Rupinder Mohan Singh |

Celebrating Guru Gobind Singh, the Singh of Singhs

January 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Mystic, poet, warrior, polymath Guru Gobind Singh was truly a Renaissance man, a man nonpareil. — On the Huffington Post, Ravinder Singh Taneja reflects on the amazing life and legacy of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth (and last in human form) Guru of the Sikhs. Sikhs around the world are celebrating his birth on this day in 1666. The impact of Guru Gobind Singh on Sikhs and Sikhism cannot be overestimated. Happy Gurpurab!

Categories: Events • Tags: Guru Gobind Singh

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The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2011

January 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Happy New Year! As I did last year around this time, I’d like to reflect on what were some of the bigger stories for Sikhs living in America during this past year in terms of their implications on us as a community, or their impact on our collective psyche. It was an up-and-down year for Sikhs. For many, it was a year that reminded our visible minority of the hate crimes and 9/11 backlash that apparently still continue to plague […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Amardeep Singh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Fauja Singh, Gurmej Atwal, Jan Brewer, Kamal Nath, New York, Rana Singh Sodhi, Ravinder Singh Bhalla, Sikhs for Justice, Surinder Singh, Top 5 Sikh American Stories

Who are Rick Santorum’s “God’s people”?

January 4, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

This is not a political blog per se, and not to pick on Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (since I’ve mentioned him before), but in his speech after the Iowa Caucus results last night, he made the following comment: God has given us this great country to allow His people — to allow His people to be free, has given us that dignity because we are a creation of His, and we need to honor that creation. And whether it’s […]

Categories: Politics • Tags: Iowa Caucus, Iowa caucuses, Republican, Rick Santorum

Culture, Law and the unfulfilled American promise

December 22, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Rajdeep Singh, of the Sikh Coalition, writes in the New York Times: Sikh Americans, in particular, continue to face relentless challenges in the post-9/11 environment. Worse still, American law affords inadequate protection to Sikhs against religious discrimination and, in some cases, reflects deep-seated stereotypes about American identity. For Sikhs, it is indeed a two-fold challenge: there are both cultural and legal hurdles that we face in this country that prevents Sikhs from experiencing full equality. These hurdles are not in […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: freedom of religion, Rajdeep Singh, Religious discrimination

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Experiencing Guru Nanak

December 20, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last week, I sat on a panel discussion at an interfaith seminary in Berkeley, California, in front of a class of chaplaincy students where we discussed interfaith work at the ground level and the implications of that work. I participated on this panel on behalf of the Sikh Coalition as a representative of the Sikh faith. Four other panel members represented various Christian traditions and interfaith organizations. I had gone to this event with the hopes to educate the class […]

Categories: Interfaith, Reflections • Tags: Guru Nanak, interfaith, Sikh Coalition

A review of Puneet Issar’s “I am Singh”

December 12, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At a local theater this past weekend, I took the opportunity to watch “I Am Singh“, a Bollywood movie that was written and directed by Puneet Issar. According to the movie’s website: This story is about a young Sikh named Ranveer Singh, a young, confident man settled in India. Ranveer’s elder brothers are citizens of America. Ranveer’s life takes a turn when he receives a call and he comes to know that one of his brothers is dead, his father […]

Categories: TV/Movies • Tags: Bollywood, I Am Singh, Puneet Issar, Sikh-face

Fresno, CA airport Sikh stabbing victim identified

December 9, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The organization UNITED SIKHS provides an update on the identity of the Sikh who was stabbed at the airport in Fresno, California last Sunday as 56-year-0ld Anup Singh, a preacher who resides in the United Kingdom. They also report the description of the attack by an eyewitness: UNITED SIKHS team spoke to a Fresno resident Bakhtawar Singh, an eyewitness to this fearsome incident who had gone to drop the victim, Anup Singh. Bhaktawar Singh said, “This young man came forward […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: Anup Singh, CAIR, Council of American-Islamic Relations, Fresno, hate crime, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, United Sikhs

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According to Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends”, the Sikhs of Stockton, CA are killing Christmas

December 8, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The hosts of Fox News Channel’s nationally-airing morning program, Fox & Friends, went on a diatribe about the policy of a school in Stockton, California to maintain a non-denominational holiday celebration within its classrooms. One of the hosts, Gretchen Carlson, went on an especially disdainful rant and cited the presence of Stockton’s Gurdwara and Sikh population, the oldest in America, as the reason why the Christian aspect of the season was being downplayed by the school. From News Hounds: Reading […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, News Bits, TV/Movies • Tags: California, Fox & Friends, Fox News Channel, Gretchen Carlson, Stockton

The FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics database tells us that there are hate crimes

December 8, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Recently, the FBI released its Hate Crime Statistics, 2010 report, and provided an overview: Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released Hate Crime Statistics, 2010, based on information submitted by law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation. These data indicate that 6,628 criminal incidents involving 7,699 offenses were reported in 2010 as a result of bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability. Of the religion-based incidents reported in its data, almost two-thirds of […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reports/Studies, Resources • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crime, Hate Crime Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Author Archives: Rupinder Mohan Singh

Celebrating Guru Gobind Singh, the Singh of Singhs

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2011

Who are Rick Santorum’s “God’s people”?

Culture, Law and the unfulfilled American promise

Experiencing Guru Nanak

A review of Puneet Issar’s “I am Singh”

Fresno, CA airport Sikh stabbing victim identified

According to Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends”, the Sikhs of Stockton, CA are killing Christmas

The FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics database tells us that there are hate crimes