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

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)

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