. On October 12, 2002, when she was only 16, Heshu's father murdered her in their home in Acton, west London. 47-year old Abdalla Yones chased her from room to room, stabbing her eleven times. The last blow was wielded with such ferocity that the tip of the blade broke off when it hit bone in her neck. Before this savage final blow had been dealt, Heshu had been held down over the bath and her throat was slit open. Heshu bled to death the bathroom floor, wedged between the bath and the toilet. When her body was discovered, the white handled knife was still sticking out of her throat.

Heshu's father was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 29, 2003. Det Insp Brent Hyatt, of the Metropolitan Police's Serious Crime Directorate said: "Abdalla Yones killed her to shield his so-called honour. A few months before her death, she had been taken to Kurdistan to be married off. But the marriage didn't take place because the groom's family discovered she was not a virgin. Abadalla brought Heshu back and decided to eliminate her. The family approved of the crime."

After his arrest, Heshu's father had tried to claim that he and his daughter had been attacked by al Qaeda operatives. During his trial Abdalla Yones had admitted killing for "honor", and said he would do it again. At the close of the trial, Judge Denison said: "This is, on any view, a tragic story arising out of irreconcilable cultural differences between traditional Kurdish values and the values of western society."

Shortly after the verdict, Amir Taheri wrote in the Times: "It is not an overstatement to say that in some cases Muslim women find themselves more threatened by male fanaticism in Britain and France than they do in Turkey and Iran."

In June 2004 British police announced that were embarking on a re-examination of older cases, some up to ten years old, to see if they were "honor killings". 52 cases from London and 65 cases from other locations in England and Wales were to be re-evaluated. A year later 22 cases had been fully examined, and 18 of these had been classed as "honor killings". After the Yones trial, campaigners had claimed that in 2002 alone, there had been 12 honor killings.

Samaira NazirThe way in which honor killings in Europe take place is horrific. Often young males in a family are chosen to kill the "offending" individual, as it is believed that they will receive a lighter sentence. On Saturday, April 23, 2005, neighbors in Abbotts Road in Southall, west London heard a commotion coming from a house owned by a family of Pakistani origin. Hearing a woman's screams, one neighbor had knocked on the house door. The 61-year old head of the family claimed that their 25-year old daughter Samaira was suffering epileptic fits.

Shortly after this, a witness had heard Samaira shouting: "You are not my mother any more," followed by "No! No! No!" At one stage, the front door opened, and Samaira Nazir appeared, covered in blood. Then a hand grabbed the young woman by her hair and dragged her, still screaming, into the house. The police were called. When they arrived, Samaira was found dead in the hallway. A trail of blood led from the door.

Her 30 year old brother Azhar Nazir and her 16-year old cousin were found to have bloodstains, and they were arrested. As he was taken away, Azhar Nazir said: "There had been a problem with my sister. She does not wish to have an arranged marriage. We only allow marriage within the family. My sister wanted to run away from the house and was stopped."

Samaira was bright and educated. She had gained a degree at Thames University, and had become a director at her brother's recruitment company, which provided staff for the Hilton hotel group. Samaira had fallen in love with an Afghan asylum seeker called Salman Mohammed, who had come to Britain smuggled inside a lorry in 2000. Salman had worked at a greengrocer's shop owned by Samaira's brother, but he was considered too "low caste" to be married into the family. Azhar Nizar had told him on the phone: "We can get you anywhere if you get married, even if you are not in this country."

Samaira had been taken to Pakistan in 2004, in an attempt to force her into an arranged marriage, but she had turned down all of her prospective husbands. The whole family appeared to be involved in planning the killing. When Samaira was stabbed to death with eighteen knife blows, Azhar's two daughters, aged two and four were present. They had become spattered with blood. Samaira's 16-year old cousin, who also stabbed her, had been led to believe she had been subjected to "witchcraft" by her Afghan boyfriend. On June 16, 2006 a jury at the Old Bailey found Samaira's cousin and brother guilty of murder. Samaira's mother was originally charged with murder, but these charges were dropped. Samaira's 61-year old father was arrested, but he claimed that he was unwell and was given bail. He fled to Pakistan, which has no extradition treaty with Britain.

Most victims of honor killings are female, but males are also killed. In November 2005 32-year old Waseem Afsar and 31-year old Nisar Khan were found guilty of murder. The case related to the killing of a man in July 1996 in Slough, Berkshire. 21-year old Ahmed Bashir had been discovered to have had a relationship with Waseem Afsar's sister, Nighat Afsar. The two men had attacked Bashir with a scimitar sword and a 10 inch knife. Bashir had forty stab wounds, mostly around his genitals.

Arash Ghorbani-Zarin was a young engineering student of Iranian extraction. He studied at Oxford Brookes University, and in 2003 he fell in love with Manna Begum, a girl from a Bangladeshi family. Manna's father, a waiter, had already arranged a marriage for her. When Manna's father found out about the relationship he banned her from seeing Arash, took away her mobile phone, and made her a prisoner in the family house. Manna tried suicide, and eventually escaped to live with an aunt. She became pregnant, and Arash intended to marry her. He gave up his studies to work in a toy shop, to be able to support his fiancee and their child. In November 2004, he had proudly shown his friends the ultrasound scans of the baby growing in the womb of his bride-to-be. He had invited them to the wedding. A week later, he was dead. His body was found on November 20, in his green Renault car, with 46 stab wounds.

On November 4, 2005 at Oxford Crown Court, Manna Begum's father, 44-year olf Chomar Ali, was found guilty, with his two sons. One of these sons had been only 15 at the time of the killing, and the other was 19. The elder son, Mujibar Rahman, said of his sister: "She acted contrary to religion and tradition by dating Arash. Instead of dating, she should have waited to have an arranged marriage."

The child which Manna was expecting was not allowed to live. After killing Arash, Chomar Ali forced his daughter to book into a Swiss abortion clinic, to have the pregnancy terminated. Manna was six months pregnant when the Clinicia Ginemedex terminated her unborn child. Even by European standards this abortion, which was not carried out for medical reasons, was illegal.

Perhaps the youngest victim of a British honor crime is six-year old Alisha Begum, whose family originally came from Bangladesh. Alisha was the youngest of 12 children. She lived at the family home in Perry Barr, Birmingham. On March 10, 2006, she was asleep on a bunk bed in an upstairs bedroom when two men poured gasoline through the front door and set it alight. The rest of the family managed to escape by jumping from an upstairs window. Little Alisha was trapped in the flames, and suffered 95% to 100% burns. She died the following day in Birmingham Children's Hospital.

In September 2006 two men were on trial at Birmingham Crown Court. These were Hussein Ahmad, a 26-year old dentist, and his associate 18-year old Daryll Tuzzio. Hussein AHmed had a sister, who had been having a relationship with 21-year old Abdul Hamid, Alisha's elder brother.

Prosecutor Adrian Redgrave said: "One hears of so-called honour killings though one may wonder how by any stretch of the imagination there can be any honour in what happened here, resulting in the death of a six-year-old child. Hussain and his associates knew that at the house there was not only Abdul Hamid, and he was the one they were trying to get at, but they knew full well that there was a whole family living there."

The prosecutor described the attack as "pure wickedness" which had been done to threaten Abdul Hamid for forming an "unauthorised relationship" with Hussein Ahmad's sister Meherun.

Surprisingly Hussein Ahmad, who had originally conceived the plot, was acquitted of murder, even though his brother and another friend were still wanted by the police. They were thought to have fled to Bangladesh. Darryl Tuzzio, who also had Bangladeshi origins, was found guilty of arson and murder on October 5, 2006. He was sentenced to eight years' jail on November 2.

These are just a few of the many cases on record of honor killings in Britain. In Part Two I will discuss such cases in other countries. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, where such killings frequently take place, there are also cases of horrific mutilations carried out in the name of "honor".

Adrian Morgan

© 2003-2007 FamilySecurityMatters.org All Rights Reserved

Technorati Tags: England, UK, Islam, Muslim, Religion, Pakistan, Turkey

Why Would a Chandigarh SGPC Member Want to Control Mohali Gurdwaras?

I just read an article describing how a Chandigarh SGPC member had the Gurdwara Co-ordination Council of Mohali change its constitution to allow him to be the election commissioner, when the Constitution only allowed previously for the LOCAL SGPC member from Mohali to be the election commissioner.

That's like having a council member from a neighbouring city ride into town to become the election commissioner for your city? Why would an SGPC member from Chandigarh want to control the election in Mohali? Would it be normal for a Toronto city councillor to ride into Brampton to run its election? or someone from Los Angeles ride into Santa Monica to run its election?

Is it for some personal gain. I personally have no idea who Gurpartap Singh Riar is or isn't, and don't have any affiliation to Mohali as I don't live there, but I see this as another example of people misusing the arms of the Panth for their own benefit.

The SGPC should investigate this Riar fellow and ensure that he is not corrupt or misusing SGPC facilities for personal enrichment.

The Gurdwara Coordination Committee (GCC) split into two different committees on Thursday - one backed by Chandigarh SGPC member Gurpartap Singh Riar, the other headed by Mohali SGPC member Hardeep Singh.

Both committees held elections and also declared their presidents. There are around two dozen Gurdwaras in Mohali and both groups claim to be majority holders in Mohali.

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Riar became election commissioner for the election, which was earlier declared on June 23, but the schedule was changed. Hardyal Singh Mann, president of the Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Phase-I was elected as president of the GCC. Mann appointed Sohan Singh Sood as his general secretary.

At a press conference held on Thursday, Sood told media persons that the GCC had made changes in the Constitution of the committee and the local SGPC member was no longer the election commissioner of the committee. Instead, they made Riar election commissioner from Chandigarh. Sood said his committee enjoyed the confidence of most Gurdwaras in Mohali. He said it is SGPC member Hardeep Singh who doesn’t want unity between religious bodies in Mohali for his own petty issues.

Hardeep Singh, in turn, was election commissioner of GCC elections in Gurdwara Shri Guru Kalgidhar Singh Sabha, Phase-IV on Thursday. In this election Mohinder Singh, president of Gurdwara Phase-IV, was elected as president of Mohali GCC.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, India, Punjab, Khalsa, SGPC, Crime, Religion, Politics

Research Debunking "Humans Responsible for Global Warming" Narrative

If you don't believe humans are causing dangerous global warming then read no further, however, if you 1. believe humans cause global warming, and more importantly, 2. believe you have an 'open' mind to alternative ideas - then read further, otherwise please go back to being a global warming bien pensant as it where.

Read the sunspots
The mud at the bottom of B.C. fjords reveals that solar output drives climate change - and that we should prepare now for dangerous global cooling
R. TIMOTHY PATTERSON, Financial Post
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Politicians and environmentalists these days convey the impression that climate-change research is an exceptionally dull field with little left to discover. We are assured by everyone from David Suzuki to Al Gore to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that "the science is settled." At the recent G8 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel even attempted to convince world leaders to play God by restricting carbon-dioxide emissions to a level that would magically limit the rise in world temperatures to 2C.

The fact that science is many years away from properly understanding global climate doesn't seem to bother our leaders at all. Inviting testimony only from those who don't question political orthodoxy on the issue, parliamentarians are charging ahead with the impossible and expensive goal of "stopping global climate change." Liberal MP Ralph Goodale's June 11 House of Commons assertion that Parliament should have "a real good discussion about the potential for carbon capture and sequestration in dealing with carbon dioxide, which has tremendous potential for improving the climate, not only here in Canada but around the world," would be humorous were he, and even the current government, not deadly serious about devoting vast resources to this hopeless crusade.

Climate stability has never been a feature of planet Earth. The only constant about climate is change; it changes continually and, at times, quite rapidly. Many times in the past, temperatures were far higher than today, and occasionally, temperatures were colder. As recently as 6,000 years ago, it was about 3C warmer than now. Ten thousand years ago, while the world was coming out of the thou-sand-year-long "Younger Dryas" cold episode, temperatures rose as much as 6C in a decade -- 100 times faster than the past century's 0.6C warming that has so upset environmentalists.



The Deniers: The National Post's series on scientists who buck the conventional wisdom on climate science.
The National Post is a Canadian national newspaper. Here is the series so far:

Statistics needed -- The Deniers Part I
Warming is real -- and has benefits -- The Deniers Part II
The hurricane expert who stood up to UN junk science -- The Deniers Part III
Polar scientists on thin ice -- The Deniers Part IV
The original denier: into the cold -- The Deniers Part V
The sun moves climate change -- The Deniers Part VI
Will the sun cool us? -- The Deniers Part VII
The limits of predictability -- The Deniers Part VIII
Look to Mars for the truth on global warming -- The Deniers Part IX
Limited role for C02 -- the Deniers Part X
End the chill -- The Deniers Part XI
Clouded research -- The Deniers Part XII
Allegre's second thoughts -- The Deniers XIII
The heat's in the sun -- The Deniers XIV
Unsettled Science -- The Deniers XV
Bitten by the IPCC -- The Deniers XVI
Little ice age is still within us -- The Deniers XVII
Fighting climate 'fluff' -- The Deniers XVIII
Science, not politics -- The Deniers XIX
Gore's guru disagreed -- The Deniers XX
The ice-core man -- The Deniers XXI
Some restraint in Rome -- The Deniers XXII
Discounting logic -- The Deniers XXIII
Dire forecasts aren't new -- The Deniers XXIV
They call this a consensus? - Part XXV
NASA chief Michael Griffin silenced - Part XXVI
Forget warming - beware the new ice age - Part XXVII

Climate-change research is now literally exploding with new findings. Since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the field has had more research than in all previous years combined and the discoveries are completely shattering the myths. For example, I and the first-class scientists I work with are consistently finding excellent correlations between the regular fluctuations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate. This is not surprising. The sun and the stars are the ultimate source of all energy on the planet.

My interest in the current climate-change debate was triggered in 1998, when I was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council strategic project grant to determine if there were regular cycles in West Coast fish productivity. As a result of wide swings in the populations of anchovies, herring and other commercially important West Coast fish stock, fisheries managers were having a very difficult time establishing appropriate fishing quotas. One season there would be abundant stock and broad harvesting would be acceptable; the very next year the fisheries would collapse. No one really knew why or how to predict the future health of this crucially important resource.

Although climate was suspected to play a significant role in marine productivity, only since the beginning of the 20th century have accurate fishing and temperature records been kept in this region of the northeast Pacific. We needed indicators of fish productivity over thousands of years to see whether there were recurring cycles in populations and what phenomena may be driving the changes.

My research team began to collect and analyze core samples from the bottom of deep Western Canadian fjords. The regions in which we chose to conduct our research, Effingham Inlet on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and in 2001, sounds in the Belize-Seymour Inlet complex on the mainland coast of British Columbia, were perfect for this sort of work. The topography of these fjords is such that they contain deep basins that are subject to little water transfer from the open ocean and so water near the bottom is relatively stagnant and very low in oxygen content. As a consequence, the floors of these basins are mostly lifeless and sediment layers build up year after year, undisturbed over millennia.

Using various coring technologies, we have been able to collect more than 5,000 years' worth of mud in these basins, with the oldest layers coming from a depth of about 11 metres below the fjord floor. Clearly visible in our mud cores are annual changes that record the different seasons: corresponding to the cool, rainy winter seasons, we see dark layers composed mostly of dirt washed into the fjord from the land; in the warm summer months we see abundant fossilized fish scales and diatoms (the most common form of phytoplankton, or single-celled ocean plants) that have fallen to the fjord floor from nutrient-rich surface waters. In years when warm summers dominated climate in the region, we clearly see far thicker layers of diatoms and fish scales than we do in cooler years. Ours is one of the highest-quality climate records available anywhere today and in it we see obvious confirmation that natural climate change can be dramatic. For example, in the middle of a 62-year slice of the record at about 4,400 years ago, there was a shift in climate in only a couple of seasons from warm, dry and sunny conditions to one that was mostly cold and rainy for several decades.

Using computers to conduct what is referred to as a "time series analysis" on the colouration and thickness of the annual layers, we have discovered repeated cycles in marine productivity in this, a region larger than Europe. Specifically, we find a very strong and consistent 11-year cycle throughout the whole record in the sediments and diatom remains. This correlates closely to the well-known 11-year "Schwabe" sunspot cycle, during which the output of the sun varies by about 0.1%. Sunspots, violent storms on the surface of the sun, have the effect of increasing solar output, so, by counting the spots visible on the surface of our star, we have an indirect measure of its varying brightness. Such records have been kept for many centuries and match very well with the changes in marine productivity we are observing.

In the sediment, diatom and fish-scale records, we also see longer period cycles, all correlating closely with other well-known regular solar variations. In particular, we see marine productivity cycles that match well with the sun's 75-90-year "Gleissberg Cycle," the 200-500-year "Suess Cycle" and the 1,100-1,500-year "Bond Cycle." The strength of these cycles is seen to vary over time, fading in and out over the millennia. The variation in the sun's brightness over these longer cycles may be many times greater in magnitude than that measured over the short Schwabe cycle and so are seen to impact marine productivity even more significantly.

Our finding of a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate indicators (called "proxies") is not unique. Hundreds of other studies, using proxies from tree rings in Russia's Kola Peninsula to water levels of the Nile, show exactly the same thing: The sun appears to drive climate change.

However, there was a problem. Despite this clear and repeated correlation, the measured variations in incoming solar energy were, on their own, not sufficient to cause the climate changes we have observed in our proxies. In addition, even though the sun is brighter now than at any time in the past 8,000 years, the increase in direct solar input is not calculated to be sufficient to cause the past century's modest warming on its own. There had to be an amplifier of some sort for the sun to be a primary driver of climate change.

Indeed, that is precisely what has been discovered. In a series of groundbreaking scientific papers starting in 2002, Veizer, Shaviv, Carslaw, and most recently Svensmark et al., have collectively demonstrated that as the output of the sun varies, and with it, our star's protective solar wind, varying amounts of galactic cosmic rays from deep space are able to enter our solar system and penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. These cosmic rays enhance cloud formation which, overall, has a cooling effect on the planet. When the sun's energy output is greater, not only does the Earth warm slightly due to direct solar heating, but the stronger solar wind generated during these "high sun" periods blocks many of the cosmic rays from entering our atmosphere. Cloud cover decreases and the Earth warms still more.

The opposite occurs when the sun is less bright. More cosmic rays are able to get through to Earth's atmosphere, more clouds form, and the planet cools more than would otherwise be the case due to direct solar effects alone. This is precisely what happened from the middle of the 17th century into the early 18th century, when the solar energy input to our atmosphere, as indicated by the number of sunspots, was at a minimum and the planet was stuck in the Little Ice Age. These new findings suggest that changes in the output of the sun caused the most recent climate change. By comparison, CO2 variations show little correlation with our planet's climate on long, medium and even short time scales.

In some fields the science is indeed "settled." For example, plate tectonics, once highly controversial, is now so well-established that we rarely see papers on the subject at all. But the science of global climate change is still in its infancy, with many thousands of papers published every year. In a 2003 poll conducted by German environmental researchers Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch, two-thirds of more than 530 climate scientists from 27 countries surveyed did not believe that "the current state of scientific knowledge is developed well enough to allow for a reasonable assessment of the effects of greenhouse gases." About half of those polled stated that the science of climate change was not sufficiently settled to pass the issue over to policymakers at all.

Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada. As a country at the northern limit to agriculture in the world, it would take very little cooling to destroy much of our food crops, while a warming would only require that we adopt farming techniques practiced to the south of us.

Meantime, we need to continue research into this, the most complex field of science ever tackled, and immediately halt wasted expenditures on the King Canute-like task of "stopping climate change."


R. Timothy Patterson is professor and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Canada, Asia, USA, Africa, Europe, South America

Islamic Rage Boy - Check Out This Joker ;-)

From Snapped Shot, this guy seems to be always on, except for that one shot where he's cowering before some cop...


Technorati Tags: Muslim, Islam, India, Religion, Politics, Humour

Casteism Has NO Place in SIKHI

Dr. Ronki Ram makes a good point in this article and it is a shame that people who call themselves Sikh, take positions along casteist lines. Anyone who is a Sikh, should NOT be seen as anything other than as a Sikh first and foremost. People often make excuses for their own casteist behaviour by blaming the other party for thinking along caste lines when saying, "they don't see themselves as Sikhs first!"

You need to make the point in your own homes and circles that casteism (and gender bias for that matter) doesn't fly and that all Sikhs are equal and have equal rights whether in regards to marriage, death, birth, etc... and particularly in performing any and every function in the propagation and performance of religious duties.

If members of the Sangat think that Dalits are lacking in knowledge of Sikhi then why not start programs on the correct application of Sikh principles and do parchar amongst them to explain Sikhi fully and satisfactorily?

If its a question of Dalits not being the 'same', then that's your problem NOT theirs. As Sikhs we are all equal and should only look at a person's character and actions, not their 'caste', in deciding if we want to associate with someone or not.

Casteism is a poison and Sikhi is the antidote. However, like any medicine, balm or ointment, it will only work if the patient is willing to 'use as directed'. Being a cultural Sikh isn't the same as being an actual Sikh. Sikhism isn't a social club, it's a way of life to be a better human being and be put on the road to enlightenment and union with Waheguru, aka God.

Perhaps if SGPC, Akal Takht, and DSGMC and other Panthic bodies would get their act together and engage in meaningful parchar (education, proselytizing) of Sikh values, principles, beliefs and prayers, there wouldn't be a need for 'Deras' and pakhandi Babas (fake preachers).

Social Catastrophe in the Making: Religion, Deras, and Dalits in Punjab
Written by Dr. Ronki Ram
Friday, June 15, 2007

The recent violent clashes between the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and Sikhs seem to have acquired an utmost importance in the current political history of Punjab. The importance of such conflicts surpases the much talked about ‘short-term politics of revenge’ and throws a critical light on their much deeper socio-religious roots steeped into the so-called casteless Sikh society in Punjab. On the one hand, it lay bare the dormant structures of social discrimination that permeates the fabric of the Sikh society and on the other, points towards the neo-conservative Sikhs’ anxiety of dwindling Sikh-Khalsa identity in the state. In fact, the recent Akalis-Dera Sacha Sauda row over the mimicking of iconography of the tenth Master of the Sikhs by Gurmeet Ram Raheem, the Dera head, seems much to do with the prevalence of the doctrinally rejected system of caste hierarchy among the Sikhs. Since majority of the followers of various Sacha Sauda type Deras come from the dispossessed sections of the society who at one point of time had embraced Sikhism in the hope of elevating their social status and fortune, their almost exodus from Sikhism towards alternative socio-spiritual space provided by such Deras invite the hostility of the clerics of the mainstream established religious order who interpret it as a serious challenge to the dwindling Sikh-Khalsa identity. Moreover, the frequent politicisation of the Deras makes the issue further complicated. The persistant attempts made by the various Sikh organizations during the recent Sikh-Dera crisis to win over their disgruntled Dalit Sikh followers is a clear case in point.

