November 2012

Gurmeet Sodhi (left) interviews Dr. I.J. Singh (right) on stage at the SikhLens Sikh Arts and Film Festival.

Thoughts on the SikhLens Sikh Arts and Film Festival

November 30, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Two weeks ago, I attended the third annual SikhLens Sikh Arts and Film Festival in Orange, California (held during November 16 to 18). It was my first time attending this event, and I enjoyed the showcase of artistic talent presented. Newspapers India Journal and India-West provide thorough summations of the festivities from the opening night gala to the closing showcase concert and the scholarship projects behind the films (in collaboration with Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts), […]

Categories: Art, Events, TV/Movies • Tags: Bicky Singh, California, Dr. I.J. Singh, Orange, SikhLens Sikh Arts and Film Festival, Singh Twins, Waris Ahluwalia

"A Sikh youth holds a placard at an event in Manhattan to mourn the killing of six Sikh worshippers at a Wisconsin gurdwara. (PTI)"

Dilveer Singh Vahali writes in the LA Times about being called “terrorist”

November 30, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Dilveer Singh Vahali writes an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times in which he reflects on when he was subjected to “terrorist” epithets in public: I was on my way to lunch with one of the partners at a prestigious law firm when we both heard it: a random person on the street yelling at me, “Terrorist … hey, terrorist!” I was in the process of trying to secure a job. Like any other law school student, I just wanted […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Dilveer Singh Vahali, Discrimination, Los Angeles Times

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Sikhs in US petition White House to recognize 1984 genocide

November 29, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The group Sikhs for Justice is currently collecting signatures to petition the President of the United States to recognize the organized pogroms against Sikhs in India in 1984 as a genocide: During November 1984 the Congress Party of India organized and perpetrated violence with intent to destroy the Sikh community, resulting in more than 30,000 killed; women raped; Gurudwaras burnt and more than 300,000 displaced. The systematic violence against Sikhs was concealed and portrayed by the Indian governments as Anti-Sikh […]

Categories: 1984, Politics • Tags: Amu, Barack Obama, November 1984, President of the United States, Shonali Bose, Sikh genocide, Sikh genocide petition, Sikhs for Justice, WikiLeaks

"Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh event" (source: Fox6Now)

Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

November 28, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Arno Michaelis, a reformed white supremacist and author of the book My Life After Hate, comments on speaking at an event held last week hosted by the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin: “There certainly is a lot of compelling discussion to be had about who I was and who I could have become, and I’m happy to talk about that, but tonight’s not about me — it’s about the principles of Heritage Day and of human beings appreciating the differences that we […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Arno Michaelis, Heritage Day, My Life After Hate, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, White supremacy, Wisconsin

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Painting of Guru Nanak with his parents, c. 1733

Celebrating the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

November 28, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Recently, I have been reading an early account of Britain’s annexation of the Sikh empire during the 19th century called The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars: The Rise, Conquest, and Annexation of the Punjab State. Published in 1897, British authors Sir Charles Gough and Arthur D. Innes document the history of the Sikh faith, and describe Guru Nanak, the first Guru and founder of the Sikh faith, as thus (pages 16-17): A seeker after truth from his earliest years, he […]

Categories: Events, Sikhism • Tags: "The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars: The Rise Conquest and Annexation of the Punjab State", Arthur D. Innes, gurpurab, Guru Nanak, Sir Charles Gough

President Obama’s statement on birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

November 28, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Sikhs around the world are celebrating the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith who was born in 1469. As he has done in his previous years in office (2010, 2011), President Barack Obama has offered his felicitations on the birth anniversary. In his remarks, the President also made mention of the victims of the shooting at the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in August. It was this President who was the first to celebrate the […]

Categories: Events, Politics • Tags: Barack Obama, Guru Nanak Dev, White House

Sikh student and teacher (Kulpreet Singh | About.com Sikhism)

Moving beyond tolerance in the classroom

November 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an article published on the Not In Our Town blog, Amrit Kaur Sidhu, an intern with United Sikhs, relates personal experience to make the salient distinction between promoting diversity (“plurality”) and promoting pluralism — “the active engagement of plurality” — in the classroom: I realized that schools are the first institutions that must become a model of pluralism, in order for pluralism to seep out into the rest of society. Students are placed in a social setting with other […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Amrit Kaur Sidhu, bullying, CREATE Wisconsin, Education, hate crimes, Navjot Kaur, Not In Our Town, Oak Creek, pluralism, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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"Jurupa school board members on Monday, Nov. 19, discussed safety issues on campus, including a request by some Sikh students to bring ceremonial kirpans to school." (source: Press-Enterprise)

California school board allows Sikh students to wear kirpan, with restriction

November 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In southern California, the Board of the Jurupa Unified School District recently enacted a provision allowing Sikh students to carry a kirpan — a sword or blade that is an article of the Sikh faith — on its school campuses: Under the new policy, parents agree to sign a statement that requires the kirpan — a daggerlike object that is a sacred article of faith — to be worn under clothing, to have the blade dulled, to be soldered or […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Sikhism • Tags: California, Jurupa Unified School District, Jurupa Valley, Khalsa, Kirpan, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Save the date: Sikholars Graduate Student Conference, February 16-17, 2013

November 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I have written often about the annual Sikholars Graduate Student Conference that takes place in California each year. My interest and involvement with the conference has been as a member of the audience, but I feel strongly about the forum that Sikholars provides to our community, and support it wholeheartedly. I’ve enjoyed immensely each of the three conferences I attended. The conference brings together those engaged in academic study of topics pertaining to Sikhs: from India to the diaspora, and […]

Categories: Events • Tags: Academic conference, California, Jakara Movement, Sikholars, Stanford, Stanford University

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Monthly Archives: November 2012

Thoughts on the SikhLens Sikh Arts and Film Festival

Dilveer Singh Vahali writes in the LA Times about being called “terrorist”

Sikhs in US petition White House to recognize 1984 genocide

Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

Celebrating the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

President Obama’s statement on birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

Moving beyond tolerance in the classroom

California school board allows Sikh students to wear kirpan, with restriction

Save the date: Sikholars Graduate Student Conference, February 16-17, 2013