Category Archives: Civil Rights

On Monday, Sikhs in the United Kingdom demonstrated against the imminent execution of Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar in India.

“Free Bhullar” protests scheduled tomorrow in SF and NY

April 17, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Tomorrow, Sikhs in San Francisco and New York will be protesting outside the Indian consulate offices in each city at noon (local time) against India’s imminent execution of Professor Devender Pal Singh Bhullar . As mentioned on this blog last week, Professor Bhullar has been sentenced to death by hanging in India for a 1993 bombing even though the evidence convicting him and the judicial process thereof has been extremely questionable. Adding to the dubious nature of this case is that […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights • Tags: Capital punishment, Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, Devender Pal Singh Bullar, India, New York, protest, San Francisco

"End the Death Penalty" poster. (source: @jakaramovement)

One year later, another Sikh faces execution in India

April 12, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

About a year and half ago, the story of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar was shared on this blog. Devender Pal Singh, a university professor, has been on India’s death row after he was deemed guilty for a bombing in India in 1993 which took the lives of nine people. He was sentenced to death by hanging. However, the conviction was rife with inconsistencies and problems, the most notable of which was that Devender Pal Singh’s confession was based solely on […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights • Tags: Amnesty International, Balwant Singh Rajoana, Capital punishment, Devender Pal Singh, Devender Pal Singh Bullar, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, India

"Kirty Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Namit Satara plan an upcoming trip to Washington D.C. for members of the Sikh Junior Coalition." (credit: Jo Piazza | The Wall Street Journal)

Sikh Coalition program empowers Sikh youth to tackle challenges

April 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in The Wall Street Journal describes the Junior Sikh Coalition, a Sikh youth group in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area organized by the Sikh Coalition to develop leadership skills among young Sikhs and to take on issues such as school bullying: “When we were alone it was really hard,” said Rajan Kaur, a 17-year-old from Morristown, N.J. “But, when we are together we feel like we can accomplish anything.” When I was a young student, I was often […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Profiles • Tags: bullying, Connecticut, Gurwinder Singh, Junior Sikh Coalition, Kirty Singh, Namit Satara, New Jersey, New York, Rajan Kaur, Sikh Coalition, Wall Street Journal

Judge declares that VA wedding law discriminatory against Sikhs

April 2, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Late last year, four Sikhs from Virginia challenged a state law (Virginia Code 20-23) that would have required them each to pay a $500 bond to be authorized by the state to perform the Sikh wedding ceremony because they were not ordained ministers. The issue, of course, is that the Sikh faith (like several others) does not have formal clergy or ordained ministers, and thus the law was discriminating against members of the Sikh faith. The Virginia chapter of the […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, Anand Karaj, Sikh wedding, Virginia

Sikh Coalition Advocates in front of the White House, June 2012. (source: Sikh Coalition)

Become a Sikh civil rights advocate, apply by April 5, 2013

April 1, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh Coalition is inviting applications for its third annual Sikh Advocate Academy, an all-expenses paid training program held from June 16-22, 2013, in Washington, D.C.: Our objective is to train and cultivate a corps of dedicated volunteers who will enhance the Sikh American community’s fight for civil rights both locally and nationally. Through focused planning and execution, our goal over the next five years is to build a “trained and certified” corps of grassroots advocates who consistently support the […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Resources • Tags: Sikh Advocate Academy, Sikh Coalition

Questioning and defending freedom of religion

March 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A new book by University of Chicago Law School professor Brian Leiter entitled Why Tolerate Religion? questions the practice of establishing religious liberty as a right: For example, he says a boy might be permitted to carry a dagger to school as part of his Sikh religion, but the same dagger would not be allowed if it were part of a family tradition. Without having read Brian Leiter’s book (see a review by Robert Merrihew Adams here), it would be unfair […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Literature • Tags: Brian Leiter, freedom of religion, Oklahoma University, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, University of Chicago Law School

Kamaljit Saini, son of Oak Creek shooting victim Paramjit Kaur, is waiting for the FBI to release its full report into the attack. (source: Fox 6 Now)

Oak Creek, WI, victim families still waiting for answers from FBI

March 6, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In November of last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) closed its investigation into the Oak Creek, Wisconsin mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in which six innocent worshipers were murdered by a white supremacist. The FBI issued a one-page press release stating that there was “no evidence to suggest the attack was part of any ongoing threat to the Sikh community.” At the time, the FBI declined to provide additional information, and the victims’ families expressed […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Kamaljit Saini, Oak Creek, Paramjit Kaur, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Harleen Kaur shares about volunteering for nonprofit newspaper

February 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Harleen Kaur, a university student and activist, describes the challenges and learnings about volunteering in the office of the nonprofit newspaper Groundcover News: I have realized what a great effort and passion it takes to maintain such dedication. Even when the work is this difficult, I have never seen a hint of despair or a sense of wanting to give up. According to their website, Groundcover News, located in Michigan, is one of many publications that “exist in cities all […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Profiles, Reflections • Tags: Ann Arbor, Groundcover News, Harleen Kaur, Michigan, Street newspaper

Profiling the mentally ill in the gun violence debate

February 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Yesterday, in a speech delivered at a conference in Connecticut about gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden issued a challenge to Americans to take on the issue: “There’s a moral price to be paid for inaction,” he said. We have certainly seen significant debate around what action to take in addressing America’s gun violence epidemic. From universal background checks to regulation of video games, and from arming teachers to banning assault-style weapons, there are no shortage of proposals nor sides […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Adam Lanza, Anders Breivik, Aurora, Balbir Kaur Singh, Chris Dodd, Colorado, Concetta Falcone-Codding, Connecticut, Daryl Johnson, gun violence, hate crimes, Joe Biden, mental health, Michael Denzyl Smith, Motion Picture Association of America, Newtown, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Sikholars, Wade Michael Page, White supremacy, Wisconsin

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