Punjab has the distinction of housing the country’s largest proportion of Scheduled Castes population (29 per cent), has 38 castes among the SCs in the state, of which two belong to Sikh religion, namely the Mazhabi and Ramdasis or Ramdasia Sikhs. Ramdasia Sikhs are mostly confined to the Doaba and Malwa sub-regions of the state. Kanshi Ram, founder of the Bhaujan Samaj Party (BSP), was a Ramdasia Sikh. Mazhabis, the devout Sikhs, are mostly concentrated in Majha and Malwa. In terms of numbers, Mazhabis are the most numerous Sikh caste among the SCs of Punjab (30.7 per cent of the total SC population) followed by Chamars (25.8 per cent), Ad Dharmis (15.9 per cent), Balmikis (11.1 per cent) to mention only the major castes. They are also the most deprived section of the SCs of Punjab with the lowest literacy rate (42.3 per cent) and majority of them are agricultural workers (52.2 per cent).

Jats, the dominant peasant caste in the state, has hegemonised all the Sikh organizations: Gurdwaras, Sikh Deras, SGPC, and SAD. Dalits have often complained of Jats even refusing the lower caste the right to the common cremation ground, forcing the Dalit Sikhs to even establishing separate Gurdwaras, thus solidifying existing caste divisions among the Sikhs.

It is against this backdrop of blatant social exclusion that a large number of Dalits have been veering away from the mainstream Sikh religion and enrolling themselves into various forms of Deras in Punjab whose success partly “lies in the relationship between Dalit resistance and religious rebellion”. It was the Mazhabis and Ramdasias who constituted the core of the ‘Bhaniarawala phenomenon’ and the ‘Talhan crisis’ respectively. Again it was the Mazhabis and Ramdasias Sikhs of the Malwa region of the Punjab who figured most in the Sacha Sauda crisis recently. Another probable cause behind the large-scale Dalit followings of the Deras in Punjab could be the absence of a strong Dalit movement of the sort of the famous Ad Dharm led by legendary Babu Mangoo Ram Mugowalia during the first half of the 20th century. Had the Ad Dharm movement continued in full swing, it could have curtailed the swift flow of the Dalits towards the mushrooming growth of the Deras in Punjab.

As far as Jats are concerned majority of them are the followers of Sikh Deras.It is generally believed that almost all the Sikh Deras are headed invariably by Jat Sikhs. It is rare that the head of a Sikh Dera would be a non-Jat Sikh. Even if there would be one he could not be a Dalit at all. At most Dalit Sikhs participation in Sikh Deras is confined only to the narration of the Sikhs’ sacred texts and performing of Kirtan (musical rendering of sacred hymns. Majority of the Raagis and Granthis are Dalit Sikhs. Very few Jat Sikhs take up such professions.

Deras represent the disillusions of the dispossessed who at one point of time in their life embraced Sikhism in order to escape the taint of untouchability that was adhered to them in the Hindu social order. However, since their conversion into Sikhism failed to liberate them from the scar of the untouchabilty, they turn towards non-Sikh Deras that offer them perhaps better place.

The violent clashes in Punjab are more about identity confrontation between Jats (a former marginal community that has successfully overcomed its lower social status) and Dalits (a contemporary marginal community that failed miserably to do the same). They, in fact, reveal what the Dalits seems to have been struggling for over the last few decades in the contemporary Punjab, probably used to bother the Jats also earlier in the state in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, what makes the case of the Jats as an ex-marginal community rather different from that of the Dalits was their being a clean Shudra and free from the taint of untouchability. On the contrary, Dalits were known as unclean shudras whose very touch and sigh were considered to be polluting precisely because of their occupational closeness to the polluting articles. Another factor that might have helped the Jats to overcome their lower status was their corporate social mobility affected through their group conversion into Sikh religion. Moreover yet another factor that might have helped them improve their social status was the absence of sharp contradictions between them and the then upper caste community of the Khatris in the state. Khatris, unlike Jats in the case of social mobility of Dalits, did not oppose the Jats in their attempts towards upward social mobility. On the contrary, the impoving socio-economic position of the Jats perhaps suited Khatris the most in their commercial interests.

However, there are many Dalits in the state who have improved their economic conditions by dissociating from their caste occupations and distancing them from the profession of agriculture. They have strengthened their economic position through sheer hard work and enterprise. Although the constitutional affirmative action played an important role in the upliftment of the Dalits in general, the monopoly of the Punjabi Dalits of the leather business in the famous Boota Mandi in the Doaba sub-region of the state and their ventures abroad turned out to be of crucial importance in overcoming their economic hardships. Some of them have established their own small-scale servicing units [carpentry, barber, blacksmith shops etc. In addition, they have also been politicized to a large extant by the socio-political activities of the famous Ad Dharm movementand of the various Ravidass Deras (religious centers dedicated to the teachings and philosophy of Guru Ravidass). In this case they have not only improved their economic status, but have also liberated themselves from the subordination of the Jat landowners. Consequently, their improved economic circumstances propelled them to aspire for a commensurate social status, which they seek through their memberships of the alternate non-Sikh Deras.

Thus armed with the weapon of improved economic conditions and sharpened social consciousness, the Dalits in Punjab mustered enough strength to ask for a concomitant rise in their social status. They also turn towards various Deras that help them in seeking new and respectable social identity they are terribaly in need of. However, the Jats interpreted such Dalit assertion as a challenge to their long established supremacy in the state and also to their Sikh-Khalsa identity that in turn sharpened the contradictions between them and the Dalits. This has led to a series of violent caste conflicts between the Dalits and the Jats in Punjab over the last few years. Such conflicts are in no way a manifestation of communalism in the state. They are, In fact, signs of emerging Dalit assertion, which has all the possibilities of snowballing into a serious violent conflict.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Khalsa, Gurdwara, Akal Takht, India, Punjab, Religion, Politics, History

I Wonder What Spurred this Revised Apology

Could it be this, this, or this?? Deravad Ram Raheem knows that this issue isn't going away and that he's only digging himself a bigger hole. He could have resolved the situation in the beginning with a clear and unambiguous apology and repentance, but tried to use semantics and legerdemain to get out of the situation, only to have it redound against him.

Now he issues a revised apology, but it's too late. History shows that once the Panthic minded are roused from their sleep, they are very difficult to mollify.

Dera Sacha Sauda sends revised apology to Akal Takht
Punjab Newsline Network
Wednesday, 20 June 2007

CHANDIGARH: The dera Sacha Sauda of Sirsa on Wednesday submitted a revised apology to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs for hurting Sikh sentiments.

The Sikh coummunity was enraged over action of dera chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh who had on May 14 last appeared in public attired in dress alike of Guru Gobind Singh and tried to copy the baptising ceremony started by the tenth Sikh Guru.

The aplogy letter was reportedly delivered to SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar by Delhi Sikh Gurdawara Management Committee(DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna. Sarna said to have mediated between dera and Sikh community even though he had also joined hands with radical Sikhs demanding arrest of the dera chief. Sarna and Makkar met for over an hour at the official residence of SSP MOhali Ranbir Singh Khatra.

The apology sent today however is unlikely to be taken up by Sikh clergy during next two weeks since Akal Takhtr Jathedar Gianai Joginder Singh Vedanti has left for Canada and is expected to return only by end of June.

The dera Chief had earlier sought an apology from Guru Gobind Singh for his guilt but Sikh community had rejected the same. The contents of the apology were not yet made public but it is understood that dera chief has sought an apology from the Sikh community.

Akal Takht had already issued edict for social, political and religious boycott of the dera followers. The incidents of violence had led to tension in Punjab over the dera issue.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Religion, History, Politics, Crime, Dera, India, Punjab, Asia, Khalsa, Gurdwara, Akal Takht

Israel Is Being Backed Into a Corner

There is only one thing that can come of Hamas taking control of Gaza - War. With Hezbollah on one side, Syria on another and now Hamas on the Southern border, what else can the Israelis do to defend themselves? If they wait too long, Hamas will dig in and fortify all of the Gaza strip as one big bunker and co-ordinate an attack on Israel with Hezbollah, just as they tried to do previously in making Israel fight a multi-front war. Make no mistake, the Muslims, whether Shiite or Sunni, all want to kill the Jews by 'driving them into the sea'.

Israel needs some strong leadership, which unfortunately they don't seem to have after the debacle that was the war with Hezbollah. They still don't have Gilead Shalit in hand and didn't accomplish their objectives in that war due to poor management and planning going into the conflict.

Here's a take on the situation in the region from The Fourth Rail - Bill Roggio. Please browse the site and take a look at the main page. He has posted a lot of insightful stuff, probably one of the top 3 or 4 sites on the Internet for information and analysis regarding the current conflict of our times.

The Road to Hamastan

Hamas fighters pose in President Abbas' office in Gaza.

Hamas gains control of the Gaza Strip, Israel's strategic situation has worsened

The Palestinian Civil War in the Gaza Strip has ended with Hamas defeating Fatah, its long time rival. The fighting over the past six days resulted in over 110 reported deaths, and these are the numbers that can be confirmed. The highly motivated Hamas fighters immediately seized upon the victory to declare its Islamic State, with all the trappings of a strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law.

By the few first hand accounts available from inside the Gaza Strip, the situation has degenerated into a cross of Lord of the Flies and Escape from New York. In less than a week's fighting, Hamas ran roughshod over the numerically superior, long established and better armed Fatah security forces. Hamas attacked and killed women and children for merely being affiliated with Fatah. Captured Fatah officers were frog marched through the streets in various states of undress, and beat and executed their rivals. Fatah fighters were thrown from roofs of buildings. Executions of Fatah members are said to be ongoing, although Hamas offered an amnesty.

Hamas is now engaged in an orgy of looting. "An AFP correspondent witnessed dozens of Palestinians taking everything they could carry from Dahlan’s villa -- furniture, plant pots and even the kitchen sink, complete with the plumbing fixtures... masked gunmen rode on the back of armoured vehicles taken from Abbas’s presidential guard... Windows, doors, toilets, furniture, taps, even the light bulbs were gone."

Hamas celebrates in Gaza, while members site on a captured Fatah armored vehicle.

The fall of Gaza was only a matter of time. After Hamas' election victory in January of 2006, it became clear it could not coexist with Fatah. The signs of civil war, particularly in Gaza, were apparent.

At the end of April, I joined a group of journalists on a one week tour of Israel, sponsored by the American Israeli Education Fund. Part of the trip included a helicopter tour of Israel - I don't think you can understand the scope of Israel's security dilemma unless you see the close quarters the Israelis live with respect to the Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Egyptians - and Hezbollah.

We visited and Israeli Defense Force outpost near the southern town of Sderot, which is shelled by the Palestinian terror groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas on a near daily basis.

Gaza City was just a few miles over the border, the outpost lay just a mile from the Gaza Strip. After receiving a briefing from an IDF spokesman and a Colonel in charge of a combat brigade in the region, I remarked to several members of the group that the situation inside Gaza was far, far worse than we could understand. Seth Gitell, a columnist and contributing editor of The New York Sun, was in the group and confirms this in his excellent update on the situation in Gaza.

Besides the open source reporting of the building chaos inside Gaza, the signals given by our Israeli hosts were clear. The Israeli officers were clearly unsettled and seemed perplexed about how to deal with the threat from Gaza. Under no circumstances were we permitted to go near the border while in the care of the Israelis. In the helicopter, we went no closer than 3 miles to Gaza. The overlook was as close they would take us on the ground. The Israelis recommended that under no circumstances should we consider venturing Contrast this with the West Bank, where we drove the bus through, stood on the wall, and the warnings not to enter into Palestinian administered territory were far less severe.

While in Israel, we met with numerous members of the Israeli elite: intellectuals, military officers, think tankers, journalists, businessmen, and government officials. Both the peace plans of the heady days of the 1990s, and disengagement from Gaza were recognized as failed policies. The majority of the political spectrum, from Likud to Labor, recognized there must be a two state solution, but there must be a legitimate, earnest partner in peace. The recurring question, which went unanswered, was with whom the Israelis would negotiate the two state solution. Many were resigned that a viable partner would not emerge for ten to twenty years.

But the fact is no partner exists on the Palestinian side that accepts the two state premise. Since the Olso Accords were signed in 1993, Yassir Arafat and his Fatah party paid lip service to the idea, all the while promoting the destruction of Israel on government sponsored television and radio. Palestinian schools indoctrinated their children on Islamist literature and encouraged the youth to martyr themselves.

After rejecting the Camp David Accords in 2000, which guaranteed a Palestinian state, Arafat unleashed his fighters to take part in the Second Intifada. Members of Fatah and its extremist Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fought along side Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Seven years later, President Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's successor, was destroyed by the monster it succored.

With Hamas' military takeover of Gaza, any chances for negotiating a two state solution in the near term has ended. While Fatah at least pretended to accept the idea of Israeli and Palestinian states coexisting, Hamas makes no pretenses. Hamas refuses to acknowledge the existence of Israel, and seeks to "drive the Jews into the sea."

While in Israel, many of the intellectuals we spoke to feared a war this summer, and looked north to Lebanon and the threat from Hezbollah. The Olmert government is weak due to its poor showing in the Israel-Hezbollah War of 2006. Iran is flexing its muscle in the region, has worked to rearm Hezbollah in Lebanon and threatened to "wipe Israel from the map." Syria has been rattling sabers, and is believed to have redeployed weapons systems and troops to the border.

But the engine for war in the near term may be inside Gaza. Hamas' swift military victory was no accident. The terror group has been trained by Iran's Qods Force. Israeli officers told us they've captured operatives and seized documents which prove this. Hamas, along with its ally Islamic Jihad, have continuously shelled the town of Sderot, which is politically untenable in the long term. Israeli military officers now fear Hamas rocket can hit the city of Ashkelon, about seven miles north of the Gaza border.

Can the Islamic State of Hamastan hold back from attacking Israel? Can the Israelis allow Hamas consolidate power in the Gaza Strip? Will the Israelis allow Hamas to rule Gaza, and risk having the West Bank fall under Hamas' control? We should know the answers to these questions this summer.

Technorati Tags: Islam, Asia, Terrorist, Israel, Politics, Religion, History

Vegetarianism vs. Omnivorism (I made that one up)

There have been a number of posts around the blogosphere about going vegan or vegetarian or the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Specifically, Sikhs R Us mentioned the following:

Moral and Ethical reasons
In 2000 in the UK 700 million innocent animals were slaughtered to satisfy the human palate. Mankind goes on perpetrating these obscenities on the defenceless creations of God and yet expects peace and happiness for itself.

Spiritual reasons
For every single action that we perform there is a reaction. If we cause pain and suffering to other living beings, then in this life and in the next, we will in turn suffer the consequences of our impious activities.

Health and nutritional reasons
Most of the modern killer diseases are associated with the over-consumption of fats, mainly animal derived.

Guru Dev Kaur wrote about going vegan and doing away with all milk related food in her diet and advocated the same for everyone else as well, as she stated in the block quote below.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes more than 550 pounds of dairy products annually, which is 40 percent of the bulk of the food we eat. Click here to see an illustration of the "Food Pyramid" which is representative of actual American eating habits.Give the bottle the boot! Instead, try delicious soy or rice milk, soy cheese, Tofutti ice cream, and tofu sour cream and cream cheese. All are widely available at health food stores and many supermarkets. Click here for information on adopting a dairy-free diet.

I feel that they don't paint the whole picture. There is a news article that I came across from a post by StatGuy and which should give moralizers a pause regarding the plants, fruits, and vegetables that they are eating as somehow being 'less cruel' than eating meat.

Plants can distinguish strangers from next of kin
By StatGuy

A mind-boggling discovery from the weird world of botany. McMaster University researchers have found that plants potted next to other plants of the same species behave differently depending on whether the neighbour is a stranger or a sibling.

Plants compete with unrelated plants of the same species, but with siblings they are co-operative. In short, plants can recognise and accommodate next of kin.

The research was conducted by Dr Susan A Dudley and student Amanda File of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr Dudley says their findings indicate that plants have a social life and are capable of altruism.

"The ability to recognize and favour kin is common in animals, but this is the first time it has been shown in plants" said Susan Dudley, associate professor of biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. "When plants share their pots, they get competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbours get them. It appears, though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when they share a pot with family they don't increase their root growth. Because differences between groups of strangers and groups of siblings only occurred when they shared a pot, the root interactions may provide a cue for kin recognition.”

Doesn’t that mean that plants are sentient beings? What will vegetarians eat now?

Also, I found an article that seems to make reasonable counter points to religion-based vegetarianism, and is one of the most comprehensive, a post by Paul Chek. I couldn't find the original post on Holistic Health Blog, but I did find a cached version (isn't google great?).

I apologize in advance, however, the cached version doesn't allow the referenced Figures to come through as images in the excerpt below.

Have a read...

DOES MEAT EATING IMPEDE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT?
Vegetarianism Inside~Out Part 2

The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered.

Sequel to “Alps and Sanctuaries” Butler - Twain

Part I of this article, I shared many aspects of vegetarianism and meat eating that are commonly missed by experts of all sorts. While there are a plethora of reasons and excuses people give for not eating meat, the most common I hear, and the one that stirs my soul the most, is that meat eating impedes spiritual development. To such a comment, I must respond with a quote by Shakespeare:

Thy head is as full quarrels of as an egg is full of meat

~William Shakespeare

No, my dear reader, it is NOT my intention to upset anyone. It is my intention to educate and to beg that one set aside time to ponder the words that I set down here before you deal your body an unnecessary vegetarian blow. Your body is the vessel through which you experience life and if God is not life, what else could God be?

RELIGIOUS RESTRICTION ON MEAT EATING

Here you can see that if one were to practice world religion, or adopt a unified faith based on the concept that all religions contain part of the spiritual puzzle, then one would be faced the same level of dietary confusion that exists in the academic world of nutrition today. Evidence of that confusion is easy to see in the fact that most nutritionists and dietitians have weight management problems! It should be easy to avoid that dietary confusion in religion. Eating according to your racial and genetic needs facilitates health and well-being. Since the body is the vessel through which the spiritual expresses itself on the material plane, surely health and well-being are an essential catalyst to spiritual development. By the very nature of spiritual development, we acquire the the desire to help others and this is very hard to do if you are unhealthy!

To begin, we must look at the nature of religion. According to the dictionary provided in my handy Mac Powerbook, religion is:

* A particular system of faith and worship; the world’s great religions.
* A pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance; consumerism is the new religion.

Regarding the first definition, anthropologists say that for as long as they have been able to unearth evidence of man’s early existence, they have been able to show that man was practicing some form of religion. If you look in any book that outlines the chronology of religion, a couple things relevant to our discussion become apparent. The first is that Hinduism, a religion preaching a vegetarian diet as a spiritual necessity, is the oldest religion of all great world religions. It therefore can be thought of as the trunk of a great (religion) tree from which other branches (religions) have sprouted. The influence of Hinduism as the trunk of this tree can be seen in many ways. In fact, according to Kersey Graves (1) and Ford Johnson (2), the Hindu Avatar Krishna, who pre-dated Jesus by approximately 3000 years, has been found to have a life that correlates very highly to that of Jesus. Some sources have identified as many as 120 direct parallels between Krishna and Jesus, while others have found over 300! There are many other important similarities between Hinduism and Christianity. In the main, this is because whenever we build something new, even a religion, it is natural to take those parts of a philosophy that work and discard those that don’t work. Generally, because almost all major religions branch off from Hinduism in some way, you end up with a LOT of people subscribing to religious faiths that have subsequently retained some variation of a vegetarian or meat restricted diet. It is crucial ground-substance for our discussion to see that we begin our religious history with Hinduism/vegetarianism so that we can trace the effects of Hinduism on the other major world religions.

If we take Hinduism as the trunk of our tree, the first branch of the religious tree is Judaism. Though Judaism is not a vegetarian religion, it does have specific limitations on what can be eaten and how it can be prepared. This set of guidelines is referred to as Kashrut and sets out the criteria by which a food is determined to be kosher. The Jewish religion teaches its followers to avoid eating pork, eel, shrimp, or shellfish, birds of prey, cheeseburgers or road kill (3, p.156).

Following Judaism we progress up the religious tree, we come to a tight cluster of limbs with the appearance of the Shinto (660 B.C.), Taoist (600 B.C.), Buddhist (563 B.C.) and Confucian (551 B.C.) faiths. Of these religions, Buddhism appears to have had the most to say about dietary practice. Buddhists have a diet that may be generally outlined as follows:

The first lay precept in Buddhism prohibits killing (as in Hinduism). But, the Buddha also made a distinction between killing an animal and consumption of meat, stressing that it is immoral conduct that makes one impure, not the food one eats. At one point, the Buddha specifically refused to institute vegetarianism, and the Pali Canon records the Buddha himself eating meat on several occasions. There were, however, rules prohibiting certain types of meat, such as human, leopard or elephant. Monks are also prohibited from consuming meat if they witnessed the animal’s death or know it was killed specifically for them.

On the other hand, the Buddha in certain Mahayana sutras strongly denounces the eating of meat. In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states that “the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion”, adding that every kind of meat and fish consumption is prohibited by him.

In the modern Buddhist world, attitudes toward vegetarianism vary by location. In China and Vietnam, monks typically eat no meat. In Japan or Korea some schools do not eat meat, but most do. Tibetan monks and Theravadins in Sri Lanka and South-east Asia do not practice vegetarianism (4).

In the above passage on Buddhist dietary practices, the author claims “the Buddha states that the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.” This serves beautifully to highlight one of the many influences of Hinduism on the Buddhist faiths. Again, since Buddhism branches off from Hinduism, many Buddhist practitioners carry with them the general Hindu view on vegetarianism.

As you can see though, there is room for debate on the issue of meat eating in Buddhism. This brings us to a general problem that exists in any religious faiths for which there are poor or debatable written records. This includes Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and certainly Christianity! The problem is consistency. The consistency problem is readily apparent with the dietary component of religious faiths as well. For example, it is widely believed that the Buddha’s final words were, “Be a light unto thyself,” which might imply that he wanted each individual to choose their own path to Enlightenment. However, many Buddhists would ask about the sense of calling oneself a Buddhist, if one is not trying to discern and follow the Buddha’s teachings on foods and all other issues. Conflicting aspects of Gautama Buddha’s teachings — compassion, The Five Precepts, and karma, versus the humility to accept meat and other things offered as charity — are not likely to be easily resolved, given the vagueness of written history (4). Which of the Monks are more spiritual, the meat eaters or the vegetarians? I suspect only the Buddha will know!

Further up the tree, we reach Christianity which has several of its own branches. In fact, in Christianity, there are at least 152 sects (5), of which the dietary guidelines vary from none at all, to vegetarianism. For example, the Seventh Day Adventist manual (Chapter 13, p.115) states as one of its goals the “promoting [of] optimum health, free of tobacco, alcohol, other drugs, and unclean foods. Where possible, members shall be encouraged to follow a primarily vegetarian diet” (6). So here we have at least 152 faiths claiming to live by the teachings of Jesus, yet like those claiming to follow the teachings of Buddha, not only arethey unable to agree on the path of spiritual development ascribed to Jesus, they can’t find conformity in their dietary practices. While there are no authenticated writings from Jesus himself on the topic, there is plenty of discussion of meat eating in the Bible.

