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US Army soldier Kamaljeet Singh awarded Bronze Star

December 7, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

From the Sikh Coalition, we learn that Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi (who, last year, along with Tejdeep Singh Rattan successfully gained exemptions to serve in the US Army with their articles of faith intact), has been awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan: In support of the award, an official recommendation from Major Kalsi’s superiors cites his resuscitation back to life of two patients who were clinically dead on arrival; his “expert” emergency care of over 750 soldiers and […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Bronze Star Medal, Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, Tejdeep Singh Rattan, United States, US Army

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Sikh stabbed in Fresno, CA: Can hate crimes be like trees in a forest?

December 6, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Sunday night, a 56-year-old Sikh man was stabbed at the Yosemite International Airport in Fresno, California: Fresno police said Mitchell Dufur, 26, stabbed the Sikh man in his 50s in the upper torso Sunday evening near the security checkpoint. No words were exchanged before the attack. The man was standing with his translator when the attack occurred. It is unclear whether this attack on the Sikh man occurred before or after the TSA security checkpoint.  The victim was treated […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: California, Fresno, hate crime, Mitchell Dufur, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Yosemite International Airport

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California’s early Sikh immigrants and the beginnings of the drug war

December 2, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Via Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Beast, we learn that those opposed to the emerging and growing use of marijuana at the turn of the 20th century in America used the Sikh immigrants to California in 1910 as their earliest scapegoats: In a remarkable letter to [architect of US narcotics policy Hamilton Wright], dated July 2, 1911, [California Board of Pharmacy member Henry Finger] urged that the Conference take up the cannabis issue: “Within the last year we in California […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Immigration, marijuana, Sikh diaspora

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Bollywood movie “I Am Singh” opens tomorrow

December 1, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Opening tomorrow, “I Am Singh” is a Bollywood film that is based on the discrimination that Sikhs faced in the United States after 9/11: 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 is seriously injured and his other brother is […]

Categories: TV/Movies • Tags: 9/11, Bollywood, I Am Singh

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The impact of 1907’s Bellingham Riots on civil rights today

November 30, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) recently posted to their website a documentary entitled “Present In All That We Do“, that discusses the Bellingham Riots and the impact today of those attacks on migrant Sikh and Indian laborers in Washington State in 1907: Present in All That We Do (2007) is a 58 minute-long documentary that connects the 1907 “Anti-Hindu” riot in Bellingham, Washington to contemporary struggles for immigrant rights in Whatcom County. Written by Andrew Hedden and Ian […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Resources • Tags: "Washington, Bellingham, Bellingham riots, Present In All That We Do, SAADA, South Asian American Digital Archive

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A response and retort to “Jain Dharma Goes Beyond Religion” on the Huffington Post

November 29, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Pankaj Jain, on the Huffington Post, wrote recently about the difference between the faiths he categorizes as the “dharma” traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) and the Abrahamic “religions” – particularly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Unfortunately, the way in which Jain compares the two categories is problematic, and in the process, the article misrepresents Sikhism. For a discussion on what “dharma” means in the Sikh context, see a recent post put up for discussion at sikhchic.com. Below, I will extract […]

Categories: Interfaith, Sikhism • Tags: Buddhism, Christianity, Huffington Post, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Pankaj Jain, Sikh, Sikhism

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Undeniable proof that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is Indian

November 28, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. From the pages of FITSNews: Her family business – where she claimed to have “learned the value of a dollar” – was penalized three times over six years for failing to pay its corporate income taxes on time (and failing to turn over taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks). The company – owned by Ajit and Haley’s mother Raj Randhawa – has also been late paying property taxes. Meanwhile, Haley and her husband repeatedly failed to […]

Categories: Humor, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Nikki Haley, South Carolina

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Rick Santorum endorses profiling and workplace religious freedom

November 23, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Rick Santorum is one of the candidates trying to secure the Republican nomination for the 2012 Presidential election.  His performance in last night’s debate on national security was largely unremarkable (if you go by post-debate media coverage), except for two statements he made.  One of those statements was to support racial profiling of Muslims: “Obviously Muslims would be someone you’d look at, absolutely,” Santorum said. “Those are the folks who … the radical Muslims are the people that are committing […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Herman Cain, Muslim, Racial profiling, Republican, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

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Guru Nanak, Muslims, and America

November 23, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I often reflect on the parallels between Sikh philosophy and that which inspired the founding of America. Dylan Kaplan writes in the Washington Post about his experience visiting a Gurdwara in Rockville, Maryland during celebrations for Guru Nanak’s birthday, and observes the same: How many countries in the world have a Sikh community that is so committed to bringing different people together that they would invite a Pakistani Muslim to speak on their most religious holiday? The founding fathers would […]

Categories: News Bits, Reflections, Sikhism • Tags: Bhai Bala, Bhai Mardana, Dylan Kaplan, Guru Nanak, Maryland, Muslim, Rockville

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