December | 2012 |

Sikh wedding ceremony (source: MrSikhNet)

VA Sikhs challenge marriage discrimination

December 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a unique case of discrimination, Sikhs in Virginia are challenging a state law that fines non-clergy who perform wedding ceremonies: Four Sikh men are suing the state after they were charged $500 each to preside over weddings because the law only recognizes ordained ministers, like priests and rabbis, as having the power to wed people. However, Sikhs don’t have a clergy. Instead, anyone who can read and comprehend Sikh scriptures is qualified to perform marriages. That means a hefty […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, Anand Karaj, Duncan Getchell, Fairfax County, Ken Cuccinelli, Sikh wedding, Virginia

Sikh American ranked on Forbes’ “Top 30 Under 30 Finance”

December 20, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A Sikh American has been ranked on Forbes Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 Finance list for 2012. Savneet Singh, 29, is an entrepreneur who c0-founded a gold trading firm called Gold Bullion International: Cornell grad got the gold bug in 2009 and launched GBI where individuals and institutions (Merrill Lynch is a client) can buy, sell, exchange and store physical gold. Advisory board members include General Wesley Clark and Sallie Krawcheck. According to Forbes Magazine: The Forbes 30 Under 30 […]

Categories: Profiles • Tags: Forbes Magazine, GBI, Gold Bullion International, Savneet Singh, Sikh American Chamber of Commerce

Alan Cooperman, Associate Director of Research, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Pew Forum discusses lack of available census data on Sikhs

December 20, 2012 by American Turban Guest Contributor

Alan Cooperman is the Associate Director for Research at the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. In response to yesterday’s post about the Pew Forum’s latest report The Global Religious Landscape, Mr. Cooperman provides more insight about the study, and about the dearth of statistics available related to Sikh counts in countries around the world. His feedback and the information that he provides is very much appreciated and acknowledged. You can read more about Alan Cooperman at […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: Alan Cooperman, Global Religious Landscape, Pew Forum, Pew Forum of Religion and Public Life, Pew Research Center, Sikh census

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Blurred image of a nihang Sikh (source: mrsikhnet.com)

The ironic invisibility of Sikhs

December 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent CBS News documentary entitled “Working for Religious Freedom“, Rajdeep Singh, the Director of Law and Policy at the Sikh Coalition, commented on how little Sikhs are known in the United States (at 19:45 in the video): Sikhs have been in the United States for more than 100 years, and ironically, despite being one of the most visible people in this country, in some respects, we’re invisible. I was reminded of this quote — and of our ironic […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: CBS News, Global Religious Landscape, Pew Forum, Pew Forum of Religion and Public Life, Pew Research Center, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition

Jasjit Singh Jaggi serves as a member of the NYPD with his articles of faith intact, but only as a traffic officer, after winning his religious accommodation case in 2004. (source: New York City Commission on Human Rights)

It may take a lawsuit for the NYPD to allow Sikhs to serve freely

December 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“There is no reason why the NYPD police officers can’t wear a turban and beard and do their job,” said [New York Assemblyman Dave Weprin] mentioning in particular that Sikhs’ beards [prevent] the use of gas masks is not true. “Sikhs can tie up their beards in a crop cut,” he said. …“They are not being as receptive to people that don’t look like them,” he said. — In the Gotham Gazette, New York Assemblyman Dave Weprin discusses the campaign […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Employment Discrimination, Gotham Gazette, Jasjit Singh Jaggi, Metropolitan Police Department, Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, New York Police Department, NYPD, religious accommodation, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, Workplace Discrimination

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Congregation at Sikh Religious Society of Chicago commemorates the passing of HR 1193 in Illinois (credit: SAAPRI)

IL South Asian community commemorates state anti-hate resolution

December 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Sunday, the South Asian community in Chicago, Illinois, came together with local and state officials at the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago to commemorate the passing of HR 1193 by the Illinois House of Representatives, an anti-hate resolution that was a collaboration between the South Asian American Public Research Institute (SAAPRI), local groups and State Representative Daniel Biss, condemning recent hate crimes against Sikhs, Muslims and other South Asians (and specifically, the mass shooting by a white supremacist in […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Chicago, Daniel Biss, HR 1193, Illinois, Illinois House of Representatives, Oak Creek, SAAPRI, Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Asian American Public Research Institute, Wisconsin

A fifth grader’s letter to the victims of Newtown, CT

December 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On their Facebook page, the website Kaurista posts a touching letter from fifth grader Gurjaap Singh to the young victims of the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The full text is below.

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Connecticut, Elementary school, Gurjaap Singh, Kaurista, Newtown, shooting

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"A group of Sikh men were among those came to Newtown to attend an interfaith service at Newtown High School on December 16, 2012 which was also attended by President Barack Obama. The service was held two days after gunman Ryan Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. and opened fire killing 20 children and several adults on December 14, 2012." (source: CNN)

Picture of the Day: Sikhs at Newtown, CT vigil

December 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Still dealing with the aftermath of August’s mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Sikhs around the country (including Sikh communities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Fairfield, California, New York, Fresno, California, Sacramento, California, Bridgewater, New Jersey) have been gathering for vigils and prayer after the mass murder in Newtown, Connecticut.

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Connecticut, Newtown, shooting, vigil

Mandeep Sethi film SIKLIGAR now available online

December 15, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Mandeep Sethi, a filmmaker and hip hop artist from California, has made available his recently-released documentary SIKLIGAR, an inside look into the history of the original weapons makers of the Khalsa Army. The Sikligar community traces their origin to Guru Gobind Singh in the 18th century, but now have been long forgotten and marginalized in India. More information about the film — and the charitable foundation taking up their cause — is below, and a recent interview with Mandeep Sethi […]

Categories: Sikhism, TV/Movies • Tags: A Little Happiness Foundation, Guru Gobind Singh, Mandeep Sethi, SIKLIGAR

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Monthly Archives: December 2012

VA Sikhs challenge marriage discrimination

Sikh American ranked on Forbes’ “Top 30 Under 30 Finance”

Pew Forum discusses lack of available census data on Sikhs

The ironic invisibility of Sikhs

It may take a lawsuit for the NYPD to allow Sikhs to serve freely

IL South Asian community commemorates state anti-hate resolution

A fifth grader’s letter to the victims of Newtown, CT

Picture of the Day: Sikhs at Newtown, CT vigil

Mandeep Sethi film SIKLIGAR now available online