Among the higher branches is the Islamic tradition. Hailed by most Muslims as the last profit of God, Muhammad authored the Koran, the Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic. The Koran lays out Islamic dietary restrictions that are very similar to those of Judaism:

Muslims can eat meat that has been ritually slaughtered, for example, but they must never eat meat from animals that have died of themselves or have been clubbed to death or gored by other animals. Nor can they eat pork. If no other food is available, however, Muslims can eat the forbidden foods, as long as they don’t enjoy it or get used to it (3, p. 91).

Moving up the timeline of our religious tree we come to Sikhism, a religious philosophy born out of both Hinduism and Islam. Sikhism is a religion founded by Guru Nanak, who was born in 1469 A.D. Guru Nanak was born a Hindu, yet found many aspects of Hinduism challenging. As a general theme, Nanak tended to be critical of religious rites and ceremonies that were treated as very important and yet had no real basis to be considered in this way. He sought to integrate society (breaking down the Hindu cast system that separated people) by introducing the custom of the langar, or communal meal, which was open to all castes and which was free from rituals normally associated with Hinduism (7, p. 148-9).

Not surprisingly, if you do a Google search for “langar”, you will find many sites describing this Sikh traditional meal as vegetarian, leaving the impression that Sikh’s are vegetarians. You can see the same kind of persuasion in the electronic encyclopedia Wikipedia. In their entry on vegetarianism, they state, “In Sikhism, it is believed that one should not eat any type of meat for it involves killing a living conscious being.” Yet, while searching to see if all langar gatherings were in fact vegetarian I came across this statement (8):

The langar is an open kitchen found in all Sikh Gurudwaras , which provide free meals after Sikh services. The Langar was instituted by Guru Amar Das, and is open to the public. The food served in the Langar is vegetarian in deference to the food restrictions of visitors of other faiths. Participants in the Langar are served while seated on the floor, a tradition emphasizing the equality of all persons. (My underlining for emphasis.)

Reading the underlined sentence, you see something not easily found in other literature on the dietary habits of Sikhs. The vegetarian meal is offered so that those of other faiths may (comfortably) participate. Remember that Guru Nanak was a Hindu who wanted to integrate people and remove the barriers of the cast system. Yet, like most every religion on the planet, once the seed force of the religion dies (physically), the followers put their own spin on the teachings and you then have conflict among those supposedly of the same faith! Interestingly, there have been leaders in the Sikh movement that were proponents of vegetarianism, espousing Hindu philosophy, and there have been those against, stating that such philosophy is irrelevant to spiritual development. This brings me to the second definition of religion and a second key discovery by Anthropologists. Remember that the second definition described religion as “a pursuit of interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.” Many of Guru Nanak’s followers have latched onto the dietary restrictions as part of their religion. Moreover, as with any religious followers, they seek to spread that practice. This is the second discovery of anthropologists. Spiritual Avatars, Masters, Guru’s, Pastors, Preachers, and even excited followers are routinely trying to infect others with the philosophy/lifestyle that is saving them. While I have no doubt that the vegetarian Sikhs believe that they have found the one true path, who wearing a human body is qualified to measure the development of another’s spirituality?

In Sandeep Singh Brar’s excellent article entitled “Misconceptions about Eating Meat - Comments of Sikh Scholars” (9), Dr. Surinder Singh Kohli is quoted as making the following comment (10):

A close study of the hymns of Guru Nanak Dev clarifies the Sikh standpoint regarding meat eating. The Guru has not fallen into the controversy of eating or not eating animal food. He has ridiculed the religious priests for raising their voice in favor of vegetarianism. He called them hypocrites and totally blind to the realities of life. They are unwise and thoughtless persons, who do not go into the root of the matter. According to him, the water is the source of all life whether vegetable or animal. Guru Nanak Dev said. “None of the grain of corn is without life. In the first place, there is life in water, by which all are made green” (Var Asa M.1, p. 472). Thus there is life in vegetation and life in all types of creatures.

Further comment in the same article (9) beautifully demonstrates the reality of life and all things created by the One, Prime Source, or God if you prefer:

Sri Guru Granth Sahib: There is no difference between plants and animals. God in his perfection has designed all living things to eat what they eat. We eat meat as part of the natural order of all living things designed by God. Man has been eating meat and vegetables for millions of years, God has not designed meat eating human beings in error. The only things banned for Sikhs are all unnatural manipulations of natural foods - tobacco, drugs, alcohol all unnatural manipulations of vegetation, and all banned for Sikhs.

As a man who has spent his life in pursuit of truth in both holistic health and spiritual development, I can assure you, the men making the above comments display clear thinking as well as sound observational skills.

So, here we have some interesting challenges: Buddhists are allowed to beg for food and eat animal flesh if they have no knowledge of where it came from or how it died. We have religious abstinence of pork in Judaism, yet native societies like the Hawaiian Islanders practically lived off pork and pineapple and had NO history of disease until the appearance of Christian missionaries. Muslims can eat forbidden foods, as long as they don’t get used to it. Finally, Sikh scholars debate the spiritual importance of vegetarianism when the founder of the Sikh tradition offered vegetarian meals only to welcome those of vegetarian traditions. They say that it was the eating of the forbidden fruit that got us here, but it sounds to me like maybe Eve should have tried eating the snake before the apple.

LIFE EATS LIFE!

Figure 1. Life Eats Life

We can see in the Sikh philosophy described by Sri Guru Granth Shahib, the ancient dictum that life eats life. Nobody brings out this truth more clearly than the late Joseph Campbell, one of the most insightful experts on mythology and theology that ever lived. Campbell expressed in his work the idea that those who claim not to eat meat for spiritual reasons simply don’t have a clear grasp on God or reality. In ancient societies, the fact that life eats life was demonstrated in the symbolism of the snake eating its own tail, called the ouroboros (Figure 1). Interestingly enough, this symbol is also used in alchemy to connote change from one substance to another as well as being a symbol of gnosis or knowledge. In other cultures, the snake eating its tail symbolizes reincarnation of the soul. The snake eating its tail may also symbolize unity. Unity is the underlying theme of world religion and we can see this in the fact that religion may also be interpreted as re-legion, meaning to bring back together as a group. All of these meanings of the ouroboros contribute to one of Campbell’s most important messages for our discussion: don’t just follow blindly, study life!

SPIRITUAL MEAT

While I have given a brief historical analysis of certain religions and their tendency towards restrictive dietary practices, there are a great number of examples of very clearly spiritual people who did not adhere to these strict dietary regimes. While I could easily compile a thousand page volume on the life and spiritual offerings of such meat eating Priests, Gurus, Chiefs, and teachers, I will expose just a few of my favorites here:

St. Hildegard of Bingen

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) is thought of as one of the most remarkable women of the middle ages. The daughter of a knight, she began her education at the age of eight years old at the Benedictine monastery at Mount St Disibode. The monastery was in the Celtic tradition, and housed both men and women in separate quarters. At eighteen years old, Hildegard became a nun and in twenty years she was made the head of the female community at the monastery. It was after she became the head of the monastery that her spirituality began to shine. In the next four years she had a series of visions and devoted the ten years from 1140 to 1150 to writing them down, describing them and commenting on their interpretation and significance. During this period, Pope Eugenius III sent a commission to inquire into her work. The commission found her teaching orthodox and her insights authentic.

Despite her growing popularity and her early favor with the church, Hildegard’s relationship with the Church was not always amicable. In the last year of her life she battled with the Church because she provided Christian burial for a young man who had been excommunicated. Her defense was that he had repented on his deathbed, and received the sacraments. Her convent was subjected to an interdict. This was rather serious as the interdict barred anyone in the convent from participation in the sacraments as well as from receiving a Christian burial. Hildegard protested eloquently, and the interdict was revoked. She died shortly thereafter on 17 September 1179.

During her life, Hildegard traveled widely throughout southern Germany and into Switzerland and as far as Paris, preaching. Her sermons deeply moved listeners and she was asked to provide written copies. Her surviving works include more than a hundred letters to emperors and popes, bishops, nuns, and nobility. Many persons of all classes wrote to her, asking for advice, and one biographer calls her “the Dear Abby of the twelfth century.” She wrote 72 songs including a play set to music. Musical notation had only shortly before developed to the point where her music was recorded in a way that we can read today. Many contemporary professional musicians today consider her a musical genius. Certainly her compositional style is like nothing else we have from the twelfth century.

In addition to her letters, Hildegard left us about seventy poems and nine books. Two of them are books of medical and pharmaceutical advice, dealing with the workings of the human body and the properties of various herbs. St. Hildegard’s approach to health and medicine included the use of meats of a variety of types. In Hildegard of Bingen’s Medicine by Dr. Winghard Strehlow and Gottfried Hertzka, M.D. (11), St. Hildegard outlines the use of fish, poultry and chicken, lamb, goat, and venison.

It’s clear that Hildegard was a most remarkable woman. Not only was her life marked by creativity and wisdom, she displayed tremendous courage standing up to the Pope and the Church when she felt it necessary. This would be no small feat today, but it was extremely dangerous for a woman in the Middle Ages. In this light, one is forced to ponder where consuming animal flesh may have impeded her spiritual development?

CHIEF SEATTLE

Salmon was the primary food source among Indians of the Pacific North West. Their diet was supplemented with game animals, as well as clams, oysters, shrimp, crabs, mussels, seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, wild potatoes, and the onion-like bulbs of wild lilies. Among these nearly carnivorous Indians rose a unique man by the name of Sealth Tslakum, but in time he would be remembered as Chief Seattle. Chief Seattle’s life was full of trials, including everything from battling invading tribes to problems with gambling and religious/spiritual embodiment. Along the way, Chief Seattle became a convert from the native religion of the Suquamish tribe to Catholicism. His conversion to white man’s Christianity came at a very challenging time in his life, but would later serve him and his people well.

Numerous tribes in the region now known as Seattle, Washington chose Chief Seattle as their representative when the U.S. Government decided to remove the tribes from their lands and put them on a reservation. On January 21, 1855, some 2,300 Indians from more than twenty Indian nations assembled near the village of Mukilteo, in the northern part of Puget Sound known as Port Elliot. U.S. Government representative Isaac Stevens was anxious to get a treaty signed. By signing the treaty, the Indians would cede their tribal lands to the American government. Unfortunately, the concept of land ownership was utterly alien to the natives. To complicate matters, the government chose to conduct negotiations in Chinook, a language limited to a few hundred words that were wholly inadequate for a complex legal negotiation (12). This is a good idea if you don’t want them to comprehend the document they are signing!

In the negotiations, Chief Seattle was truly caught between a rock and a hard spot. If he did not negotiate with the white man, conflict would be inevitable and that many Indians would die. On the other hand, he had seen the landscape changing as more and more whites immigrated into his region and began to settle, bringing with them diseases to which the Indians had no immunity. White man also regularly traded commodities such as white flour, sugar and alcoholic beverages for fish and meat to feed them and get them through the winter. With the impact of disease, processed foods and a rapidly changing lifestyle, the Indians were less and less able to feed themselves as they had in the past. They were also becoming more and more unruly as their natural rhythms, feeding grounds and lifestyle were impinged upon. Chief Seattle knew he had problems no matter which way he turned!

In prelude to signing the treaty to release their land to the government, Chief Seattle gave a speech to his both his people and the President of the United States that will forever show his true colors. The depth of commune that existed between the Natives Indians of the Pacific North West and Mother Earth is clear in his speech As a demonstration of the unmistakable spiritual development in this great leader, I have chosen some key excerpts from Chief Seattle’s recorded speeches:

How can you buy and sell the sky?
The warmth of the land?
The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air
and the sparkle of the water
how can you buy them?
Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining pine needle,
every sand shore,
every mist in the dark woods,
every clearing, and humming insect is holy
in the memory and experience of my people.
The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories (13).
The perfumed flowers are our sisters;
the deer, the horse, the great eagle,
these are out brothers.
The rocky crest,
the juices in the meadows,
the body heat of the pony,
and man,
all belong to the same family.
So when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land,
he asks much of us (13).

~Chief Joseph

The Nez Perce, a Penutian-speaking tribe, had their homeland on the Columbia Plateau in present-day Idaho, Washington and Oregon, where the hunted fished and gathered along forested rivers. After they obtained horses, however, they began to live off the great buffalo herds that ranged throughout the northwestern Great Planes.

In 1855, the U.S. government forced them to cede several million acres of territory. In 1863, the tribe lost most of its remaining 3.24 million hectares (8 million acres) when they were forced into signing another treaty. This led to war in 1877, during which Chief Joseph and some off his people, attempting to resist violence, tried to flee to Canada. The US military captured them just short of the border, after a trek of 2,735 km (1,700 miles), and the chief never saw his homeland again. The poignant figure of Chief Joseph in surrender came to represent one of the most powerful symbols of the terrible, shameful destruction of the American Indian people. Today, the Nez Perce own or control 92,685 acres in north-central Idaho (14). Selected quotes from Chief Joseph (15):

“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it”.

“We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God, as the Catholics and Protestants do. We do not want to learn that.

We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth. But we never quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that”.

“I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people”
~Chief Joseph

Note: To see a beautiful sculpture of Chief Joseph, please visit www.humanitariansculpture.com , which is my mother’s web site (Meera Censor).

NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY

I’ve discussed two very important spiritual leaders in Native American History. However I think it important for our topic to look at their spirituality in general. In Peter Knudtson and David Suzuki’s book Wisdom of the Elders (16), you can read about the beliefs of native tribal elders regarding the relationships between humans, nature and the environment. The authors show us how native traditions and their age-old wisdom and Western science are diametrically opposed. Allow me to share some select comments from this excellent book and while you read them, use your instinct to determine if somehow, these people are any less spiritual than another of a faith practicing vegetarianism:

Canadian Subarctic: Waswanipi Cree

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink

Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;

Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink.

Love Is Not All. Millay — Niebuhr

The traditional Waswanipi hunter says the success in hunting is not entirely his own doing. A successful kill can partly be attributed to the willingness of a particular moose or beaver or whitefish itself to lay down its life so that Waswanipi people can live. Beyond the generosity of the animals themselves, the hunters say, chuetenshu, the north wind, also gives them what they need to live during the long, harsh months of the Canadian winter.

The Waswanipi hunters know that the north wind and the souls of their prey are neither capricious nor passive but are a dynamic indication of the hunters’ moral standing in the “eyes of nature.” The north wind and the animal spirits operate in a reciprocal relationship with the hunters’ actions — today and in the past — and thereby provide a way that the vast nonhuman membership of the natural world can monitor hunters and mete out punishment based on the quality of treatment it has received at their hands.

In the process, these forces of nature have the power to grant the spiritually diligent Waswanipi hunter access to the vital meat-laden game animals upon which his community depends. In fact, in their generosity, they have been known to offer the hunter perhaps the ultimate gift; a prey animal that, in the midst of a frantic flight, undergoes a magical paralysis and frozen in time, awaits, almost eagerly, the hunter’s fatal shot.

The beliefs of the Waswanipi hunters are not unusual, in fact, similar beliefs are found in many Native American Indian, Aboriginal, African tribes around the world. The western mind, steeped in Newtonian consciousness, is quick to think that it’s just a bug or germ that has him when feeling off-color or falling ill after a meal. In reality it is very likely that the spiritual forces that balance respect and disrespect among the brothers and sisters in the web~of~life are at play. In fact, it may well be spiritual forces, not just biochemical individuality that accounts for the saying that one man’s food is another man’s poison!

In light of these statements and the current science showing how plants are sentient (16,17), one has to maintain a level of honesty and integrity when eating plant or animal as sustenance. The bodies of all living things we eat are but the physical manifestation of spiritual beings. Spiritual development is less influenced by what you eat per-say, but more influenced by how you eat a life, who you are when you eat it, and not the least, what you do with the life~force so given in exchange for the gift!

In Walking on the Wind - Cherokee Teachings for Harmony and Balance (18), it is made clear that not only the Cherokee, but also most of the Native American Indian tribes practiced these commandments:

* Never take more than we need;
* Give thanks for what we have or what we receive;
* Use all of what we have;
* Give away what we do not need.

Our Native American brothers and sisters have passed down spiritual beliefs that are far more important than simply being vegetarian. If we all follow them, humanity will move toward enlightenment much faster:

* Everything is alive;
* Everything has purpose;
* All things are interconnected;
* We can embrace the Medicine of all living things as we are all walking together in the Circle (please view Figure 1. again while holding this concept in mind!).

To bring about recovery of our crippled ecosystem, farming systems and soils, school systems, government, medical system, abolish corporate greed, encourage adherence to truth/fact in media and prevent yet another world war will require both energy and awareness. We will need much energy to fuel the willingness to live truthfully and respectfully. Surely this is not a task that can be completed on a diet insufficient for our physical bodies. These needs must be met based on genetic requirements, not emotion or inconsistent and conflicting leadership. Our physical bodies are “of the earth” and have nutritional requirements that are geographically determined, NOT religiously determined! While there certainly are reports of this or that guru living off only fruit, or vegetables, or even air alone, there are also reports of people living to be over 100 while drinking regularly and smoking. For every person you can find over 100 that drank and smoke along the way, I can find you 20 or 30 million that died early doing the same thing! The important thing to remember here is that gurus are typically much more spiritually (energetically) evolved than their followers.

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

All things are spiritual. All things started out as cosmic idea and some found homes here on earth where they could grow and evolve. As we breath, lay in our beds, walk down the street, across the grass, in the garden, or in the forest, we, in ignorance, are constantly killing (see Figure 2.). We will not be able to stop killing life-forms and we are not meant to do so. All life lives in a cycle (Figure 3.) and all souls are living ideas expressed by the Great One. All souls seek embodiment and all depend on spiritual force for their life experience. When we eat, we need be most concerned about playing our part in the Cosmic Circle of life. Something gave its life to feed what we are eating. Our food gave its life to feed us and so we must give our life in service to complete the circle, for we are the embodiment that our animal brothers and sisters seek. When we become enlightened, we too will seek to move forward to a state of living dis~embodiment. In the mean time, most of us will lay our bodies to rest over and over again to repay (feed) the little brothers and sisters of the Earth, just as the Lion does when he dies. May we all work to ensure them a nutritious meal imbued with love, respect and compassion.

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can’t eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
The Selkirk Grace 1793

That dish of meat is too good for anyone but anglers,
or very honest men.
Walton — Carew The Sketch Book, 1819-1820. The Angler

Praise is the best diet for us, after all.

Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet;
In short, my dear, kiss me, and be quiet.
A Summary of Lord Lyttelton’s Advice

References:

1. Graves, Kersey. The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors - Christianity Before Christ. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2001
2. Johnson, Ford. Confessions of A God Seeker - A Journey To Higher Consciousness. One Publishing, 2003
3. Gellman, Rabbi Marc, and Thomas Hartman. Religion For Dummies. Wiley Publishing, 2002
4. Wikipedia Electronic Encyclopedia Vegetarianism: Buddhism
5. Google.com
Search: “Sects of Christianity”: http:/dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Religion_and_Spiritual-ity/Faiths_and_Practices/Christianity/Denominations_and_Sects/
6. Seventh Day Adventist Church Official Web Site: http://www.adventist.org/index.html.en
7. Oliver, Paul. Teach Yourself: World Faiths. Contemporary Books, 2003
8. Alternative Religion (langar)
about.com, see: http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/bldeflangar.htm
9. Misconceptions About Eating Meat - Comments of Sikh Scholars
Sandeep Singh Brar, http://www.sikhs.org/meat_au.htm
Published: http://www.sikhs.org/sitemap.htm
10. Global Sikh Studies.net
See Authors: Surinder Singh Kohli, Punjab University Chandigarh http://www.globalsikhstudies.net/index.htm
11. Strehlow, Dr. Wingard, and Gottfried Hertzka, MD. Hildegard of Bingen’s Medicine. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co., 1988.
12. Peterson, Scott. “Chief Seattle, Seer of the Suquamish.” Native American Prophecies. (2nd Ed.) St. Paul, MN: Paragon House, 1995.
13. This Precious Earth. Axiom Publishing, Australia, 2002
14. Jones, David M., and Brian L. Molyneaux. Mythology of the American Nations. London: Hermes House, 2004.
15. Nerburn, Kent. The Wisdom of the Native Americans. Novato, CA: New World Library,1999.
16. Tompkins, Peter and Christopher Bird. The Secret Life Of Plants - A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man. NY: Harper & Row, 1972.
17. Stone, Robert B. The Secret Life Of Your Cells. Whitford Press, 1989.
18. Garrett, Michael. Walking On The Wind - Cherokee Teachings for Harmony and Balance.
Rochester, VT: Bear & Company Publishing, 1998.

Technorati Tags: Health, Religion, Sikhs, Khalsa, Politics, India, Canada, Punjab

Afghan Sikhs - These Are Real Refugees

The treatement meted out to Afghan Sikhs is emblematic of that doled out to minorities whenever you look at societies where Islam is ascendant. Whether in Iraq, Gaza, Egypt, Turkey, Somalia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc... or elsewhere, religious minorities bear the brunt of a hateful ideology diametrically opposed to the teachings that, we as Sikhs, have learned from our Gurus. During Khalsa Raj at the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, minorities were given every opportunity to practice their religion by the state, though individuals not acting on behalf of the state may have engaged in excesses. The difference is that minorities in the aforementioned countries are subjugated with full knowledge and complicity of the authorities in question either directly through legislation, bylaw, statute or other means or through indirect means in the form of religious or vice squads enforcing Islamic norms and law.

Afghan Sikhs forced to lie about miseries

Kabul: Forced to wear yellow patches in the days of the Taliban, the homesick Sikhs of Afghanistan still hide in back alleys and yearn for India. In the Taliban's birthplace, the southern city of Kandahar, their children cannot go to school and locals stone or spit on the men in the streets, who mostly try to hide in the narrow alleys of the mud-brick older quarter of the city.



''We don't want to stay in Afghanistan,'' says 40-year-old Balwant Singh. ''The locals tell us 'You are not from Afghanistan, go back to India'. Sometimes, they throw stones at us, the children. We feel we have to hide.



''I am even afraid to go to parts of the city.''



Their temple, or Gurdwara, in Kandahar is a simple traditional yellow pole capped by the orange Nishan Sahib flag.



It sits outside a stark prayer room in an obscure courtyard reachable only after knocking on two sets of unmarked heavy timber doors down a cramped mud-brick tunnel-way.



The pole does not rise above roof level, unlike the splendid Gurdwaras across India where they tower above the temples and the countryside, visible for kilometres.



There are about 10 Sikh families in Kandahar -- fewer than 50 people. Another 22 lonely men, all their families back in India, live as traders in the neighbouring province of Uruzgan, another Taliban stronghold.



Similar numbers are scattered across Afghanistan, a strictly Islamic nation where most people do not recognise Sikhism's close links with Islam. Founded about 600 years ago in the western plains of India, Sikhism combines elements of Hinduism and Islam.



