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Author Archives: Rupinder Mohan Singh

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More than just ethnic bigotry: Sikh articles of faith and women

September 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Much has been written recently about the case of Ohio college student Balpreet Kaur. When her photo was surreptitiously taken and posted to the website Reddit as an object of mockery, her response to this demonstrated so much grace and eloquence, that she instead became an inspiration to many — so much so that even the person who originally posted the photo apologized. Balpreet Kaur is an inspiration, and her situation provides a learning for many of us Sikhs and […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Balpreet Kaur, beauty, Facial hair, Inderpal Kaur, Reddit, Turban, uncut hair, Women in Sikhism

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NBC Bay Area news footage of the Sikh Coalition's 5K for the 5Ks fundraising event on Saturday, September 22, 2012 (source: NBC Bay Area)

Thoughts on attending the Sikh Coalition’s “5K for the 5Ks” event

September 25, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last Saturday, I was in the Bay Area to attend the Sikh Coalition’s “5K for the 5Ks” fundraising event in Sunnyvale, California. It was a very enjoyable event, and I was happy to meet in person many people I’ve seen online or in other forums. It was friendly atmosphere among the participants and organizers. I was particularly taken by the display of the variety of talent in our community during the event. Many thanks to the Sikh Coalition, their staff, […]

Categories: Art, Events, Reflections • Tags: 5K for the 5Ks, California, Chardi Kalakari, Kalakari Collective, Sikh Coalition, Sunnyvale

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Jakara Movement launches Sikhiya – graduate/professional school application service

September 25, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Jakara Movement, a grassroots Sikh youth organization (and the one behind the Sikholars Sikh Graduate Student Conference), has launched a free graduate and professional school application counseling service, called Sikhiya, to encourage the growth of the Sikh academic community by leveraging the experience of successful applicants to help those who are in the application process for admittance to graduate/professional school programs. As described on The Langar Hall: …the Jakara Movement is proud to announce the creation of Sikhiya, a free […]

Categories: Resources • Tags: Academia, Education, Jakara Movement, Sikhiya

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Is the US becoming more hostile with respect to religion?

September 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Released this week, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s 2010 update of its Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion report ranks religious restrictions and “social hostility” involving religion among countries around the globe: Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Burma (Myanmar), Iran, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria stand out as having the most restrictions on religion as of mid-2010 when government restrictions and social hostilities both are taken into account. Brazil, Japan, Italy, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reports/Studies • Tags: California, New York, Pew Research Center, Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

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Harpeet Singh Saini testifies at a US Senate hearing about the mass shooting that took his mother during the 2012 Oak Creek Gurdwara mass shooting in Wisconsin. Photo: C-SPAN

Thoughts on the US Senate hearing on hate violence

September 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Wednesday, as many had, I watched the webcast of the US Senate hearing “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” in which testimony was given by various government agencies and representatives of points of view in relation to hate violence. Among those providing testimony was Harpreet Singh Saini, one of the sons (his brother Kamaljit Singh Saini was also in attendance) of victim Paramjit Kaur, who was killed in the shooting rampage at the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Daryl Johnson, Dick Durbin, extremism, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Harpreet Singh Saini, hate crimes, Hate Crimes & the Threat of Domestic Extremism, Herb Kohl, Kamaljit Singh Saini, Oak Creek, Paramjit Kaur, Richard Blumenthal, Wisconsin

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Emigration to apostasy

September 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Harjant Gill, filmmaker behind the documentary Roots of Love, talks about the role that emigration has played in Sikh men proactively abandoning articles of faith — such as the turban and uncut hair — before leaving India: Migration is a significant factor in the process of Sikh self-fashioning. Harjant notes, “…the idea of what it means to be a successful man in Punjab today frequently entails migrating abroad and becoming transnational/diasporic citizens. So many of these guys I spoke to […]

Categories: TV/Movies • Tags: emigration, Harjant Gill, Roots of Love, Sikh diaspora

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Busy upcoming weekend for California’s Sikhs

September 20, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

This weekend will be a busy one for California’s Sikhs, with a variety of events from Saturday through Sunday. Sikhs celebrate a century in the United States Stockton, California, September 22-23 As previously mentioned, the Stockton Gurdwara in Stockton, California will celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of the Gurdwara — considered the oldest in America — with a conference on Saturday, September 22, entitled “The Sikh Journey to America“, at the Spanos Concert Hall at the University of […]

Categories: Events, TV/Movies • Tags: 3rd i, 5K for the 5Ks, Article of Faith, California, Roots of Love, San Francisco, San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival, Sikh Centennial, Sikh Coalition, Sikh I Am, Sikh Voices, Siklidar, Stockton, Sunnyvale

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California’s Workplace Religion Freedom Act rights the wrongs faced by our parents

September 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

When my Sikh father immigrated to America in 1970 to practice architecture, employers told him that he could have a job only if he removed his turban and shaved his beard. He refused to abandon his faith and took his first job as an office boy, sharpening pencils and making coffee for his fellow architects. For decades, Sikh fathers like mine and countless religious minorities around the nation have been offered a similarly false choice between religious freedom and self-fulfillment […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reflections • Tags: AB1964, California, National Public Radio, NPR, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, StoryCorps, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

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UPDATE: US Senate hate crime hearing tomorrow

September 18, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding their hearing “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” in Washington, D.C. (note room change): The hearing entitled “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” scheduled before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 2:30 p.m., in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building will now take place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Harpreet Singh Saini, Hate Crimes & the Threat of Domestic Extremism, hearing, Oak Creek, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Civil Rights and Human Rights, Wisconsin

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