News Bits | | Page 9

CA Workplace Religious Freedom bill passes second committee

April 25, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The campaign to pass the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (AB1964) in the State of California cleared another milestone yesterday when it was unanimously approved by the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee. From the Sikh Coalition: April 25, 2012 (Fremont, California) – Less than a week after receiving unanimous support in the Labor Committee in the California Assembly, the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (AB1964) again received unanimous support and passed through the Judiciary Committee. The bill now moves forward to the […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits, Politics • Tags: AB1964, California, California State Assembly, Employment Discrimination, Judiciary Committee, Sikh Coalition, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Leave a comment

Two Sikh Americans among recipients of 2012 Soros Fellowship

April 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Two Sikh Americans, Jasmeet Ahuja and Sahil Singh Gujral, were among thirty individuals recently awarded the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans for 2012: This fellowship program honors the American immigrant tradition. It has, since 1998, provided 30 fellowships annually to New Americans – naturalized citizens or “green card” holders, or children of naturalized citizens. There are now 445 New Americans who are Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows. Many […]

Categories: News Bits, Profiles • Tags: Jasmeet Ahuja, Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, Sahil Singh Gujral

Leave a comment

Kentucky to get its first Gurdwara

April 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The state of Kentucky is not known for its Sikh population, but it will see its first Gurdwara opened by the Sikh Society of Kentucky on Saturday in the Louisville area: The temple is in the renovated, former Van Buren Baptist Church building at 198 Thompson Ave., near Mellwood Avenue. A 2006 plan for condos fell through at the site, and the society bought the property for $125,000 in October. Congratulations to the local sangat (congregation) on their new Gurdwara!

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Clifton Heights, Gurdwara, Kentucky, Louisville, Sikh Society of Kentucky

Leave a comment

Hamden, CT to get new Gurdwara

April 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“We welcome the Sikh community to Hamden,” said [Hamden Planning and Zoning] commission chairman Ann Altman. As reported on the Hamden Patch, the town of Hamden, Connecticut (which interestingly describes itself as the “Land of the Sleeping Giant”) will soon be the home to a new Gurdwara: The [Sikh] community has about 40 members, [Attorney Bernard] Pelligrino told the commission, and there is ample parking on the site… …”The Sikhs are an active community and we think they will bring a benefit to the town of Hamden,” […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Connecticut, Gurdwara, Hamden

Leave a comment

Ironic Headline of the Day

April 9, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

From the Springfield News-Sun in Ohio: “Misunderstood Middle Eastern group in spotlight Springfield resident will speak about the culture of Sikh families.” The full story is an announcement of an education session about Sikhs and Sikhism this Thursday at Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio. My guess is that whoever wrote the headline, didn’t read the article.

Categories: Events, News Bits • Tags: Ohio, Springfield, Springfield News-Sun, Wittenburg University

Leave a comment

Sikh Coalition speaks on Rajoana protests

April 6, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Twenty years ago, the Sikh Coalition did not exist, many of our supporters were not yet born, and an even larger portion is too young to remember that part of our history. Yet it was the most formative set of events for an entire generation of Sikhs. During that dark period, our community’s history was marked by extra-judicial executions, faked police encounters, disappearances, and torture. — Excerpt from the Sikh Coalition’s Lessons of History and a Responsibility to Never Forget […]

Categories: 1984, News Bits • Tags: Balwant Singh Rajoana, Sikh Coalition, United States

Leave a comment

Ridiculous Question of the Day: Does Nikki Haley give Sikh cab drivers bigger tips?

April 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

One wonders if TIME reporter Belinda Luscombe would ask such a question to a Christian politician about Christian cab drivers as she did to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley: “In New York City, which you’re visiting for a couple of days, a lot of our taxi drivers are Sikhs,” Luscombe observed. “If you get one, are you going to give them a slightly bigger tip?” Haley nervously laughed, and shot down whether she would give special treatment to people of […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Belinda Luscombe, New York City, Nikki Haley, South Carolina, taxicab

Leave a comment

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, on converting to Christianity

April 3, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last night, my family gathered around the television to watch Nikki Haley be interviewed by Stephen Colbert (click for full interview) on The Colbert Report. The Governor of South Carolina has been doing a book tour to promote her memoir Can’t Is Not an Option, and has been appearing on many talk shows in New York. As she comes from an immigrant Sikh family, many American Sikhs have a curiosity around Haley (she has been written about on this blog […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Christianity, Colbert Report, New York Times, Nikki Haley, South Carolina, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

Leave a comment

AutoZone, Inc. settles for $75,000 in Sikh discrimination case

April 2, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

You may recall the case of automobile parts manufacturer AutoZone, who was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for employment discrimination directed towards Frank MahoneyBurroughs, a recent convert to Sikhism: According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts in Boston (Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-11648), AutoZone managers at its Everett, Mass., location harassed MahoneyBurroughs by disparaging his religion, asking if he had joined Al-Qaeda and whether he was a terrorist. AutoZone also […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: AutoZone, EEOC, Employment Discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Frank MahoneyBurroughs, Massachusetts

Leave a comment

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: News Bits

CA Workplace Religious Freedom bill passes second committee

Two Sikh Americans among recipients of 2012 Soros Fellowship

Kentucky to get its first Gurdwara

Hamden, CT to get new Gurdwara

Ironic Headline of the Day

Sikh Coalition speaks on Rajoana protests

Ridiculous Question of the Day: Does Nikki Haley give Sikh cab drivers bigger tips?

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, on converting to Christianity

AutoZone, Inc. settles for $75,000 in Sikh discrimination case