In the late 1980s, there were about 500,000 Sikhs scattered across Afghanistan, many here for generations. The country's Islam was moderate, based on the Sunni Hanafi sect.



Sikhs, Hindus and Jews were prominent in the economy, mainly as moneylenders -- often underwriting the wars of various kings.



Most Sikhs, along with the country's handful of Hindus, came with the British from the Indian empire in the 19th century.



But after the Mujahideen civil war and the 1994 rise of the Taliban, most had fled by 1998.



In 2001, the Taliban ordered Sikhs, Hindus and other religious minorities to wear yellow patches, ostensibly so they would not be arrested by the religious police for breaking Taliban laws on the length of beards and other issues.



It is not clear how widely the rule was enforced.



The Sikhs who have returned since, like those of Kandahar and Uruzgan, are mainly small-time traders who complain of the pittance they make here, but say it is more than India offers.



Most come from poor families who fled to Delhi when Britain arbitrarily divided its Indian empire into Muslim Pakistan and secular but mainly Hindu India in 1947, forever splitting the Sikh homeland, the fertile plains of the Punjab.



''We don't want to stay in Afghanistan. But we have no choice,'' says Santok Singh, 39, whose family is in New Delhi.



Almost all have no papers or visas and are at the mercy of authorities in a country where corruption is rife -- one of the biggest challenges to Afghanistan ever succeeding as a nation.



''They take our homes, they take our businesses,'' says Hem Singh, a 42-year-old trader from Uruzgan. ''We can't do anything.



''We have no rights.''



Most are general traders or pharmacists. Forced to sell their goods cheaper than their Afghan competition to win business, they are too ashamed to tell their families what life is really like.



''We keep it secret,'' says Hem Singh. ''We don't tell our families how bad our life here really is.''



They cannot travel to Afghanistan via the fastest route through Pakistan because of the decades of enmity between New Delhi and Islamabad so they use alternative routes which can be difficult and sometimes dangerous.



In a cramped room in Kandahar, a dozen turbaned Sikh men drink Afghanistan's ubiquitous sugary green tea.



Several show scars from bomb blasts suffered travelling the roads of the dangerous south to stock their shops or wholesale to Afghan traders too scared to travel themselves.



The resurgence of the Taliban is making their lives worse: the highways are more dangerous with a new spate of suicide bombings and a resurgence of fundamentalist Islam is making their differences from Afghans more pronounced.



The Taliban is the strongest it has been since US-led forces ousted its hardline government in 2001. This has been the bloodiest year since then, with more than 3,700 people killed, almost a third of them civilians.



''We are always afraid someone will kill us or hurt us because we are Sikh,'' says Sabrat Subir Singh, a 62-year-old trader from Uruzgan. ''But what can we do? We need the money.



''No one here is happy. We are angry and sad.''

Technorati Tags: Sikhs, Islam, Terrorist, India, Asia, Religion, Politics, Economy

We Need More Documentation of ALL Shaheeds in the Post-1947 Struggle

This is a very good start. Sikhs themselves have to take up the gauntlet in recording our own history and writing from our perspective our own history. Too often in Sikh history we've left things to happen as they may, and provocateurs have used the opportunity to do great harm to the Panth.

Dal Khalsa publishes book on Op Blue Star
GURPREET SINGH MEHAK
Sunday, 17 June 2007

FATEHGARH SAHIB: In an attempt to record and compile the heroics of those Sikhs who fought a pitched battle at Amritsar in June 1984 against the Indian army, the Dal Khalsa has published a book titled "Indo-Punjab battle June 1984" scheduled to be released on June 18 at Jalandhar.

Dal Khalsa general secretary Kanwar Pal Singh said this document was also an attempt to snub a section of Sikhs who in connivance with the Indian Union are attempting to erase this period from public memory.

He said the book - in both Punjabi and English contains names of 206 Sikhs who preferred to die, than surrender.

He said Jathedar, Takht Damdama Sahib Gaini Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Khalsa, SAD (A) leader Daljit Singh Bittu, SGPC member Karnail Singh Panjoli, Bhai Mohkam Singh beside Dal Khalsa leaders would release the book.

He said this book was about those who had given up their lives fighting the Indian army, when the latter desecrated the Darbar Sahib.

According to Dal Khalsa general secretary , they are martyrs of faith and the blood of the martyrs is the seat of the church. He said the Sikh history is replete with numerous cases of martyrdom, be it the Ghallugharas of 18th century or those of the 20th century. He said we had made an endeavor to record that portion of history.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Religion, Politics, History, India, Punjab, Khalsa

More Evidence Sikhs Should Get Into the Arts and Film Making

Sikh groups demand ban on 'Shootout at Lokhandwala'

Press Trust Of India
Hoshiarpur, June 19, 2007

Several Sikh organisations on Monday demanded a ban on screening of Bollywood multi-starrer 'Shootout at Lokhandwala', alleging the film tarnished the image of the community by portraying them as "terrorists".

Scenes relating to Sikhs in the film had "not only tarnished the image of the community in the world but was also affecting the minds of the Sikh younger generation," Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle Media Study Centre coordinator Balwinder Singh told reporters in Hoshiarpur.

He said representatives of Dal Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Sikh Missionary College, Baba Deep Singh Sewa Society, Shubh Karman Sewa Society and Tiba Sahib Gurdwara met last night and condemned the film directed by Apoorva Lakhia for dipicting Sikhs as terrorists.

There is a flashback in the film where inspector Abhishek Mhatre (played by Abhishek Bachchan) is shot by a group of Sikh terrorists.

The organisations urged the Central government to impose a "complete ban" on the film's screening and include a person nominated by SGPC as a member of the censor board to evaluate the objectionable scenes.

They also appealed to Sikhs across the country to "bitterly oppose" the film.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Economy, Politics, Religion, India, Asia

BC Indo-Canadian Vets Face Discrimination?

Is this 2007 or 1918? do you really believe the BCVMA would set a standard of 55 out of 60 on an English test if this wasn't about protectionism? This just another example of a so-called 'professionals' association acting like a bully union.

A dogfight between Indo-Canadian veterinarians and the organization that enforces standards of practice for all vets in British Columbia ended up on the steps of the legislature yesterday.

About 100 placard-carrying protesters who support the Indo-Canadian vets were in Victoria to try to get the government to listen to their complaints about the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association.

But Agriculture Minister Pat Bell said the two sides should work together to resolve their issues.

"I met with both sides a number of months ago, perhaps six or eight months ago, and encouraged them to get into a mediated process to try and find resolution to the dispute that they are in," he said.

A protest spokesman said the veterinary association is targeting the Indo-Canadian vets because they charge lower service fees than their counterparts.

Veterinarian Hakam Bhullar said the association is forcing new Indo-Canadian vets to pass unfair English exams. The Indo-Canadian vets practise primarily in suburban communities east of Vancouver where their clients are mostly Indo-Canadian.

Dr. Bhullar also accused the veterinary association of racism.

"We are trained veterinarians. We are fully licenced," he said. "We have our own practices. The fight started basically with the English exam. This is the only province, [and] the only profession in the world where they need a score of 55 out of 60."

Teachers, doctors and nurses require a 50 out of 60 score to pass the English exam in British Columbia, said Dr. Bhullar.

"They are targeting the new vets that come to this province," he said. "They are also targeting those vets who are low-cost, open late and more hours."

Dr. Bhullar, who said he's been a practising vet in British Columbia for at least 13 years, said he couldn't pass the current English exam, and "most of the Canadians, they cannot get that score."

He said he and the other Indo-Canadian vets have filed a human-rights complaint about the English standards.

But the president of the B.C. veterinary association said the majority the people who take the English exam have no trouble passing.

Andrew Forsyth said he didn't have immediate access to the exact numbers, but estimated more than 90 per cent of people pass the test.

He denied the organization is racist.

"That's ridiculous," said Mr. Forsyth. "The BCVMA is a multicultural organization. We have over 100 foreign-trained veterinarians. Our membership is about 1,100 strong."

He denied his organization is trying to run the Indo-Canadian vets out of business because they charge lower fees than other vets.

"The BCVMA generally has no concern about what veterinarians charge," Mr. Forsyth said.

"Our concern is standards and quality of practice. Our responsibility to the public is to ensure that the public receives competent and caring veterinary medicine."

Mr. Forsyth said he couldn't discuss disciplinary procedures involving veterinarians, saying they were private matters.

The organization plans to release an in-depth public statement about its position on veterinary care in British Columbia next week, he said.

Mr. Bell says the two sides are in the middle of a legal process to mediate their dispute and he's hopeful they can resolve their issues.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Politics, Economy, Religion, Canada

No Apology for Komagata Maru Travesty?

The Vancouver Sun knows no shame. One of its columnists, Daphne Bramham, argues that there should NOT be an apology by the Canadian government or any acknowledgment by the government of the Komagata Maru injustice.

While comparing illegal aliens to the people on the Komagata Maru might be a nice re-write of history, the fact is that as members of the British Empire, Gurdit Singh and the other Sikhs on the ship had a right to travel across the empire and were in fact trying to exercise that right when they were denied. This issue is about racist legislation, and the spying and other tactics used by the Canadian government to try and undermine the Sikhs in British Columbia and Canada generally speaking.

Q. If it wasn't about racism, then why would the Canadian government of the day stop Canadian Pacific from running a shipping line from Calcutta to Vancouver? A. In order to enforce a hidden 'white' Canada policy.

During the summer of 1999, more than 500 illegal migrants from China came ashore in British Columbia. They were not people fleeing persecution, poverty or war.

They were migrants who may not have been able to meet the immigration criteria as either skilled labourers or investor immigrants. They may also have been people who didn't want to wait the time it takes to go through the screening process. Or they may not have had the money to pay the immigration processing fees -- the modern-day head tax.

Instead, they paid smugglers to get them into Canada. Of the 108 who claimed refugee status, only one woman was allowed to stay. The others were sent home after Canadian officials took months to process their claims according to the laws, regulations, policies and procedures that are mandated by Parliament.

Before Canada sent the illegal migrants back, the Chinese government gave its assurance that the migrants would not be jailed when they returned, although some were subject to "administrative procedures."

Ninety years from now, our children may be asked to apologize and pay for a memorial for those unsuccessful migrants, if the Komagata Maru incident offers any example.

In 1914, Gurdit Singh Sarhali chartered a Japanese steamship from Hong Kong and sold passage to Canada to 376 Punjabis -- mainly Sikhs. It was against the law for Indians to come to Canada by any route other than a direct one from India. The catch-22 was that there were no ships providing such a service.

In 1913, 38 Sikhs challenged the law and were allowed to stay in Canada. Encouraged by that, Singh chartered the Komagata Maru. Historical accounts suggest that his intent was to directly challenge the Canadian law. But perhaps that's what Chinese smugglers believe they are doing as well.

The Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver on May 23, 1914, and was met by immigration officials who refused to let the illegal migrants disembark. The passengers remained on board, stranded in the harbour for two months, while their case was heard in court.

The court upheld Canada's right to set rules for immigration and ordered the ship to leave. But the passengers, Singh and the ship's captain refused to leave. The Komagata Maru departed only after a naval cruiser was dispatched.

When the ship arrived in Calcutta and British officials attempted to arrest Singh, there was a riot in which 20 of the passengers were killed and more were arrested. The violence wasn't confined to India. In Vancouver, the incident had divided the South Asian community. In the months that followed the ship's departure, there was a series of retributive shootings on people believed to be police informants. That fall, Mewa Singh assassinated an immigration inspector. He was tried and eventually executed.

For years, the Indo-Canadian community has been demanding a formal apology and a memorial and a commemoration of what happened to the passengers. And documents recently released to CanWest News Service indicate that the Conservative government is considering doing that, along with apologies and redress for dozens of other ethnic communities with historic grievances.

There are legitimate reasons for redressing past human rights abuses. Compensation for Japanese-Canadians, who were stripped of property, jobs and dignity when they were forced into camps during the Second World War, was one.

Similar compensation and recognition packages are appropriate for Ukrainian-Canadians -- 5,000 of whom were arrested and had their property expropriated during the First World War -- and Italian-Canadians, 700 of whom were imprisoned during the Second World War.

They were all Canadian citizens who had broken no laws. Their only crime was their ancestry. But is it appropriate to apologize to people who were refused entry to Canada?

In today's parlance, the Komagata Maru passengers were illegal migrants. They may have couched their arrival in political terms, but they were no different from the Chinese who came by the boatloads in 1999 and no different from Koreans who arrive in Vancouver and pay someone to smuggle them into the United States.

Countries have every right to set their own immigration policies, picking and choosing which people and how many to allow in each year. But more than that, governments have a responsibility to set immigration policies that are advantageous to their citizens. They have a duty to protect their own citizens' rights to decent homes, jobs, opportunities for advancement, good schools for their children, health care and so on.

Over the years, Canada has developed one of the most generous immigration policies of any country in the world. One in five Canadians is an immigrant, and we are all lucky to be here.

But Canada cannot accept everyone who shows up at our doorstep and nor could it 90 years ago. It's unfortunate, but it's not something we need to apologize for.

- Bramham is a columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

Technorati Tags: Canada, Politics, Religion, Sikh

Demented Terrorist Sympathizers

Update - At least the Brits protested the comments by some of the lunatics in charge of the asylum, known as the Pakistan parliament
=================================
actually argue with a straight face that giving Salman Rushdie an honorific title or British knighthood is a root cause of terrorism?



What I find contemptible is a people who are so arrogant and unreasoned as to think that they have the right to subjugate and oppress anyone professing a different religion, opinion, gender, lifestyle, etc...



How many times do people who are not Muslim have to read about these kinds of news stories before they are so completely turned off from hearing anything these people have to say about anything? Maybe there are 'real' abuses committed against Muslims, but seeing this victimhood mentality play itself out over something so banal or innocuous time after time after time is really fatiguing, especially when you consider that it becomes a case of making excuses for suicide bombings and terrrorist attacks against Britain or any other country for that matter.



When was the last time anyone threatened to suicide bomb Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia or any other muslim country or muslims themselves over laws or acts in those countries that prescribe death for so-called Infidels (non-muslims) for blasphemy, practicing their own religion, or other assorted acts related to what we would call Free Speech or Freedom of Religion?

Britain's knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie contributes to insulting Islam and may lead to terrorism, a Pakistani minister has said.



Such actions are the root cause of terrorism, Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq told parliament.



The minister later said he had not meant to condone or incite terrorism but stress its origins.



Pakistan's parliament has condemned the knighthood. Iran says it shows 'Islamophobia' among British officials.



Mr ul-Haq was speaking during a session of Pakistan's National Assembly in which it unanimously condemned Britain's award of a knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie and demanded it be withdrawn.



His comments in the Urdu language caused uproar.



"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified," he said, according to the translation by the Reuters news agency.



"If Britain doesn't withdraw the award, all Muslim countries should break off diplomatic relations."



Opponents accused Mr ul-Haq of inciting violence.



Later he returned to the floor of the assembly and said his remarks were not meant to be a justification of suicide attacks.



Mr ul-Haq is a well known Islamic hardliner. He is the son of former President Zia ul-Haq who carried out a process of 'Islamisation' in Pakistan before dying in a plane crash in 1988.



Iran criticism



The resolution passed by the lower house of parliament said that honouring Salman Rushdie "hurt Muslim sentiments".



Sir Salman's book The Satanic Verses sparked protests by Muslims around the world and led to Iran issuing a fatwa in 1989, ordering his execution.



Iran also criticised the knighthood, saying praising the "apostate" showed Islamophobia among British officials.



A spokesman for the British High Commission in Islamabad would not comment on the parliamentary resolution, but he said the knighthood was a reflection of Mr Rushdie's contribution to literature throughout a long and diverse career.



Like Iran, Pakistan is an Islamic republic with an overwhelmingly Muslim population which saw violent protests against The Satanic Verses in 1989.



Pakistan's parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, who proposed the resolution, said the knighthood would "encourage people to commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad".



Sir Salman, 59, was one of almost 950 people to appear on the Queen's Birthday Honours list, which is aimed at recognising outstanding achievement.



The controversial Indian-born author's fourth book - The Satanic Verses in 1988 - describes a cosmic battle between good and evil and combines fantasy, philosophy and farce.



It was immediately condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the prophet Muhammad.



It was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities and in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader, issued a fatwa.



In 1998, the Iranian government said it would no longer support the fatwa, but some groups have said it is irrevocable.



The following year, Sir Salman returned to public life.



Of his knighthood for services to literature, Rushdie said: "I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour, and am very grateful that my work has been recognised in this way."

Technorati Tags: Islam, Europe, Crime, Asia, Pakistan, Terrorism, Terrorist

So Did the Muslim Boy Really Convert to Sikhism or Is It Just a Sham?

From Birmingham, there comes this news that a Gurdwara committee is under fire for marrying a non-Sikh to a Sikh girl. If the committee is going to do this, isn't it incumbent upon them to ensure that the 'conversion' is heartfelt and not just a matter of expediency?

Shouldn't they have outlined a program of education for the boy to ensure that he understood Sikh values, prayers and beliefs over a period of study?

Shouldn't they have done the same for the girl to ensure that she herself would know Sikh principles, prayers, beliefs and values?

The Gurdwara committee should have done at least that much as well as educate the girl's parents on the same. This would have ensured that if it was later learned that the boy's 'conversion' was only for show, that the girl would truly know what Sikhism is and what he or his family may force her to leave, if it came to that. Regardless, I think, without having spoken to the committee and only going by what I've read (which may not count for anything really), the Gurdwara committee didn't have a rationalized approach for doing what they did and had no plan of action, course or any other guide on which they based their decision to marry the couple.

The head of a Birmingham Sikh temple and his family had to flee their home after it was targeted by arsonists in what is believed to have been been a reprisal attack for allowing a mixed marriage.

Three cars were set ablaze outside the Handsworth Wood home of Jarnail Singh Bhogal, president of the Ramgharia Sikh Gurdwara in Graham Street, Hockley. The attack in the early hours of yesterday comes in the wake of protests against the marriage, the details of which were posted on an online Sikh forum naming the temple leaders.

The website referred to a marriage between a Sikh woman and a man of another religion and called on Sikhs to protest outside the Gurdwara yesterday against "this disgraceful act".

It also demanded the resignation of Mr Bhogal and warns Gurdwara leaders there will be consequences if they allow mixed marriages.

According to the Gurdwara temple, however, the man involved in the marriage converted to Sikhism before the ceremony. Cars parked in the driveway of Mr Bhogal's house on Vernon Avenue were fire-bombed at about 3.30am yesterday.

Mr Bhogal said: "I woke up and there was a big bang and an orange light or flash. I opened the curtains and saw my three cars on fire so I asked the kids and my wife to get out and go in the garden and called the fire brigade."

Insp Lee Bartram of Thornhill Road police station said: "An incident occurred where three vehicles were damaged. The reason behind that we can't confirm. We appeal to witnesses to contact police on 0845 1135000."

A spokesman for the Ramgarhia Sikh Temple said: "The girl was a Sikh and the boy voluntarily changed his name to a Sikh name and promised to adopt the values of Sikhism.

"Committee members were incorrectly targeted based on vicious rumours which led to the horrific incident where three cars were burnt."

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Muslim, Gurdwara, Europe

Another Example of Dera Followers' Violence

The Indian media was quick to point at Sikhs as being instigators of violence, however, it is the Dera followers who continue to pick fights with Sikhs. Personally, I think it's an attempt to try and instigate Sikhs into taking revenge in order to bring Sikhs into disrepute.

CHEEMA MANDI(Sunam): A scuffle between the Sikh community members and dera Sacha Sauda followeres here on Wednesday has caused tension in the area.



The clash sparked when certain dera followers beat up Gurjant Singh who at a congregation in Gurdawara told Sikhs to be loyal to their religion and boycott the deras. As the report of beating up of Gurjant Singh spread, the Sikhs went on rampage and set ablaze two kiosks and a motocycle.



Gurjant, who sustained injuries, alleged that his beard was pulled by the Piara and his brother who had recently returned to Sikhism in a baptising ceremony held in the village gurdwara.



Piara was given a siropa during the ceremony. When Gurjant visited his shop in the morning, Piara and Bikar were talking about some dera satsang, it was learnt.



On this, Gurjant asked Piara to justify the rationale of accepting the siropa if he was still interested in dera satsang.



To this, Piara, a hair dresser, alleged that he had taken the siropa only to use it as a cloth to clean the shop mirrors and scissors.



This triggered the scuffle, in which Gurjant was injured and rushed to Sunam Civil Hospital.



As per information, Sikhs started to converge on the village, saying that dera followers had injured a Sikh and pulled his beard. At 11 am, Sikhs from villages Tolewala, Jharon and Teerokalan armed with lathis, swords and sharp-edged weapons started to head towards the house of Piara Singh, where he and some other followers had taken shelter.



Acting swiftly, a police party managed to save the dera followers. The agitating mob then put on fire the kiosks and a motorbike.



SP (Headquarters) Dharam Singh claimed Piara and Bikar were arrested on the complaint of Gurjant after registering of a case and 10 other dera followers and eight Sikhs were also rounded up for disrupting peace law and order.



Later in the day, BSF held flag marches in the village amidst a heavy security that was deployed around the house of Piara Singh.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Politics, Sikhs, Dera, Sikhism, Khalsa, Criime

Dera Followers Are Now Attacking Gurdwaras

I wonder if the Indian media will point out the violence by Dera followers and the Dera's attempts to agitate Sikhs by attacking Gurdwaras?

Police arrests Sacha Sauda followers for stoning gurdwara

Fatehabad, Jun 14: Police today arrested six Dera Sacha Sauda followers for allegedly pelting a Gurdwara with stones and smashing of its windowpanes at village Chanpura in this district last night.

The police has also locked the Sacha Sauda Dera in the village after asking followers to vacate the building.

Heavy police and para military force, including two companies of the BSF, one company of the Haryana Armed Police had been deployed in the village, where the situation was described as ''tense but under control'.

The trouble reportedly started when the Sikhs in the village yesterday objected to the Dera followers installing a loudspeaker for their weekly prayers in the Dera building.

According to sources, when the Dera followers were returning home after their prayers, they allegedly stoned the village Gurudwara damaging its windowpanes.

The agitated Sikhs gathered in the Gurudwara in large numbers and held meetings overnight demanding arrest of those responsible for the attacks on their shrines and action against the Dera.

The IG, Police Y P Singhal, the DC O P Sheoran, the SP Saurabh Singh rushed to the village with a strong police force and camped there almost throughout the night to defuse the tension.

The police later arrested six Dera followers Manjit Singh, Sardara Singh, Gurjant Singh, Nikka Singh, Gurmel Singh and Bhana Singh under sections 148, 149, 295-A, 427 and 452 of the IPC.

Cases have also been registered against some unnamed persons in this regard.

The accused were produced before the judicial magistrate, Tohana, who sent them to judicial custody.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Politics, Dera, Sikhs, Sikhism, Khalsa, Punjab, India, Crime

Indian Magazine Pins Dera Blasphemy on Congress

I was wondering when I'd read something from a non-Sikh source pointing the finger at the Dera of Gurmeet Ram Raheem as the source of its own troubles. Well, I saw something today that does exactly that, in addition to pointing a finger at the Congress party which no doubt encouraged the Dera leader to tell his supporters to actively support the Congress in the Punjab elections.

What is disturbing however is how so-called Sikh leaders like P.S. Badal and Akali Dal were prostrating themselves in front of Dera leaders like GRR to get votes. Below I've pulled more or less an article from "Organiser" magazine published from Delhi. There are a few points the article gets wrong regarding Sikhs, has a definate pro-India and anti-Khalistan bias, however, I don't think that can be avoided when reading content from non-Sikh sources for the most part.

Sectarianism and India’s essential unity
By M.V. Kamath

The British played the separatist game and not only did they lose, but India lost as well. So would the Congress if it continues to repeat the performance of our former rulers to the greater damage to the country. The Congress losing is of no great consequence, but India cannot afford Congress communalism playing havoc with the country’s unity.

Every religion, every country, has its quota of sects. As long as man thinks, so long he will question every thesis presented to him by religious leaders and godmen. This is a fact of life.

Hinduism, in many ways, is a conglomeration of sects and it is to the eternal credit of the religion that it accepts freedom of thought as an inherent right of mankind. This is not to say that there haven’t been conflicts. Indeed there have been, but they were in days past. Hinduism’s most astounding distinction is that it does not have a Pope, a Prophet or a Guru to lay down what can or what cannot be believed. In that sense, it is the freest of all religions. Even if we forget the differences between the Shias and Sunnis, Islam cannot tolerate the Ahmediyas who are not accepted as Muslims...

[I]n 1978 the Nirankari sect raised the hackles of the Akal Takht and what happened then is common knowledge. That the Congress tried to exploit it, is to the eternal shame of the party.

Punjab—and then the country at large—paid a very heavy price for it. Now, we hear of another sect, the Dera Sacha Sauda, of whose existence few were even aware of till recently. But apparently it has been growing “phenomenally”, as one newspaper reported, admitting to its dubious fold dalits and even—believe it or not—some Muslims and Christians, not to mention quite a few Sikhs as well.

If reports are to be believed, the ranks of the Dera have been quietly increasing with followers not only in Punjab, but also in its nearby districts in Haryana and Rajasthan, The sect reportedly also has branches in over fifteen countries, including Australia, Canada and the United States and has a paper Sach Kahun published from Delhi and the place of its birth, Sirsa. All of which is nobody’s business except that its head, with the improbable name of Sant Ram Raheem Singh has become a source of irritation annoyance and anger of orthodox Sikhism. And the Sant is under CBI investigation for two murders. That a so-called Sant should have two murder charges against him should make one question his credibility. Even that would have gone unnoticed had he not tried to dress up like the 10th Sikh Guru, the most respected Guru Gobind Singh, and be seen preparing an elixir—amrit—to distribute at a public function, in imitation of that deeply respected leader. It was a most stupid thing to do and though Sant Ram Raheem later apologised, claiming that he had no intention of equating himself with Sant Guru Gobind Singh, or of showing disrespect to him, the damage had been done.

The picture of Ram Raheem in his new attire has appeared in an advertisement. What is disturbing is that the Dera Sacha Sauda has a political wing that religious sects are not supposed to have, but not only has this sect such a wing, that wing has been openly supporting the Congress thus mixing religion (for whatever it is) with politics. That Dera Sacha Sauda has given offence to orthodox Sikhism is a fact of life, even if one claims that freedom of conscience is a fundamental right. But freedom of conscience does not mean freedom to give offence, and the five high priests of the Sikh faith have demanded severe action against the Sacha Sauda.

One hopes that tempers will cool down and the more fundamentalist Sikhs will not again start shouting pro-Khalistani slogans, as they did recently. The charge has already been made that the Congress has been a complicit partner in the entire unsavoury episode involving the Dera chief. The Congress should be warned not to indulge in the politics of religion. This tendency has been noticeable in the Sachar Report that pitches the Muslim poor against the Hindu poor. The British played the separatist game and not only did they lose, but India lost as well. So would the Congress if it continues to repeat the performance of our former rulers to the greater damage to the country. The Congress losing is of no great consequence, but India cannot afford Congress communalism playing havoc with the country’s unity. Congress pretence to secularism has become a joke—a very cruel one at that. The Dera claims to oppose all established faiths and promote the spiritual ideal of One God and One Truth, but it would be wise not to go beyond its professed vision and get involved with politics.

God has nothing to do with politics. It is now coming to be known that practically all political parties have been wooing the Dera as a potent vote bank. It is nobody’s business how the Dera votes individually or collectively. But the Dera is well-advised to stick to its spiritual aspirations and leave politics to individuals with their own fancies, instead of laying down the law as to whom its followers should vote for.

...

The situation in Punjab seems to have quietened down, but all of us, to whichever religion we belong, need to do some introspection. Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh did no service to Sikhism or spiritualism by trying to present himself as a modern-day avatar of Guru Gobind Singh.

Sectarian tensions are nothing new in Punjab where feelings often overflow into mindless violence with long-lasting effects. Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem crossed the Laxman Rekha and the Congress which he supports must have told him sternly to behave himself under the threat that if he does not, it will disown his sect and its political support. We have had enough trouble with just one Bhindranwale. We don’t need another one under any circumstances. Religious space should not be encroached upon by politicians out to get votes. When will the Congress ever learn? Sectarianism is commonplace in India. Let it be. That is part of our culture. But when a party seeks to exploit it, it damages the fabric of a united India and the offender must be put in his place. That is good government...

Technorati Tags: Religion, Politics, India, Dera, Sikhs, Sikhism, Khalsa, Crime

Australian Mufti Asked to Fulfil His Offer to Muzzle Himself

I saw this hilarious piece of Aussie t.v. embeded below posted at Jawa. As reference the "mufti" offered to cover his mouth for six months in public as penance for his 'uncovered meat' comments about women who are raped.

Here's the video,


Technorati Tags: Islam, muslim, Australia, Crime, Terrorism

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Ten Conservative Principles

Came across this on the web and thought you might like it. Have a read. If you find yourself agreeing with the principles then you may well be a conservative.

Ten Conservative Principles



by Russell Kirk

Adapted from The Politics of Prudence (ISI Books, 1993). Copyright © 1993 by Russell Kirk.



Being neither a religion nor an ideology, the body of opinion termed conservatism possesses no Holy Writ and no Das Kapital to provide dogmata. So far as it is possible to determine what conservatives believe, the first principles of the conservative persuasion are derived from what leading conservative writers and public men have professed during the past two centuries. After some introductory remarks on this general theme, I will proceed to list ten such conservative principles.



Perhaps it would be well, most of the time, to use this word “conservative” as an adjective chiefly. For there exists no Model Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order.



The attitude we call conservatism is sustained by a body of sentiments, rather than by a system of ideological dogmata. It is almost true that a conservative may be defined as a person who thinks himself such. The conservative movement or body of opinion can accommodate a considerable diversity of views on a good many subjects, there being no Test Act or Thirty-Nine Articles of the conservative creed.



In essence, the conservative person is simply one who finds the permanent things more pleasing than Chaos and Old Night. (Yet conservatives know, with Burke, that healthy “change is the means of our preservation.”) A people’s historic continuity of experience, says the conservative, offers a guide to policy far better than the abstract designs of coffee-house philosophers. But of course there is more to the conservative persuasion than this general attitude.



It is not possible to draw up a neat catalogue of conservatives’ convictions; nevertheless, I offer you, summarily, ten general principles; it seems safe to say that most conservatives would subscribe to most of these maxims. In various editions of my book The Conservative Mind I have listed certain canons of conservative thought—the list differing somewhat from edition to edition; in my anthology The Portable Conservative Reader I offer variations upon this theme. Now I present to you a summary of conservative assumptions differing somewhat from my canons in those two books of mine. In fine, the diversity of ways in which conservative views may find expression is itself proof that conservatism is no fixed ideology. What particular principles conservatives emphasize during any given time will vary with the circumstances and necessities of that era. The following ten articles of belief reflect the emphases of conservatives in America nowadays.



First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent.



This word order signifies harmony. There are two aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul, and the outer order of the commonwealth. Twenty-five centuries ago, Plato taught this doctrine, but even the educated nowadays find it difficult to understand. The problem of order has been a principal concern of conservatives ever since conservative became a term of politics.



Our twentieth-century world has experienced the hideous consequences of the collapse of belief in a moral order. Like the atrocities and disasters of Greece in the fifth century before Christ, the ruin of great nations in our century shows us the pit into which fall societies that mistake clever self-interest, or ingenious social controls, for pleasing alternatives to an oldfangled moral order.



It has been said by liberal intellectuals that the conservative believes all social questions, at heart, to be questions of private morality. Properly understood, this statement is quite true. A society in which men and women are governed by belief in an enduring moral order, by a strong sense of right and wrong, by personal convictions about justice and honor, will be a good society—whatever political machinery it may utilize; while a society in which men and women are morally adrift, ignorant of norms, and intent chiefly upon gratification of appetites, will be a bad society—no matter how many people vote and no matter how liberal its formal constitution may be.



Second, the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity. It is old custom that enables people to live together peaceably; the destroyers of custom demolish more than they know or desire. It is through convention—a word much abused in our time—that we contrive to avoid perpetual disputes about rights and duties: law at base is a body of conventions. Continuity is the means of linking generation to generation; it matters as much for society as it does for the individual; without it, life is meaningless. When successful revolutionaries have effaced old customs, derided old conventions, and broken the continuity of social institutions—why, presently they discover the necessity of establishing fresh customs, conventions, and continuity; but that process is painful and slow; and the new social order that eventually emerges may be much inferior to the old order that radicals overthrew in their zeal for the Earthly Paradise.



Conservatives are champions of custom, convention, and continuity because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they don’t know. Order and justice and freedom, they believe, are the artificial products of a long social experience, the result of centuries of trial and reflection and sacrifice. Thus the body social is a kind of spiritual corporation, comparable to the church; it may even be called a community of souls. Human society is no machine, to be treated mechanically. The continuity, the life-blood, of a society must not be interrupted. Burke’s reminder of the necessity for prudent change is in the mind of the conservative. But necessary change, conservatives argue, ought to he gradual and discriminatory, never unfixing old interests at once.



Third, conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. Conservatives sense that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see farther than their ancestors only because of the great stature of those who have preceded us in time. Therefore conservatives very often emphasize the importance of prescription—that is, of things established by immemorial usage, so that the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. There exist rights of which the chief sanction is their antiquity—including rights to property, often. Similarly, our morals are prescriptive in great part. Conservatives argue that we are unlikely, we moderns, to make any brave new discoveries in morals or politics or taste. It is perilous to weigh every passing issue on the basis of private judgment and private rationality. The individual is foolish, but the species is wise, Burke declared. In politics we do well to abide by precedent and precept and even prejudice, for the great mysterious incorporation of the human race has acquired a prescriptive wisdom far greater than any man’s petty private rationality.



Fourth, conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence. Burke agrees with Plato that in the statesman, prudence is chief among virtues. Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity. Liberals and radicals, the conservative says, are imprudent: for they dash at their objectives without giving much heed to the risk of new abuses worse than the evils they hope to sweep away. As John Randolph of Roanoke put it, Providence moves slowly, but the devil always hurries. Human society being complex, remedies cannot be simple if they are to be efficacious. The conservative declares that he acts only after sufficient reflection, having weighed the consequences. Sudden and slashing reforms are as perilous as sudden and slashing surgery.



Fifth, conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety. They feel affection for the proliferating intricacy of long-established social institutions and modes of life, as distinguished from the narrowing uniformity and deadening egalitarianism of radical systems. For the preservation of a healthy diversity in any civilization, there must survive orders and classes, differences in material condition, and many sorts of inequality. The only true forms of equality are equality at the Last Judgment and equality before a just court of law; all other attempts at levelling must lead, at best, to social stagnation. Society requires honest and able leadership; and if natural and institutional differences are destroyed, presently some tyrant or host of squalid oligarchs will create new forms of inequality.



Sixth, conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. Human nature suffers irremediably from certain grave faults, the conservatives know. Man being imperfect, no perfect social order ever can be created. Because of human restlessness, mankind would grow rebellious under any utopian domination, and would break out once more in violent discontent—or else expire of boredom. To seek for utopia is to end in disaster, the conservative says: we are not made for perfect things. All that we reasonably can expect is a tolerably ordered, just, and free society, in which some evils, maladjustments, and suffering will continue to lurk. By proper attention to prudent reform, we may preserve and improve this tolerable order. But if the old institutional and moral safeguards of a nation are neglected, then the anarchic impulse in humankind breaks loose: “the ceremony of innocence is drowned.” The ideologues who promise the perfection of man and society have converted a great part of the twentieth-century world into a terrestrial hell.



Seventh, conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked. Separate property from private possession, and Leviathan becomes master of all. Upon the foundation of private property, great civilizations are built. The more widespread is the possession of private property, the more stable and productive is a commonwealth. Economic levelling, conservatives maintain, is not economic progress. Getting and spending are not the chief aims of human existence; but a sound economic basis for the person, the family, and the commonwealth is much to be desired.



Sir Henry Maine, in his Village Communities, puts strongly the case for private property, as distinguished from communal property: “Nobody is at liberty to attack several property and to say at the same time that he values civilization. The history of the two cannot be disentangled.” For the institution of several property—that is, private property—has been a powerful instrument for teaching men and women responsibility, for providing motives to integrity, for supporting general culture, for raising mankind above the level of mere drudgery, for affording leisure to think and freedom to act. To be able to retain the fruits of one’s labor; to be able to see one’s work made permanent; to be able to bequeath one’s property to one’s posterity; to be able to rise from the natural condition of grinding poverty to the security of enduring accomplishment; to have something that is really one’s own—these are advantages difficult to deny. The conservative acknowledges that the possession of property fixes certain duties upon the possessor; he accepts those moral and legal obligations cheerfully.



Eighth, conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism. Although Americans have been attached strongly to privacy and private rights, they also have been a people conspicuous for a successful spirit of community. In a genuine community, the decisions most directly affecting the lives of citizens are made locally and voluntarily. Some of these functions are carried out by local political bodies, others by private associations: so long as they are kept local, and are marked by the general agreement of those affected, they constitute healthy community. But when these functions pass by default or usurpation to centralized authority, then community is in serious danger. Whatever is beneficent and prudent in modern democracy is made possible through cooperative volition. If, then, in the name of an abstract Democracy, the functions of community are transferred to distant political direction—why, real government by the consent of the governed gives way to a standardizing process hostile to freedom and human dignity.



For a nation is no stronger than the numerous little communities of which it is composed. A central administration, or a corps of select managers and civil servants, however well intentioned and well trained, cannot confer justice and prosperity and tranquility upon a mass of men and women deprived of their old responsibilities. That experiment has been made before; and it has been disastrous. It is the performance of our duties in community that teaches us prudence and efficiency and charity.



Ninth, the conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions. Politically speaking, power is the ability to do as one likes, regardless of the wills of one’s fellows. A state in which an individual or a small group are able to dominate the wills of their fellows without check is a despotism, whether it is called monarchical or aristocratic or democratic. When every person claims to be a power unto himself, then society falls into anarchy. Anarchy never lasts long, being intolerable for everyone, and contrary to the ineluctable fact that some persons are more strong and more clever than their neighbors. To anarchy there succeeds tyranny or oligarchy, in which power is monopolized by a very few.



The conservative endeavors to so limit and balance political power that anarchy or tyranny may not arise. In every age, nevertheless, men and women are tempted to overthrow the limitations upon power, for the sake of some fancied temporary advantage. It is characteristic of the radical that he thinks of power as a force for good—so long as the power falls into his hands. In the name of liberty, the French and Russian revolutionaries abolished the old restraints upon power; but power cannot be abolished; it always finds its way into someone’s hands. That power which the revolutionaries had thought oppressive in the hands of the old regime became many times as tyrannical in the hands of the radical new masters of the state.



Knowing human nature for a mixture of good and evil, the conservative does not put his trust in mere benevolence. Constitutional restrictions, political checks and balances, adequate enforcement of the laws, the old intricate web of restraints upon will and appetite—these the conservative approves as instruments of freedom and order. A just government maintains a healthy tension between the claims of authority and the claims of liberty.



Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society. The conservative is not opposed to social improvement, although he doubts whether there is any such force as a mystical Progress, with a Roman P, at work in the world. When a society is progressing in some respects, usually it is declining in other respects. The conservative knows that any healthy society is influenced by two forces, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge called its Permanence and its Progression. The Permanence of a society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that gives us stability and continuity; without that Permanence, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, society slipping into anarchy. The Progression in a society is that spirit and that body of talents which urge us on to prudent reform and improvement; without that Progression, a people stagnate.



Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.



Change is essential to the body social, the conservative reasons, just as it is essential to the human body. A body that has ceased to renew itself has begun to die. But if that body is to be vigorous, the change must occur in a regular manner, harmonizing with the form and nature of that body; otherwise change produces a monstrous growth, a cancer, which devours its host. The conservative takes care that nothing in a society should ever be wholly old, and that nothing should ever be wholly new. This is the means of the conservation of a nation, quite as it is the means of conservation of a living organism. Just how much change a society requires, and what sort of change, depend upon the circumstances of an age and a nation.



Such, then, are ten principles that have loomed large during the two centuries of modern conservative thought. Other principles of equal importance might have been discussed here: the conservative understanding of justice, for one, or the conservative view of education. But such subjects, time running on, I must leave to your private investigation.



The great line of demarcation in modern politics, Eric Voegelin used to point out, is not a division between liberals on one side and totalitarians on the other. No, on one side of that line are all those men and women who fancy that the temporal order is the only order, and that material needs are their only needs, and that they may do as they like with the human patrimony. On the other side of that line are all those people who recognize an enduring moral order in the universe, a constant human nature, and high duties toward the order spiritual and the order temporal.

Technorati Tags: Conservative, Politics, Economy, Canada, USA, Sikh

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Why Not Open Khalsa Schools Instead?

Personally, I think Sikhs should open Khalsa Schools to ensure their children receive a complete education, which includes learning about Sikhism from Sikhs. Having a Khalsa school would also ensure that children receive Gurmat based learning regarding Sikhism and not "Punjabiyat" distortions of Sikhism which still cause people to think along casteist, misogynist, superstitious, "bhaami", and other anti-Sikh lines.

Maybe this commentator from Australia's Herald Sun should have extended his line of thinking further towards those ends... if Sikhs want their children to be full Sikhs at all times, better to have their own schools?

AUSTRALIA is a tolerant country. There are isolated strands of racism of the type that will always defy education and enlightenment.

But few of the world's nations are as relaxed about unfamiliar faiths, cultures and ideas.

We accept change and, in the main, have developed a sensible maturity about immigration flows and the short-term complications that accompany them.

As the Sunday Herald Sun has argued, the process often involves compromise.

Newcomers may have to modify their expectations, old hands may have to absorb different sights and sounds and the ways in which faith is expressed.

No problem is beyond a solution, not even the newest disturbance over religious symbolism in schools.

As reported today, some Sikh families want their children to wear a kirpan, a small dagger, even in the classroom.

It is one of the five articles of faith a baptised Sikh is expected to carry on his person at all times.

The Victorian Multicultural Commission supports the Sikh community in its desire to uphold this religious tradition.

But it is no surprise to discover that many teachers and parents are alarmed.

A kirpan may be 15cm long. It is a knife by another name. It would be almost impossible to carry a knife through security at an airport -- so why allow anyone to carry a potential weapon through the school gate?

As with all differences of opinion, common ground can be found if there is goodwill on both sides.

Australia's Sikhs are members of the fifth biggest religion in the world, founded in northern India in the 15th century.

They have a right to have their traditions respected and we have a duty to defend freedoms of faith and expression, provided they are peaceful, even if they do not correspond with mainstream beliefs.

But Sikhs must also allow for context and timing.

We live in a world frightened by both terrorism and the mindless violence witnessed all too frequently in schools, especially in the US.

In these circumstances, it would seem appropriate for Sikh children to wear the kirpan only if it were a very small, decorative item without sharp edges.

Originally worn on a belt to defend the faith, the kirpan is more commonly seen today as a decorative item around the neck.

For schools, it should be only a modestly sized pendant, just as rich in symbolism to Sikhs, but stripped of any fears it might have held for their friends in school.

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Khalsa, Education, Australia

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Canadian Healthcare - Bottom of the Barrel

Don't believe the hype about Canadian healthcare somehow being a panacea as reviews of Michael Moore's fictional movie Sicko would have you believe. Canadian healthcare as written about in this blog is over-hyped and under performing if not dangerous. Between the SARS fiasco, babies dying in neonatal wards, super bugs being spread due to poor hygiene and poor sterilization of medical equipment, dirty plumbing, etc..., you have something else to worry about - a basic lack of hand washing!



If you are going to wash your hands anywhere, it would be at a hospital. Who knows what germs, bugs, and viruses people have in hospitals. You'd think healthcare workers would know better.

A national health-care society says insufficient hand washing in Canadian hospitals is costing the health system millions of dollars and thousands of lives.



The Canadian Patient Safety Institute is launching a national campaign this weekend to encourage hospital workers to wash their hands more often. According to a 2004 study, less than 40 per cent of health-care workers properly wash their hands.



Philip Hassen, CEO of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, says hospital infections, which are often spread by hand contact, kill between 8,000 and 12,000 people a year in Canada.



He says proper hand washing could cut those infections in half.



The institute is looking for 10 hospitals across the country to take part in a pilot program to measure the effect of better hand washing on infection rates.

Technorati Tags: healthcare, science, Canada

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Speech by Baba Jarnail Singh Ji

I came across this speech from June 1983, published in The Panthic Weekly. I thought you might like to read this in translation to English.

Guru's Image, Guru Khalsa, assembly of God's worshippers; constituted and blest by Satguru; all the congregation, say aloud:

Vaheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Ji ki Fateh (The Khalsa belong to God, Victory belongs to God.)

Guru's beloved Khalsa Ji: sitting in the sacred lap of Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the True King, you have listened to nice views, regarding the present times, expressed by speakers who have spoken from this stage. You are fortunate.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS BY GOVERNMENT

Charge Of Pakistan Connection.

In this struggle that has been going on for quite some time, there have been many arrests and martyrdoms. The Ministers of the Government of the time have started giving ever new statements. We should pay attention to all of these. Also, we have to be very alert to the attempts that are being made to alienate the public from the Akali Dal by going to various places, denying the separateness of the Sikh Nation, and denying the Sikh demands. Especially, this statement that Bibi Indira (Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India) has made that Pakistan has a hand in this struggle. Prior to this, Charan Choudhary (Charan Singh, Prime Minister of India 1977-1980) had made a statement that persons from Pakistan come to visit Bhindranwale in Nanak Niwas and return after discussions and making programs. (In doing this) that man showed bankruptcy of his mind, the death of his brain. (One might ask them): "If you know that persons from Pakistan come here to see me, you have so large a CID (Intelligence Division) why are those persons not arrested on their way? Then, they return from here. Why are they not apprehended at that time? If you (the leaders of the Government) know that they come to see me then you must be in league with them and they must be coming, getting out and returning with your permission." To this they have not given any reply in the newspapers. Sant Ji (Sant Harchand Singh Longowal) gave a very strongly worded statement today. (He said): "I shall resign the presidentship and even from the Akali Dal (if these accusations are proved to be true)." Although it has been said from this stage that Indira should resign her office, perhaps I am right when I say that only such persons do this (resign their office) who have some sense of dignity. But what is the use of saying anything to those who have no sense of shame at all? Occupying such high office, having become the Prime Minister of Hindostan, without thinking, she has herself started to accuses leading personalities. Which court will you turn to for justice? So, we have to keep our concentration to face these people. Work together. We cannot face the oppression that is being perpetrated at various places without unity.

Indira Gandhi Dismisses The Punjab Problem As A Handful Of Extremists Making Trouble. Indira Gandhi has given a statement that the trouble in Punjab is caused by a handful of people. She has labelled them as extremists. At first she used to say that the Akali Dal is getting it done and extremists are doing it under encouragement from the Akali Dal. When that formula did not succeed, she has given up one approach and taken up another, i.e., a handful of persons is responsible for it.

Sikhs Do Not Believe In Violence.

Perhaps she (Indira Gandhi) has forgotten that a Sikh does not believe in violence. Sikh does not believe in destroying life. A Sikh always upholds nAnc nAm CRHdI clA VErE BANE srb&V dA BlA "Nanak says: God's Name is glorious; there is good for all in accepting Your will". The Sikh follows this path. She has started to say so to give us a bad name. Either her CID (Intelligence Division) has given her this impression or she is deliberately being clever. 115,000 Have Volunteered To Die For The Faith. This Is Not A Handful. There has been an announcement from the Akal Takhat regarding 115,000 volunteers ready to die. Among them I too have come to the stage on two occasions. I too have come to the Guru's presence. All the mothers and brothers who have come there to the presence of Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the True King; I have preached at length to them all and got them to make a pledge to become extremists. She (Indira Gandhi) says there is a handful of people. She should carefully note that 115,000 raised their arms.

Government Calls Devout Sikhs Extremists.

We are firm extremists but of what type? Those who act the way Government says an extremist does. Whom does the Government call extremists? A person who takes Amrit (is formally initiated into the Sikh Faith) and administers it to others; who reads Baani (Siri Guru Granth Sahib) and teaches others to read it; who preaches unity and exhorts people to work together; who turns people towards cooperation; who unites them under the saffron Nishaan Sahib (the Sikh religious flag); who unites them with Akal Takhat Sahib and Harmandar Sahib; who is desirous of seeking justice (retribution) for the dishonor to our daughters and sisters, for the spilt blood of innocent people, for the irreverence shown towards Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the True King, and exhorts others to do the same - and we have to get these rights - the present Government has started calling such people extremists. Only Sikhs Of The Guru Have Volunteered. They Are More Than A Fistful.

I had said these things when I asked people to raise their arms. He who is a Sikh of the spinning wheel and the goat, a Sikh of the Radhaswamis and Narkdharias (Nirankaris), a Sikh who waters the pipal tree and sprinkles sandhoor on the Jand tree, should not raise his arm in the presence of our Master (Siri Guru Granth Sahib). He who is a Sikh of Satguru Granth Sahib, is a friend of the Panth (the Khalsa Brotherhood), has respect for the honor of daughters and sisters, has respect for the spilt blood of the innocent and the brave, should raise his arms. This was the pledge I got from the stage. They were 115,000. She should think it over. They were 115,000. (One might say to her): "You are not the form of Guru Nanak that you can include all of them in your fist. Your fist could not even contain Jagjiwan Ram (a former Minister in the Government of India), not even Bajpai (a Hindu leader) and others. They left you and departed. How will you hold 115,000 Sikhs in your fist through mere talk?" She says there is only a handful! From one point of view it is even a good thing. So long as the fist is closed the fist is formed, it is there. When we open the hand, it becomes a slap. Fingers cannot hurt as much as a fist can. When the fingers are closed they call it a fist. You know, in our language, what the fist can do. So, Khalsa Ji, so long as our fist is closed, we are together. We desist from mutual criticism. We are Guru's Singhs and work together. Let us stop saying "I am a Congressite, I am an Akali, I am Bhindranwala, I am so and so." Giving these up, one thing should penetrate the Sikh's mind: "I am a Sikh, I want to live in Hindostan as a Sikh and not as a kesdhari Hindu (Hindu with uncut hair)." When this thing enters our mind (we shall succeed). She says "they are a handful." One hundred and fifteen thousand have made the pledge here. Some friends have registered their names with me too. Some say: "Why have they registered their names with you?" Some brothers talk like this too. I do not wish to name them, may God give them good sense. I pray to the Guru. I am not angry with them. That's all the wisdom they have. Friends have registered their names with me too. Who are the people who have done so? These were those who said: "We are not going anywhere without you." The President, Sant Baba Harchand Singh Ji Longowal, was asked. A request was made to him: "Baba Ji, some Singhs think like this. You should tell us (what to do). If tomorrow there is going to be a talk that (Bhindranwale is) forming his own Akali Dal, then I shall request these people to go home. But if you so order, I can register them." He said: "Get them registered." Persons between sixteen and forty years of age have been registered. We have registered older persons as well but that (list) is separate. In this age group, the count with me is thirty thousand. She says they are a handful! Garja Singh and Bota Singh (Sikh heroes from 18th century who defied the Imperial rulers) were two. It will be good if the Guru has mercy, the Satguru is benevolent, and the job gets completed in peace. We definitely are supporters of peace, but if the train once starts then it will be known whether they are a mere handful or too many even for (enclosing in a blanket) wrap.

APPEAL TO SIKHS

Stay Peaceful But Prepared. We have to be peaceful. We have orders to stay peaceful but peacefulness alone is not enough. Stay prepared as well. Carry weapons. Work in cooperation. Give up intoxicants. Today I like to request the young men. Some are going in the group of protesters and some had come to see them off. Out of them, about sixty Singhs have today (pledged to) keep beards and to give up alcohol. I thank them and shall request them too: "Don't let things revert to what they were. Let it not happen that tomorrow you get out of jail and the day after you sit in front of a barber. You have made this pledge in Guru's presence. You have been to the (Akal) Takhat Sahib. Keep your word. May Satguru have mercy and give us wisdom."

We Have No Dissension.


In conclusion, I like to address those persons who under someone's instigation and to show the strengths of their brains have taken some such decisions that perhaps all this is Bhindranwale's job. I like to warn those people that in Gurmat (the Sikh way) such attitude is not good. I shall only say this much. They will understand. Those who have sin on their minds, start shivering on their own. Standing on this stage, I like to tell them again: "Try as hard as you wish to, there are not going to be any differences between the two of us - I and Longowal." Those people who have concocted these plans over cups of tea and over cookies, sitting in their chairs, should ponder and desist from such mischief. Times are very critical. Whichever of the two parties (to the conflict) - the Akali Dal and the Government - wavers will be routed. But the Sacrificer of His Sons (Siri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib) will have mercy. The Panth will never flinch. We have to follow the path of: inSC> cr aApnI jIV cr~: "Resolutely may I ensure my victory".

GOVERNMENT BRUTALITY AGAINST SIKHS

Confiscation Of Balwant Singh's Property.


Today I have also learnt about the property belonging to the family of Balwant Singh of Mukerian. Members of the Congress Party (Indira Gandhi's Party in Government) who listen to Kewal Krishan, not all but those who have become his touts just as they did at the time of (the case of) the Babbar Akalis, have harvested five acres of wheat, that had been sown (by Balwant Singh and his family), and taken it to their homes. The field has been ploughed. I did not make much mention of it thinking that from five acres perhaps they got 150 maunds (about 6 tons) and when the time comes we shall get it back But today I have learnt that Kewal Krishan, in his pride and to assert his influence in the area, has had advertisements issued for auction of (Balwant Singh's) house and the household effects. Perhaps after two or four days bids will be accepted. I shall request the newspapermen too to try to publish this information. If they do not, then the Singhs who have come from there should definitely let people in that area know: "God's men, we have no enmity with any of you, with any Punjabi; it is out of the question with any Sikh; not with any other caste either. But I like to say this. Those people who had put a price on the heads (of Sikhs), among them were Lakhpat and Jaspat, from among the ancestors of the present day (tyrant) Kewal Krishan. They had resolved that they would completely exterminate the Sikhs from the world. Kewal Krishan is acting the same way in the region around Mukerian - that he is not going to let even a brick remain in the foundations of Balwant Singh's property. But he should remember. Who does he think he is? Lakhpat and Jaspat made a pledge. The time came. Satguru had mercy. Those who nowadays are contemptuously described as backward classes, from among these harijans, Bhai Nibhaoo Singh was motivated by Satguru Ji. When circumstances permitted, Khalsa Ji, holding on the elephant's tail, climbing from the rear onto the elephant, he beheaded the oppressor of the times just as a gourd is cut from its vine. He did not think.....(inaudible).... whatever happened to the property....(inaudible).... I like to tell Kewal Krishan specially and those of his touts who are getting ready to bid and I humbly request those who have the Sikh appearance: "Don't poke your hand into the ....(inaudible).... of this faith. You won't be able to take it out. Love the Sikh appearance. Talk about Sikhi. Have faith in Satguru and give up greed. But if, surrendering to the power of the Government, if you bid at the auction of the homes of the Singhs and try to take over their property, I give you this warning that only such brother should make a bid who was born with two heads. If anyone with one head makes a bid, he can think for himself."

Systematic Police Brutality Directed At Sikhs.

Some people say I am saying this in anger. No, this is not anger. I say this with hurt in my heart. The Government has never stripped any Hindu's daughter or sister, only those of us Sikhs are stripped; no daughter of a Hindu has been stripped and her father laid on her, only those of us Sikhs were subjected to this humiliation; no Hindu's Beloved (object of worship) has been set on fire, if there has been such a fire in this regime, it has been set to only our Beloved (Siri Guru Granth Sahib); no son of a Hindu has been detained or hung upside down, only Sikh students have been so hung; no shop belonging to any Hindu has been set on fire by the Government, only the homes of the Sikhs have been burnt down. (I speak) keeping all these things in mind. No government official has forced a cow's bones into the mouth of a son of a Hindu, tobacco has been sprinkled and cigarettes forced and tobacco spat into the mouths of only Sikh young men; if police officials have shaved off beards only Sikh boys were shaved and they were sent to Amritsar saying: "Go and tell Bhindranwale to do what he can." First they have been sent and later when they reached here there are efforts to get someone to intercede.

Detention And Harassment Of Sikhs.

I have learnt today about our Bhai Bua Singh and Narinder Singh. The sentence for both was one year in detention. They were to be released on the 20th. On the 19th they were taken out of jail and taken to the police station and again detained for another year. They have been detained and have been assigned to the grindstone mills (where prisoners are required to grind grain in manually driven grindstones). If they have to get out of the grindstones then, Khalsa Ji, what is the restriction? We shall have to think about it. It is a challenge to us. During British times it was said that a Sikh could not keep his turban. There is one Gajjan Singh, I do not know this friend. Only Satguru knows the sort of temperament he has. He has used such bad words towards both of them that I cannot repeat them from this stage. Why did he use them? He said: "Why do you have saffron colored scarves on your heads? If you wish to stay here in comfort, you will have to take off the saffron colored scarves. If you wish to wear saffron colored scarves, orange scarves, then you will be confined to the grindstones." So, (I like to say to him). "My friend: This regime is not going to last forever. I shall only say that you are a son of the Sikhs - I have learnt this - you should not attack the turban and the beard and hair. The punishment for this will be very heavy. The Government may last two days, four days, or ten days. These people have to step aside some day. But keep in mind that if you think that destroying Bua Singh and Narinder Singh, or my associates, or Longowal and Bhindranwale or another few leaders will rid you of problems, it is never going to be so. So long as slavery is not shaken off the neck of our Sikh Nation, this struggle will continue."

Khalistan Issue. Sikhs Are Labeled As Communalists.

Yesterday four or five persons came to me. They asked: "Sant Ji, if Jagjit Singh Chauhan attacks Hindostan with assistance from England, America, and Canada, whom will you help?" I asked them: "Why do you have doubts?" They said: "Our business is to ask questions." I replied: "We shall support the Sikh appearance and the victim." He had thought that I would say "Jagjit Singh Chauhan or Hindostan." I had replied: "We shall support the Sikh appearance and the victim. Whoever is the victim, we shall certainly embrace him. Whoever is the oppressor, we shall destroy." Emergency was proclaimed (during 1975-1977). During the emergency, Hindus who were occupying chairs (were in power, Indira Gandhi and her party) arrested and jailed those who were victims and were just going about their ordinary business. Not even a single one of Akali workers had been arrested. But what transpired? Hindu-Sikh unity has taken deep roots in our minds, perhaps with time it will go away. But (at that time) it was very strong. With that in view, or may I say, not with that in view but following nAnc nAm CRHdI clA VErE BANE srb&V dA BlA "Nanak says: God's Name is glorious; there is good for all in accepting Your will", a struggle was launched from Siri Akal Takhat Sahib that we are not going to let any victim remain under oppression. No Sikh had been arrested. Only Hindus had been arrested by (other) Hindus. But starting the struggle from here we got Hindus out of jail. Those whom we got out of jail we even made into Prime Minister (Reference is to Chaudhri Charan Singh). Our leaders also gave him cars and bags (of money) because we considered them (Hindus) our brothers. Today people like Charan Chaudhri (Charan Singh, Prime Minister of India 1977-1980) and others who are his associates, say that Akali Dal should be banned. Guru's men: think it over. Who is a communalist, we or they? Their people arrested them and, considering them to be your own, you went to jail to get them out of jails. Today, the Sikhs, and may I say especially the Akali Dal, have started this struggle for all Punjabis, tell me how many Hindus have gone to jail? Have even forty hundred, out of a count of 660 million gone to jail? Forty thousand of you out of a total of 17.5 million went to jail during the emergency. And they call you communalists!

APPEAL FOR UNITY AND GREETINGS TO THE GROUP OF PROTESTORS GOIONG TO COURT ARREST

So, I humbly submit that we have to march together, stay together, give up intoxicants and stoutly, fearlessly support the Panth. All these things that are secretly going on, don't let them create doubts in your minds. Beware of these. We are together and all of us have to march together. Detractors Within The Akali Dal In conclusion I like to say this once again to these people who on their own link various things with me and have made up their minds that Bhindranwale has done this and someone else has done that. (The damage done by this) will be known when the consequences of this have to be faced. In 1979 (when Sant Bhindranwale opposed the Akali Party in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections), besides Longowal (Sant Harchand Singh Longowal), who is there that did not call me a lecher, a vagabond, a bad character, a debauch, a Congressite and Indira's henchman? Has (anybody) made me one? Has anyone succeeded in making me (a henchman of Indira Gandhi)? Even today I shall ask these foolish people to desist from such acts. I shall never in my life seek a chair (public office). I haven't sought it in the past and am not desirous of it in the future. I desire but one thing that those who have Singh as their name should have beards on their face and (unshorn) hair and kirpaan in their gaatras. The ladies too should have kirpaans in their gaatras. You should be perfect in Sikhi, should abstain from intoxicants, believe in the Panth's (the Khalsa Brotherhood's) glory, and maintain reverence for the saffron Nishaan Sahib (the Sikh religious flag). If you engage in the kind of things I have mentioned earlier, you will be the losers. I lose nothing. (I am like) a bird without a tail that has no fixed home. I can pick up my shorts and move on. Our business is preaching Sikh faith. If you do not stop making accusations, no harm will come to me but if you don't, someday, sitting on the stage, I shall hold you by the ear and make you stand up (and answer). At that time you will not be able to call someone's mother your aunt. I do not take tea, I do not eat meat. There is no question of my taking alcohol or Kuttha (meat prepared by slow killing of animals). Of what will you accuse me on the stage? I haven't said this off-handedly. I say this with a sense of responsibility. I have said this after thinking over it for ten months. Don't get into similar things again.

I offer my heartfelt thanks to Bibi Jaswant Kaur and Bibi Joginder Kaur Ji and all the Singhs, all the friends, in the Jatha (group of protestors) that is going. Reading false stuff in newspapers don't fall victim to doubts. The Panth is united. Sometimes it is asked: "What is the need to say the Panth is united?" It arises when, from amongst us, some brothers falling victims to newspapers, considering them to be divine voice start thinking along wrong lines. It is then that we have to say. I must also request our workers - not only mine but of the Panth - and our elders and brothers, and our speakers regarding this feeling that is creeping into our minds; that we shall give further clarification. We do not have a contract that ever since the Sikh Nation came into being till the end of the universe, we should keep providing clarifications to these people. We should now stop doing this. Any cap-wearer (Hindu) who comes to us, we should ask him: "Are you with us or not." Now we should not say: "We are with you." Now we should start asking this of everyone: "Do you wish to keep us with you or not? If you want to keep us with you give us our equal rights. If you do not want to keep us with you, give us our land. We have given 93 heads and you have given seven. If there is some hill corresponding to seven, keep it for yourselves, and leave the rest for us. Vaheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Ji ki Fateh (The Khalsa belong to God, Victory belongs to God).

(Translated from the original in Punjabi by Ranbir S. Sandhu, Sikh Religious and Educational Trust, P.O. Box 1553, Dublin, Ohio 43017)

Technorati Tags: Religion, Sikh, Khalsa, Gurdwara, Punjab, India, Politics, Justice, Police, Corruption, Genocide

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UN Sikh Jawans in Lebanon

Found this at military photos about the 15th Punjab operating in Lebanon as part of India's forces under the UNIFIL banner.

LEBANON: INDIAN ARMY
Bhangra, A War Dance
Sikh UN jawans are humouring the locals. That's till the next battle. .........
Andrew Mills

Turbanators? Only If There's A Need

* For 9 years now, India has been providing troops for UN forces in South Lebanon
* Currently, 850 soldiers from 15 Punjab Infantry are stationed there
* South Lebanon is Hezbollah's stronghold. There is a growing feeling that UN forces here could come under attack in the coming months.
* Most say that Indian forces unlikely to be targeted. Why? Because guerrilla groups can generate headlines worldwide by attacking western troops.
* Also, Indian soldiers seem to have won the hearts and minds of people in South Lebanon. Hezbollah says India's role has been positive.

***
The men of the 15 Punjab Infantry Battalion are some of the most battle-hardened and decorated fighters the Indian army has to offer. But in the two months they have been deployed as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) here in Hezbollah's heartland, a few kilometers north of the Israeli frontier, they haven't exactly been focused on fighting.

"Winning the hearts and minds of the people is very important," says Maj Sumit Sharma, the contingent's spokesman. "We should not be seen as being from outside." So, there is a soldier who teaches yoga to 10-year-olds, a troupe that demonstrates Bhangra to the locals and, perhaps most famously in these parts, Maj Shailendra Choubey, the jovial army veterinarian.

Maj Choubey is the only veterinarian for kilometers around. He does his daily rounds of the countryside, checking up on colicky donkeys, treating cows with mastitis and monitoring expectant sheep. "You must be finding it pretty crazy," Maj Choubey says as he tackles a pregnant sheep to the ground, examines its belly and then jabs a needle into its hindquarters. "But this is what we do."

It won't be what they would do if war returns to the gentle hills and broad valleys of South Lebanon. For 34 days last summer, this area was a battlefield, as Israel and Hezbollah, the Shiite militia, went to war after the latter kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. The toll was devastating: more than 1,200 dead Lebanese, most of them civilians; 159 dead Israelis—120 soldiers and 39 civilians—and an estimated US$2.8 billion in damage to Lebanon's infrastructure.

What's more, India's soldiers (then of the 4 Sikh Regiment) were caught in the crossfire; several Indian soldiers were injured. In the nearby village of Khiam, a UN observation tower came under Israeli artillery fire. Four soldiers—from Austria, Canada, China and Finland—were killed. The men of 4 Sikh were sent in the night to retrieve what was left of their bodies.

South Lebanon has been peaceful since August thanks to a UN-brokered ceasefire, which the Indian soldiers, along with 12,000 UN soldiers from 27 countries, are tasked with enforcing in a 20-km buffer zone that runs along Israel's northern border. The 850 Indian soldiers stationed here now are charged with preventing Hezbollah—or any armed militia—from operating in the vicinity of 12 villages here in the eastern sector of the zone, an area that includes the mountainous border with Syria, an ancient smuggling route. (India has been providing soldiers to the UN force in South Lebanon for 9 years now.)

The villages, olive groves and sheep pastures that stretch from here to the Mediterranean Sea constitute Hezbollah's stronghold. With the end of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon in 2000, the militia has used this territory to launch countless rocket attacks into Israel. But since December 2006, when 15 Punjab Infantry Battalion arrived, they haven't encountered a single Hezbollah guerilla, missile or weapon that is poised to attack Israel, says Maj Sharma.

In fact, with a few exceptions, almost everything UNIFIL has discovered in the buffer zone has been abandoned.

"The vast majority of bunkers, positions and facilities that we've come across are those which are redundant. There is no sign of maintenance," says Liam McDowall, a UNIFIL spokesman. "And the vast majority of explosive devices, improvised explosive devices, shells, missiles, again, are inoperable."

UNIFIL says some 100 patrols conducted by its white armoured personnel carriers and Humvees every day have forced Hezbollah to give up active operations in the buffer zone. "Because we are a deterrent, no armed elements are here," Maj Sharma says.

Nevertheless, there are signs that another war between Israel and Hezbollah may be on the horizon.

Hezbollah openly says its fighters have spent the last seven months preparing for another major battle by stockpiling some 33,000 missiles and regrouping their fighters. "We in the resistance have weapons, and we openly declare that we've weapons, that we're completing our preparedness for a greater and more dangerous stage," Hassan Nasrallah, the group's leader, said in a televised address last month.


Truce is on, so what does the Indian army do? Shake a leg, teach the natives yoga, nurse their cattle.

[W]hat's more, the Israeli Defence Forces has said in recent weeks it has gathered intelligence that Hezbollah is continuing to smuggle Iran-supplied weapons across the Syrian border and into Lebanon. "It's not a question of if (Israel is going to attack again), it's a question of when," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Hezbollah expert and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

"Definitively, I don't think it's going to happen in five years time. I think it's going to happen quite soon."

If there is another war, the soldiers of 15 Punjab Infantry insist they are ready for anything that comes their way. "My boys have a very good record of gallantry in war," says Col Advitya Madan, the commanding officer, who explains that in its 302-year history 15 Punjab has never backed away from a fight—whether it was defending the Maharaja of Patiala centuries ago, fighting for the British at Gallipoli during World War I or holding off insurgents in Kashmir. "We work on the principle that we expect—and hope for—the best, all the same we are prepared for the worst," Col Madan says. "We are ready. We are well equipped. My boys are very well trained to react."

In addition to the threat of another war between Israel and Hezbollah, there are fears that Sunni Muslim groups affiliated with Al Qaeda may launch an attack on UNIFIL's soldiers. Al Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has denounced the entire UNIFIL force. "I'll be really surprised if we get through 2007 without UNIFIL being seriously attacked," says a Western diplomat in Beirut.

However, the huge force of UNIFIL comprises nearly 13,000 soldiers from 27 countries. Most believe that if an Al Qaeda-affiliated group attacks they will strike one of the European contingents—from Spain, Italy or France. "If they're going to strike, they're going to want it to make major headlines all over the world, which is why the European contingents are very concerned," says Timur Goksel, who retired as a senior advisor to UNIFIL in 2003. "All they need to do is shoot one guy and there will be a crisis."

And though the French and Spanish contingents have encountered some minor problems with the local population, who largely support Hezbollah, the Indian soldiers say they haven't had any such difficulties. "We are received with open arms," Maj Sharma says. "At least in the eastern sector, things have been cool." This sentiment was echoed last week in Delhi, where Hezbollah leader Ali Fayyad had come down to attend a seminar.He said, "The role of the Indian army deployed as part of UN peacekeepers in South Lebanon is very positive" and "it has no problem with people and Hezbollah".

Technorati Tags: UN, UNIFIL, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Israel, Yoga, Sikh, Khalsa, India, Punjab,

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Can India Really Change Corruption and Injustice?

I came across an article written by Rajinder Puri, that speaks to injustice and lack of human rights in India and frankly the commitment to building the institutions necessary for a just and democratic society. Democracy isn't just one person, one vote - it involves having an independent judiciary, a functioning parliament or people's assembly (congress, senate) with checks and balances on executive power and a police force and security service impervious to the political flavour of the day.

India doesn't have any of these today. It doesn't mean they won't exist sometime in the future, but Puri asks the right questions. Have a read...

IIT professionals have banded together to contest the UP assembly election. They intend to contest 30 seats. They were inspired by a similar experiment in Tamil Nadu where the results were encouraging. The Tamil Nadu hopefuls obtained 7 percent votes in the few seats they contested. The Students for Equality who want reservations minus caste consideration will support the fledgling UP party. The new party leaders said they were fed up with corruption and criminalisation of politics. They were determined to end it. Many of them have entered politics against the wishes of their families. Well, a tiny swallow doesn't herald spring. Much more must happen to change the political climate. Before the young hopefuls embark on their venture they must decide: do they want to change the image of India, or India itself? Replacing criminal ruffians with decent, educated individuals will change the image, not necessarily the substance. To change India a reality check is required. Consider one current event that symbolises the real India.

Big questions
Last week the Delhi High Court admitted the CBI's appeal against acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide, which occurred 23 years ago. Not a single senior politician has been convicted. Local Congress leaders under orders of senior leaders led mobs to kill and burn defenceless families. The police watched. Sometimes the police even encouraged mobs to burn and loot shops owned by Sikhs. Thousands of people witnessed the carnage. I was among them. I roamed the city in the heat of the rioting. Later, along with Ram Jethmalani, I visited camps set up for the victims. I wonder if Jethmalani ever recalls those days as he basks now in the glow of the Sonia Durbar. Congress leaders in those days did not hide their involvement. They flaunted it. They were avenging the murder of their beloved leader. The irony is that they never went into the question of who really killed Indira Gandhi. Beant Singh pulled the trigger. Who was behind Beant Singh? Will we ever know ? Did we ever want to know? The cover up of the truth about Indira Gandhi's assassination was as shocking as the cover up of the subsequent genocide.

The assassination investigation and trial were scandalous. It has been reported that almost immediately after Indira Gandhi was shot a TV crew on location headed by Peter Ustinov covered the next 13 minutes on camera. That film was never shown to the public, nor used in the trial. About 45 minutes after the Sikh guards killed Indira Gandhi and surrendered their weapons, they were shot in cold blood by other security guards on the premises of the PM's residence. Who ordered the shooting? Nobody was prosecuted for cold-bloodedly murdering the unarmed assassins who could have unraveled the conspiracy.

RK Dhawan stood closest to Indira Gandhi when she was shot. In the first FIR lodged with the police Beant Singh was reported to have shouted to Satwant Singh: "See that no harm is done to Dhawan!" In the subsequent trial the Judge inexplicably refused the defence lawyers permission to cross-examine Dhawan. In the appointment diary kept with Dhawan, the guard duty of Beant and Satwant, the killer guards, had been changed. The change of guard duty timing enabled both to be present when Indira Gandhi walked out to meet the TV crew that had come to televise her. Who changed the guard duty of Beant and Satwant? In whose handwriting were the changes made in the diary kept in Dhawan's possession? Did this information give Dhawan his unexplained power over the government? The government had appointed the Thakkar Commission to probe the circumstances surrounding the assassination. In his report Justice Thakkar said there was a conspiracy behind the killing and another Commission should be appointed to go into that angle. But the Thakkar Commission Report did say that "the needle of suspicion pointed at RK Dhawan".

The conspiracy angle raised by Justice Thakkar had to be addressed. The government accused Simranjit Singh Mann of being the conspiracy mastermind. Mann, a former police officer, knew how to defend himself. That charge evaporated. Then the government targeted Kehar Singh. The latter was a simple, devout Sikh. His family and Beant Singh's family were well acquainted. The only tangible evidence against Kehar Singh was that his and Beant Singh's family visited the Golden Temple together. On the basis of this evidence the Supreme Court sentenced Kehar Singh to death. But the judges knew the enormity of their folly. I was approached by Jethmalani to write an article against the judgment. I did so. It was promptly published in The Indian Express. Thereafter the Supreme Court conveyed to the President advice that he might review the evidence, and grant pardon if he so wished. This kind of advice by the Court to the President against its own judgment is surely unique in the history of Indian jurisprudence! The President did not oblige. Kehar Singh was hanged. Case closed.

RK Dhawan, against whom "the needle of suspicion pointed" for being involved in the conspiracy to murder Rajiv Gandhi's mother, was politically rehabilitated. Was Justice Thakkar's Report, then, considered flawed? That seems unlikely: Justice Thakkar was subsequently appointed Chairman of the Law Commission. Door Darshan repeatedly telecast Indira Gandhi's last rites, showing Congress workers next to her bier shouting "Blood for blood!" For weeks this scene was daily telecast during the general election campaign that immediately followed the assassination. The hysterical passions unleashed by DD across the nation procured for Rajiv Gandhi the largest number of votes ever obtained by the Congress in a general election. Under Rajiv Gandhi the Congress won over 400 Lok Sabha seats, far more than either Pandit Nehru or Indira Gandhi had ever won.

Enigmatic silence
An inexperienced Rajiv Gandhi was happy to be Prime Minister. RK Dhawan was happy to be politically rehabilitated. Justice Thakkar presumably was happy to be Chairman of the Law Commission. The nation was happy with its new young leader. Apparently, all was well that ended well. Only this scribe ~ Indira Gandhi's bitterest critic when she lived – remained unhappy. He continued to write against the conduct of the probe. Critics would claim it was all repetitive. Perhaps. But how would they describe the government's persistent and enigmatic silence ? This episode is but one example. Bofors, Jain Hawala case, post-Godhra genocide, Telgi, Volcker ~ the list seems endless. Latest is the Hasan Ali case. All these represent the real India. But change is a historical imperative. Will the IIT professionals provide the start towards change? Will they, can they, confront the ghosts that continue to haunt us...?

Technorati Tags: Sikh, Khalsa, Delhi, India, Parliament, RK Dhawan, Gandhi, Riot, Murder, Genocide, IIT, Election, Punjab, UP, Tamil Nadu, Indira, Congress, Democracy, Martyr, Satwant Singh, Beant Singh

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Demographic Balance, and Consequences... for Europe

An article in Danish was recently translated and posted at Gates of Vienna, that highlighted the issues facing Europe today based on research into demographics related to having a 'youth bulge' in the population. For anyone interested in the future of Europe and demographic trends, its quite interesting and informative.

Sikhs should take note and ask what those trends portend for the future of Sikhism on the continent. See below for the article, and do visit GoV for the comments.

While the European populations are shrinking and the best-qualified young people are leaving, we continue to allow mass immigration of unqualified Muslims, who will soon make our welfare states collapse. Add to this the fact that the Muslim world has built up a “youth bulge”, which according to experience will lead to mass murder and whose effects cannot be offset by foreign aid. The originator of these bleak predictions is the German sociologist Gunnar Heinsohn, who believes that the game is over for Europe

By Lars Hedegaard

Authorised translation from the Danish by Sappho

Gunnar HeinsohnBREMEN: If the leaders of the American-led “Coalition of the Willing” had known Gunnar Heinsohn’s research, they would most likely never have left their troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would quickly give up any thought of intervention in Sudan’s Darfur province. They would tell the Palestinian 10-children families that the West will no longer pay for their unrestricted childbirths. Western opinion-makers and politicians would also abandon their pet theory that virtually any act of violence in a belt from Northern Africa to the Philippines - in addition to miscellaneous acts of terror all over the world - are caused by the unsolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

And worst of all seen from the prevailing political consensus in the West: Heinsohn does not believe for a second that economic aid and hunger relief in countries with large youth populations can prevent wars, social unrest, terror or killings. On the contrary he is convinced that in some cases material aid may start the killings. This is because starving people do not fight, they just suffer. However, if you give a lot of young men enough to eat and a certain education in a society where there are too many young men so that not all can get the recognition and positions that they feel entitled to, it may lead to violence.

The 63-year-old sociology professor at the University of Bremen published his findings in his sensational and politically incorrect book Söhne und Weltmacht: Terror im Aufstieg und Fall der Nationen [Sons and World Domination: Terror in the Rise and Fall of Nations], published in 2003. The book became widely known and discussed after the prominent German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk had characterised it as being as groundbreaking as Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. Sloterdijk thought that the book might pave the way for a new realism within a field that might be labelled “Demographic Materialism”.

Heinsohn is not concerned with the absolute size of populations, but rather with the share of teenagers and young men. If this share becomes too big compared to the total population, we are facing a youth bulge. The problem starts when families begin to produce three, four or more sons. This will cause the sons to fight over access to the positions in society that give power and prestige. Then you will have a lot of boys and young men running around filled with aggression and uncontrollable hormones. And then we shall experience mass killings, until a sufficient number of young men have been eradicated to match society’s ability to provide positions for the survivors.

According to Heinsohn, 80 per cent of world history is about young men in nations with a surplus of sons, creating trouble. This trouble may take many forms — a increase in domestic crime, attempts at coups d’état, revolutions, riots and civil wars. Occasionally, the young commit genocide to secure for themselves the positions that belonged to those they killed. Finally, there is war to conquer new territory, killing the enemy population and replacing it with one’s own.

But, as Heinsohn emphasizes again and again, the unrest and the violent acts caused by youth bulges have nothing to do with famine or unemployment. In his book he describes it as follows: “The dynamic of a youth bulge — it cannot be emphasized too often — is not caused by a lack of food. A younger brother, who may be employed as a stable hand by the first-born son and who may be well fed and perhaps even fat, does not seek food but position, one that can guarantee him recognition, influence and dignity. Not the underweight but rather the potential losers or the déclassé are pushing forward” (p. 21).

In recent years the West has been facing a gigantic youth bulge in large parts of the Muslim world. This bulge is created by a Muslim population explosion. Over the course of just five generations (1900-2000) the population in the Muslim countries has grown from 150 million to 1 200 million — an increase of 800 per cent. As a comparison the population of China has grown from 400 million to 1 200 million (300 per cent). The population of India has risen from 250 million to 1000 million (400 per cent).

Sappho has visited Gunnar Heinsohn at his office at the University of Bremen, which awarded him a life-long professorship in 1884.

Youth bulges and violence

-What is the definition of a youth bulge?

“There is no commonly accepted definition. The Frenchman who first used the term in 1970 said that a youth bulge existed when 30 per cent of the men in a population were between 20 to 24. I changed it to 30 per cent between 15 and 29. This means that if you take 100 males from a country, then 30 of them will be between 15 and 29.”

“But remember that this 30 per cent group of young men will not pose any danger if they are hungry or lack education. To be dangerous they must be in good physical and mental shape.”

Heinsohn emphasises that there are lots of wars and killings in history that do nor emanate from youth bulges. The Hitler movement and the Mussolini movement in the 1920s can be explained as youth bulge phenomena. The early Nazis and Fascists had an average age a bit below 30. The Bolshevik movement in the period around the 1917 Revolution can be described in the same way. But by the time Hitler started WWII, many German families were down to only one son. So Hitler’s attack in 1939 was not a youth bulge phenomenon. Neither was the Holocaust. The killing of the Jews was not caused by young German men wanting to take their positions, even though there are theories that make this claim.

Nor do the killings organised by the later Marxist-Leninist regimes — that may have killed 100 million people — have anything to do with youth bulges. The Bolshevik revolution in 1917 was driven by millions and millions of farmers’ sons without land — that was a youth bulge event. Stalin’s Gulag, however, does not fall into this category.

- What about Mao’s killings in China?

“Again, in the 1930s Mao’s movement was carried by a youth bulge, but when he took power in 1949 and started his great purges by killing landowners, the youth bulge was already gone.”

- So the predominant ideology of the West, namely that we can fight war and violence by alleviating hunger and creating jobs in the third world, is wrong?

“Every year the five German peace research institutes publish a report, and every year it has the following conclusion: If we win the struggle against hunger, we have defeated war. On the contrary —youth bulge research shows that if you are successful in eliminating immediate material poverty and hunger in a country with a youth bulge, violence starts to escalate.”

“In Europe we have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty and in all the newspapers we could read that this treaty ended war in Europe. This is absolutely wrong. If the Germans after 1945 had reproduced as they did between 1900 and 1914, then we would have had a German nation of almost 500 million citizens, and we would have had about 80 million German men between 15 and 29. In reality we have 7 million. And we may well ask ourselves whether these 80 million would have been as peaceful as the present 7 million, or would have been detonating bombs in Breslau or Danzig.” (These former German cities - now called Wroclaw and Gdansk - were ceded to Poland following Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945, ed.)

Demographic capitulation
- - - - - - - - - -
“This brings me to something that I call ‘Demographic Capitulation’. It has a very simple definition: Take all the men aged 40-44 and compare them to the boys aged 0-4. Demographic capitulation is when you have 100 males aged 40-44 compared to less than 80 boys aged 0-4. In Germany the numbers are 100/50, in the Gaza Strip they are 100/464. I have compared some numbers for you, and these show that Denmark is on the verge of Demographic Capitulation. Your numbers are 100/80.”

Heinsohn’s statistical overview shows that if Denmark had reproduced at the same rate as the Gaza Strip (from 240 000 to 1.4 million between 1950 and 2006), then we would not have had a population of 5.5 million (compared to 4.3 million in 1950), but 25 million - more than New Zealand and Australia combined. In that case the median age of Danish males would have been 15 (in reality it is 39), and there would have been 3.6 million men of battle-ready age (15-29), whereas the real number is only 470 000. (Median age must not be confused with average age. A median age of 15 means that there are as many people below 15 as there are above 15, ed.).

Whereas such countries as Germany and Japan have capitulated demographically, other countries are characterized by “Demographic Armament”. Apart from Gaza this is situation in among others the three Muslim countries Afghanistan (100/403), Iraq (100/351) and Somalia (100/364). It is no coincidence that they are marked by widespread and extreme acts of violence and will be for several more years into the future. This also holds true for Gaza and the Palestinians in general.

- So you do not believe that the so-called peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is realistic?

“No, and the main reason is the big mistake that was made in Oslo in 1991, when the secret negotiations between Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin started. The error was that nobody took any notice of the Palestinian population explosion. The Palestinian population has multiplied almost 6 times within the last 50 years. We should have done two things: Israel should have stopped its settlements, and the world community should have said to the Palestinians: Every child in Palestine will be fed by the world community as before, because by accepting that every Palestinian child is a refugee, the world community has a responsibility for the number of children born. But from January 1st 1992 you will have to pay for your newborn children, just as a woman does in Lebanon, in Tunisia and in Algeria. That is what they should have told the Palestinians. Why am I mentioning these three countries? Because in those societies a women has fewer than two children on the average. Had we done that 15 years ago, we would have seen a generation of young Palestinian men with few reasons to commit violence against each other or against the Jews. But we did not, and therefore I do not believe in the peace process, even if Hamas should decide to sign everything. Their young men will tear such agreements to pieces.”

Heinsohn points out that it is the USA and the EU, and particularly the Scandinavian countries, that pay for the enormous Palestinian child production. We must cease this support, so that the Palestinians pay for the children they bring into the world after a certain point in time.

- Why cannot the Palestinians just work like everybody else and earn their own keep?

“Palestine is a special case. They never had any chance of developing because they have always been on international support.”

Poverty and religion

- From your book one gets the impression that youth bulges create poverty, whereas we in the West have regarded youth bulges as a result of poverty?

“If a youth bulge changes a state into a failed state, then one will see a breakdown of the market and of production, and this will lead to poverty. If we look at current examples of countries with increasing violence — Pakistan and Bangladesh — we can see that both have managed a steady increase in the average income per capita — and even a significant growth. Thus we have created the primary conditions for making the young men both well fed and well educated, which leads to them becoming unruly. If these young men successfully destroy the country’s infrastructure, it will result in poverty. I have followed this process closely in the West African state of The Ivory Coast. Here they have had a system of seven children for every woman, at the same time as the average income has increased. When the killings started, the average income fell.”

- How do you explain the fact that the Muslim Middle East was deeply underdeveloped before there was any sign of a youth bulge, even before the Europeans — who get the blame for most things — had set foot on its soil? Is it not necessary to add religion to the explanation?

“Let us look at the small countries in Europe that were capable of conquering and colonising large parts of the world from around 1500, starting with Portugal and Spain. Our explanation is usually that there was a pressure on resources because of overpopulation. The opposite was the case. When Spain started its conquests in 1493 with Columbus’ second expedition, Spain had a population of six million, but in 1350 it had had nine million inhabitants. Spain was not overpopulated. There was, however, a sudden a growth in childbirths because in 1484 Pope Innocent VIII had decreed that birth control was punishable by death, which caused an immediate explosion in births. In the middle ages the average number of children per family was 2-3; now it was suddenly 6-7. That caused the median age in the population of six million to be 15, whereas the nine-million population of 1350 had had a median age between 28 and 30. So there was no lack of land or food. However, there was a sudden scarcity of positions. Previously there had been one or two boys in the family. One could take over the farm and the other might become a tenant somewhere else. Now you had three sons who had food but no positions, and these boys started the conquests and the colonising. It was quite telling that the Spaniards called then secundones, the second sons.”

“Where does religion enter the picture? These young men — 95 per cent of them — were normal, good boys and saw it as a sin to kill or mistreat the conquered populations in the colonies. They knew the difference between themselves and psychopaths or common murderers. So when they went into action, they had religion to tell them that they were not murderers, but people who would kill the infidels, the sinners and the unjust with a clean conscience. People who executed orders from a higher power as they would not want to be seen as disobedient.”

“For this reason I do not call these conquerors and colonisers — Spaniards, Englishmen and Danes — Christian, but Christianists. The same distinction as with a Muslim and an Islamist. These young Spaniards were not Christian, but Christianists, who needed this ideology to justify their terrible killings.”

New religions arise in no time

Heinsohn is also hesitant to ascribe to Islam a core from which one may deduce later actions or patterns of action. As an example he mentions the movement of 1968, to which he himself belonged.

“When the time is ripe, new religious pamphlets and books will be written on the spot and in no time. From your holy books — the Koran, the Bible, The Communist Manifesto etc. — you take what fits your purpose. You know that you are going to use violence but want a justification. For you are a righteous person. But when the youth bulge is spent, the books that were distributed in millions of copies cannot even be sold in second-hand bookshops. Everybody knows that they are full of rubbish. But while the movement is on, these young men are impervious to arguments. So the false ideas do not arise from holy scripture. They are generated by the young men themselves because they need wrong ideas to justify their actions. Consequently you cannot stop them by explaining that their ideas are wrong. The movement is not created by wrong ideas. On the contrary, the wrong ideas are created by the movement. Islam does not create Islamism, young Muslims do.”

According to Heinsohn’s calculations there will be approximately 300 million young Muslim men in 2020, but not all of them will be angry. A growing number of Muslim nations — Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iran, Turkey and the rich Emirates — have all fallen under the demographic replacement limit. Iran now has a fertility rate of 1.7. That is the same as in Denmark, but less than in France. These countries still have a youth surplus from earlier, but in a few years they will no longer have any youth bulges that make them pose any danger.

Consequently he does not believe that the Iranian masses will set the whole region alight. This scenario is a projection of the situation immediately before the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and during the war between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988, when Iran could send hundreds of thousands of boys and young men out into the minefields. These teenagers are no longer there.

A class of losers

- Would it not be a solution to let the superfluous sons come to Europe?

“What happens in Europe is that all the countries — there are no exceptions — are ageing nations that do not fully reproduce themselves. Thus they have embarked on a process where they eat each other’s talents. Why are they not looking for talent in Africa, where the population has grown from 100 million in 1900 to an estimated 2 billion in 2050? Why not in Islam, where we have a similar population explosion? Why is America looking for talent in Germany, why is Denmark looking for Poles? Because the third world countries do not have the educational level that is needed in the developed countries that can only maintain their position through innovation. For that purpose they need young people who have grown up in a high-tech society. It is not because Africans or Muslims are not as intelligent as others, they are just not socialised in a way that makes them useful in our societies.”

- In Demark we now have a number of highly educated immigrants and their descendents from Muslim countries — doctors, lawyers etc. But many of them are as unintegrated as are many of the uneducated. They remain as extremist and as Islamicist as if they had not received a higher education?

“I will leave the evaluation of Danish conditions to the Danes. However, we experience the same phenomenon in England. There we have a population within the population, namely the Pakistanis, who have the highest birth rate in the country, and who are most dependent on social transfers. In the Western countries we have a social system that is hardly being used by the local population. On the other hand there is an immigrant population whose women cannot compete in the local workforce. For Danish and German women the welfare benefits are too low to be attractive. Not so for the immigrants. So what we see in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands are immigrant women who take low-paid jobs which they supplement with public benefits. It is not a fantastic income but sufficient for them. And this creates a career type for women only, which their daughters carry on.”

“But the sons do not have this option. They grow up on the bottom of society without the intellectual skills needed to improve their social position. It is these boys who burn Paris, who burn parts of Bremen. Some of them make it to university and become leaders of the others — not poor, but young men with low status who believe that they are oppressed because of their Islamic faith, but in reality it is the welfare state itself that has created this class of losers.”

“If, on the other hand, one goes to Canada, where I have lived part of each year for the last 20 years, they have a completely different policy. They say: Our immigration policy has a simple base. Every newborn Canadian and every new Canadian who comes from abroad has to be more intelligent than those who were here before. Because only through innovation can we keep our position in world competition. Therefore I want my son to be smarter than me. And believe it or not: Of 100 adult Canadian immigrants, 98 have better professional qualifications than the Canadian average. In Germany and France the corresponding number is 10 per cent. So we went for quantity, and they went for quality.”

“And why? In Germany because people were afraid of being called racists, and it looks like all European nations suffer from the same fear of making choices.”

The Fifth Village

- Might some of it also be explained by the leftist parties importing their own voters?

“In France we have seen that Africans and Algerians have voted for Ségolène Royal. Add to that another phenomenon that we can observe in Germany among other places. Here some of the ‘ethno-Germans’, as we are now beginning to call them, and who make up 85 per cent of the German population, are starting to emigrate. Annually about 150 000 Germans leave the country, most of them for the Anglo-Saxon world. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are ready to receive 1.5 million well-educated immigrants yearly, and they are doing everything to ease the way for them.”

“It is no wonder that young, hard-working people in France and Germany choose to emigrate. It is not just that they have to support their own ageing population. If we take 100 20-year-olds, then the 70 Frenchmen and Germans also have to support 30 immigrants of their own age and their offspring. This creates dejection in the local population, particularly in France, Germany and the Netherlands. So they run away.”

“Europe has just finalized its immigration principles in January 2007. And they are quite different from the Canadian ones. Our first criterion for letting people into the EU is whether they have been victims of discrimination. Next principle: If the person already has family in EU, he has privileged access. Third principle: People who are already illegally in Europe should be legalized. And finally, only in fourth place do we have the Anglo-Saxon principle that the immigrant should fit into our labour market.”

“The purpose is to make Europe look stronger than the Anglo-Saxons when it comes to ‘soft power’.”

“I am very pessimistic about the future. Europe’s situation reminds me of the principle that is called ‘The Fifth Village’ in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, who have experienced population decline. So four villages are being abandoned and the remaining population is moved to the fifth village. However, that does not increase the birth rate in the fifth village. And after some time the fifth village will also be populated by old people, and there are no young people in the vicinity to work for their pensions.”

“The same will happen to the approximately 40 nations between Brittany and Vladivostok. Some of them will become Fifth Villages and will have a new lease on life, others will just implode. I predict that all the Slavic nations will implode. Same thing with the three Baltic states and all of the Balkan states. The question is whether Germany and France will become Fifth Villages. I see Scandinavia as a Fifth Village. The same thing with the Iberian Peninsula and with Ireland and England. But I am not sure the rest of the continent will make it.”

The young are leaving

- But will we even deal with nations in the future? If Europe gets a Muslim majority, it is not certain that Danes, Germans, Frenchmen etc. will bow to sharia law. Might the result be that the indigenous populations will withdraw to their own enclaves, from where they will try to defend themselves, as we have seen in Bosnia?

“That is of course a possibility, but one must ask oneself who is it that will stay and fight? I might because I am more or less forced to stay here. But if I were an 18-year-old ethnic German, done with high school, then I would do like most others are already doing. I would want to study in the Anglo-Saxon world and then I would emigrate. I would not want to stay and fight. The Anglo-Saxon world needs 50 million well-qualified immigrants within the next 30-40 years, so well-qualified young people from Western Europe will have every incentive to go there instead of staying and fighting.”

“A possibility is to aim for Chinese immigration. If we in Germany had the same number of Chinese immigrants as they have in Canada, we would have 3 million. But immigration from China has not even been considered in Europe.”

“China is the fastest ageing nation in the world after Germany, Japan and South Korea. We usually view China as a sleeping giant. I on the other hand see China as a source from where the Western nations will skim the best. And they will get them. Currently, rich Chinese are preoccupied with moving their riches to Switzerland because with the few children being born in China, people in their 40s have no chance of ever getting a pension. China is down to a fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman. The country is already losing 500 000 of its best every year. The young see no hope of ever being able to build a pension plan in their home country. Therefore they settle in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada etc.”

“In East Germany they have just decided to demolish an additional 400 000 apartments. There are no people for them, and the empty apartments ruin the banks by depressing the rents and the prices of housing. In West Germany we are also losing population. We have to stop taking the least suitable immigrants. To attract young and competent people, we might give them a house. That was the way Brandenburg secured the French Huguenots in the 17th century. But I doubt it will work today.”

Demographic rearmament?

- Would it be possible to imagine that Europeans might suddenly start to multiply as a moral obligation to maintain the people and the culture? It was what happened after the British had conquered French Quebec. The Catholic priests put pressure on the French families to put up to 15 children into the world, and this demographic effort was successful?

Gunnar Heinsohn does not give much of a chance to such a strategy. It would require draconian measures, which the Europeans would not accept. Promises of money will not work except for people with little education and low status — which just makes the situation worse.

“Look at the Polish people,” says Heinsohn — who was born in 1943 in the city now known as Gdansk, but which he still calls Danzig, the son of a German submarine captain who lost his life near Newfoundland five months before his son was born. “Here is a nation with proud traditions. Poland saved Europe from the Mongols, the Turks and the Bolsheviks and ended up bringing down Communism. And yet they have a lower birth rate than the Germans. They are down to 1.2 children per woman. In addition, over the last 15 years they have already lost 2 million of their best people. Perhaps emigrants tell their parents that they are coming back, but they won’t. That is why I am saying that countries such as Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are doomed. They have no attraction for immigrants. The same thing is happening with Russia. Who wants to move to Russia? And look at the newest members of the EU, Bulgaria and Romania. Romania is the first country in the world where there are more retirees than active workers, and we let them in. The same with Bulgaria, which has the world’s fastest-dwindling population. The young are moving out, and with a clean conscience, because they believe that tomorrow Brussels will pay for their parents. So the EU has accepted 27 million people who wanted to get inside to secure their pensions. And in the European centre they are still overjoyed to have attracted millions more than the USA. That will make us strong, they believe.”

“So I see few possibilities. However, in my book I cite the example of California, which experienced a turn-around around 1990, which meant that even the white population — excluding the Latinos, who have a much higher birth rate — went from 1.3 to 1.8 children per woman. It is not full reproduction but a significant change nonetheless. It was a huge surprise because California is the world’s most advanced region. By the end of the 1980s the prognosis was that the birth rates would continue to fall, but in the beginning of the 1990s new studies found that Californian women were no longer satisfied with just working, and shortly afterwards the birth rates went up.”

“In Europe it was dismissed with the explanation that Americans are so conservative, but that is not true in California, which has in many ways been the pioneer of the West. However, I cannot see a similar change in Europe. Of course France has 2 children per woman, but out of five newborns, two are already Arabic or African. In Germany 35 per cent of all newborns already have a non-German background, and non-Germans commit 90 per cent of violent crimes. As I have said — mothers are paid to put children into the world and so are their daughters, whereas the men take to crime.”

“Or take the Tunisian example. A woman in Tunisia has 1.7 children. In France she may have six because the French government pays her to have them. Of course, the money was never intended to benefit Tunisian women in particular, but French women will not touch this money, whereas the Tunisian women are only too happy to.”

- So we need to discriminate?

“That will not work. It is too late. The moment you start discriminating, you will be dragged into each and every international court in existence. This is what the Anglo-Saxon world has escaped by discriminating at the border. Not based on race or ethnicity but based on qualifications. They are discriminating against the unqualified. Yet they reject them with a friendly piece of advice. When a person has been refused entry in Ottawa or Canberra, friendly immigration authorities will advise him to go to Germany. Because they have a different system there.”

The end of the welfare state

- How do you see the political situation in Europe in twenty years? No welfare state, no democracy?

“Concerning the European continent apart from Scandinavia, Ireland and England, I believe that even the pessimistic population prognoses will turn out to be too optimistic. They assume that the young people will stay in Europe and bring up their own children, but that will not happen. A study from 2005 showed that 52 per cent of the Germans between 18 and 32 wanted to leave. They might not mean it but they are entertaining the thought. The really qualified are leaving. The only truly loyal towards France and Germany are those who are living off the welfare system. Because there is no other place in the world that offers to pay for them. America, Canada and Australia count on receiving our best qualified youths, and they will get many of them. That will put an end to innovation and put a damper on economic growth in Europe. In Germany we are already forfeiting billions upon billions in revenue because we lack qualified people to take on the jobs. We have two million jobs that we cannot fill - and a welfare-dependent population of six million, and the two do not meet. The welfare group grows each year because of new babies, but the vacant job slots are not filled.”

“It is a case of two nations that are closed off to each other. The welfare state cannot continue. We cannot hope to cover the demographic holes through immigration from China either, since the Chinese do not want to emigrate into a welfare system where they will have to pay for an ageing population’s pensions in addition to a welfare population of millions.”

“We have to say that there is only one category of people who can count on help from the government and that is the mentally or physically handicapped. Nobody else should expect help. This sounds cold and cynical but our welfare states were founded the 19th century when families had 10 children. When their father fell to his death from a scaffold, somebody had to look after the family. This is not the situation we are facing today.”

“If you go to Australia, you will not be paid to have children. You may get a slight tax relief. On the other hand a citizen of Australia can keep 80 out of every 100 dollars he earns.”

- How could it go so wrong in Europe that had this grandiose vision of peace, cooperation and progress and unlimited trust in its own abilities?

“It started to go wrong around 1980. But the great turn in Germany came as late as 1990. That was when we opened the gates for a mass immigration of roughly speaking unqualified people. Between 1990 and 2002 Germany allowed an immigration of 13 million. At almost the same time it started to go wrong in France. We can only avert this burden on the welfare state through legislation. We have to pass a bill to the effect that new children born after a certain date will have to be paid for by their parents. It will be a revolution. But it is not even being discussed here in Europe.”

Clinton’s social reform

“But let me point out what happened in the USA. During the election campaign of 1992 Bill Clinton, in a famous phrase, promised to ‘end welfare as we know it’. In 1935 the USA had passed the ‘Aid to Dependent Children’-act (from 1960 known as ‘Aid to Families with Dependent Children’, ed.), which guaranteed every mother with small children help from the state. Again it was a question of the father who had fallen from the scaffold, and very few received support because of this law. However, in 1965 morals had changed. Until then it would have been unthinkable to a mother — whether she was white or black — to become pregnant, hide the identity of the father and then let the public pay for her kids. Now she did not even have to push the father out of a tall building. This caused an explosion of the number of welfare-dependent American families. From 1965 to 1995 their share rose to 10 per cent of all American families and 15 per cent of the children. That was the reality Clinton had to face.”

“Most of these welfare dependents were blacks, and that made racists claim that the problem was in the black genes. But the Republicans and the Democrats worked together on a new law, ‘Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’, which was a smart law. It told American women: We will give you welfare up to five years. You decide whether it should be five years straight, or whether you want to divide the five years into shorter periods. The new law was passed in 1996 and took effect on January 1, 1997. It caused several top officials in the Clinton administration to walk out in protest stating the law was a racist attack on the weakest — single mothers and their children. They had predicted that by 1997-98, the number of adversely affected would have grown from 12 to 14 million. As it turned out, it was these well-meaning people who were the racists. The black girls were smart enough to go on the pill with the result that the welfare-dependent population shrank from 12 million to 4 million. It was the most successful social reform in history.”

“In Europe we have not even begun to discuss such a reform.”

Leave the youth bulges alone

- Lately there has been a discussion as to whether we in the West can accomplish anything in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan or with populations such as the Palestinian. Why not let them fight it out among themselves?

“Some American strategists are beginning to question whether the USA, with its one-son families, ought send out troops to fight populations with many sons. That is the mistake we have committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you have to go in because you have been attacked, then you must do it, but as soon as the danger has been defeated, it is necessary to withdraw. It is up to the Iraqis and the Afghans themselves to ensure that there is a balance between the size of the population and the number of positions society can offer. And as far back in history we look, we can see that this balance has been maintained by young men killing each other. We have done it in Europe, and it has happened elsewhere. We cannot allow them to send their young men over the borders to kill others.”

“My personal view is that when faced with a youth bulge, we should allow it to play out with the consequences we know. We should stay away. If we interfere, we cannot avoid siding with one party and help killing that party’s opponents. Then the population will se us as doing the dirty work for one side or another. Instead might arm the most sympathetic side, which was what the French did in Algeria after the Islamists started killing the secularists in 1992. France sent weapons aid to the secularists. Back then nobody said that we ought to send money and food to the families of the Islamists, as they do in Palestine.”

Technorati Tags: Denmark, Europe, Immigration, Demography, Islam, Muslim, Christian, Jew

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What's Jathedar Vedanti Up To?

Interesting article from WSN about the Jathedar's trip to Canada... Someone needs to ask some questions? or at least a process has to be put in place to do so...

May Akal Purakh Himself Save The Great Sikh Community From Its Leadership! For what else can one say after revelations that a 12 member delegation being sent to Canada and tasked with carrying out negotiations to get back the "kalgi" of tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji, has triggered a controversy because it is stuffed with the relatives of the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti.

No doubt the delegation is being led by Kamaljit Singh Boparai who has been involved with the efforts to get back the "kalgi' (roughly translated as plume but the English word does not convey the nuances of sardari, beauty and character connected with the 'kalgi') but what has raised the hackles of the critics is the fact that it also comprises Bibi Harbhajan Kaur, wife of Jathedar Vedanti, Amarjit Kaur, personal assistant to Mrs Vedanti, Prithipal Singh Sandhu Officer On Special Duty attached with Jathedar Vedanti who is also a brother-in-law of Jathedar Vedanti and Manjinder Singh Sandhu (son of Prithipal Singh Sandhu).

Incidentally, Prithipal Singh Sandhu, a former employee for years of the Punjabi language Communist newspaper Nawan Zamana, has been at the centre of many controversies in the past including that of receiving bribe from a rape-accused dera baba to get him off lightly with a mild tankhah from the Akal Takht. The Akal Takht and Mr Sandhu were then approached by a girl and her father who had accused the Baba of raping her. After the Takht let him off lightly, they took the case to the courts at the insistence of Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat and the baba was sent to jail for ten years by the court. The Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat had persistently accused Sandhu of receiving bribes and finally forced Jathedar Vedanti to drop him as PA. Later, he continued to be the de facto PA and was then designated as OSD. Prithipal Singh Sandhu's sister is married to Jathedar Vedanti. Prithipal Singh Sandhu's interest in religious matters of any sort became noticeable only after Vedanti was made Jathedar of Akal Takht.

The letter sent to the Canadian high commission recommending the names for visa was signed by Jathedar Vedanti himself and was on the letterhead of the Akal Takht. In it, Prithipal Singh Sandhu was mentioned not as "OSD" but as "religious preacher of Akal Takht". Jathedar Vedanti's wife has never been known to play any public role and Prithipal Singh Sandhu has never been heard of making any speech aimed at spreading Sikhism, or taking part in any religious activity other than behind-the-scenes troubleshooting, speaking anonymously in the Jathedar's behalf or drafting the statements of the Jathedar.

Apart from these, the list includes Sukhwinder Singh, program organiser, Amardeep Singh, financial controller and Kulwant Kaur, religious worker and financial assistant.

Kamaljit Singh Boparai's wife Sukhjinder Kaur, their daughter Pavneet Kaur and son Jasbir Singh besides personal assistant Rushinder Kaur Bual also figure in the list.

Now, Prithipal Singh Sandhu has confirmed that all the names given above indeed figure in the list sent by the Akal Takht.

While the Sikh community is likely to be perturbed at the development, the detractors of Jathedar Vedanti, particularly the Spokesman newspaper is likely to go to town with the story in a big way to the embarrassment of the clergy.

Technorati Tags: Jathedar, Vedanti, Canada, Akal Takht, Sikh, Khalsa, Sikhism

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Why Kirat Karna is one of the Pillars of Sikhism...

The definition of Kirat Karna from International Institute of Gurmat Studies, Inc.(IIGS or IGS), with whom I have no affiliation.

Dharam Di Kirat Karna: EARNING LIVELIHOOD HONESTLY.

I came across this article in the Winnipeg Sun via Relapsed Catholic about aggressive panhandlers and it reminded me about why Kirat Karna is a pillar of Sikhism, perhaps it will remind you as well... Here's an excerpt...

It is said that the best way to kill a man is to pay him to do nothing.

This can be applied to begging.

Giving money to a panhandler is probably the least effective way to help someone rise out of poverty.

Not only do you not know where the money is going, but it provides an incentive for the panhandlers to continue the practice rather than focus on improving themselves and seeking gainful employment.

Technorati Tags: Kirat Karna, Sikhism, Beggar, Sikh, Khalsa

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Hindu Girl Murdered by Muslim Over Religion

I posted a few days ago about a Sikh girl who was sold into prostitution by a Pakistani Muslim who took her from England to Pakistan. Today I read an article about a Hindu girl whose family was killed by a muslim upset that his girlfriend broke up with him because their religions were incompatible.

This should be a warning that you never know who you are dealing with, and that often times going against your family in even starting the relationship can have devastating consequences for you and for them.

ANAHEIM – A man held for questioning in the murder of an Orange County father and daughter was upset with the family because they broke off his relationship with another daughter for religious reasons, court documents indicated.

Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, of Los Angeles was arrested on a fugitive warrant Saturday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and was being held on Wednesday without bail in the Maricopa County jail.

An extradition hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

The Orange County Register reported that Murtaza had a one-way ticket to Bangladesh.

Murtaza had not been charged with a crime but was considered a “person of interest” in the deaths of Jayprakash Dhanak, 56, and his 20-year-old daughter, Karishma, Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez said Wednesday.

Police believe a second person was involved in the killings.

“We have not identified any suspects,” Martinez said.

Murtaza could not immediately be reached for comment. He had no lawyer and no one answered the telephone at his suburban Van Nuys home.

His brother told the Register on Wednesday that the situation had been tough on his family.

“I strongly believe that he has no part in it,” Ishtiak Murtaza, 37, said in an interview at the family's convenience store in Van Nuys.

Court documents in Arizona revealed the victims were stabbed, strangled and had “moderate” burns.

Their burned bodies were found May 22 along a hiking trail in Irvine, several hours after their home in the Anaheim Hills was set on fire and the girl's mother, Leela Dhanak, 53, was found badly beaten and unconscious in a yard outside.

She was expected to recover.

Another daughter, Shayona, 18, was in her dormitory room at the University of California, Irvine, when the attack occurred and was placed under police protection.

Murtaza was her ex-boyfriend, court papers indicate. He was upset with her parents and sister “for discontinuing the relationship due to different religious backgrounds, Hindu and Muslim,” according to papers filed in a Phoenix court.

Friends told the Register the Dhanak family was devoutly Hindu.

Murtaza told authorities that he was not in Anaheim the day or evening of the killings but telephone records indicated that his cell phone was used less than two miles from the crime scene and about 90 minutes before the killings, court documents said.

Martinez declined to comment on the court documents or the newspaper report and said the investigation was continuing.

Technorati Tags: Muslim, Hindu, relationship, murder, killing, Sikh

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Perseverance Pays Off - Justice is Served

It's hard to believe that justice can be served in India when considering the culture of corruption and the level of human rights abuses there. It is even doubly hard to believe that justice can be served in Punjab, where the Punjab police is notorious for encounter killings and murder of innocents. But one man persevered and was honoured in Vancouver, Canada by Sikh Gurdwaras, organizations, media and the Sikh Sangat.



Here's an article from World Sikh News..

Gola's father honored for fighting battle to jail Pinky

Written by WSN Bureau

Wednesday, May 30, 2007



http://worldsikhnews.com/images/stories/punjab/avtar%20gola.jpg

Vancouver: The sangat of Canada has heaped respect and honours upon the father of the young man who was killed by disgraced Punjab Police inspector Gurmit Singh Pinky. Avtar Singh Gola was killed in broad daylight by Pinky and his men, but the victim's father Amrik Singh put up a spirited fight in the courts of law till the guilty was brought to book.



He was threatened and harassed in his long legal battle but never gave up despite the fact that Pinky had extremely shady reputation and was known as a blood thirsty cop with high connections.



Amrik Singh was presented with the bravery award by Radio India and was also felicitated at Gurdwara Singh Sabha Surrey, Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar, Gurdwara Kalgidhar Darbar of Abbotsford and Gurdwara Akali Singh Sabha of Vancouver. The gathering at the Greater Vancouver's Surrey area witnessed the chairman of South Asian Human Rights Group Harpal Singh Nagra, Janta Sewak Society and Vishaw Hindu Parishad Mandir's Sudarshan Bakshi, Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Surrey's Senior Vice President Sadhu Singh Samra, Indo-Canadian Workers Association president Sohan Singh Sangha, Royal Group Realty chairman Sam Rakhra, Radio Shere-Punjab host Gurbinder Singh Dhaliwal, Channel MTV's Bhinder Kaur Sajjan, Parvasi Weekly resident editor Raminder Thind and Radio India director Ravneet Walia showering honors upon Amrik Singh. So touched was the old man that he was on the verge of crying at all this adulation.



The sangat took upon itself the expenditure to be borne on the marriage of the daughters of Amrik Singh while the Janta Sewak Society said it will bear all expenditure for the MBA studies of one of Amrik Singh's daughters. The sangat also honored Gursewak Singh, the first man to send financial aid to Amrik Singh.

Technorati Tags: Police, Gurmit Singh Pinky, Canada, Vancouver, Avtar Singh Gola, Amrik Singh, Justice, Law, Criminal, Encounter, Killing, Murder, Corruption, Gurdwara, Sangat

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Dera Followers ATTACK Sikhs

So Dera followers are now attacking Sikhs? Are they trying to start something? I found the following report in the news summaries, but when I went to it, I could no longer find the original at DNA India, not sure why they took it down.

The original story isn't even available when you search the DNA India website. Fortunately, if you search around the Internet, somewhere you can usually get a cached copy. Spread the word, the Dera followers are not so passive, as the media might make them out to be.

From DNA India,

Two Sikh attacked by Dera followers in Moga
PTI
Thursday, May 31, 2007 13:23 IST

...

MOGA: Mistaking two motorcycle-borne Sikhs as protesters, a group of Dera Sacha Sauda followers attacked them in Daulatpura village near here on Thursday, police said.

The two youths were going to a nearby village when some Dera followers, who had gathered at a house for a religious discourse, mistook them as Sikh protesters and attacked them, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Devinder Singh Garcha said.

The two identified as Sukhjinder Singh and Raja Singh, a priest of Sadda Subh Wala village nearby, have been admitted to a local hospital.

Garcha said that since the incident was a result of misunderstanding the situation was under control. Police patrolling in the area has been intensified, he added.

The stand-off between various Sikh organisations and the Dera began after the Dera chief appeared in an attire similar to one of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, leading to violence in which a Sikh youth was killed and around 50 persons were injured.

Technorati Tags: Dera, Ram, Rahim, Gurmeet, Singh, Sikh, Khalsa, Punjab, India

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