Politics | American Turban

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: Reuters | DNA India)

Rajdeep Singh: address human rights during Indian PM’s US visit

September 26, 2014 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United States, Rajdeep Singh of the Sikh Coalition provides some perspective on the controversial figure who until recently was even denied a travel visa to enter the country: In 2002, while Modi served as Chief Minister of Gujarat, over a thousand Muslims were massacred in retaliation for the deaths of 59 Hindu pilgrims, who burned to death when a train they were traveling in caught fire. Muslims were […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: 2002 Gujarat violence, Narendra Modi, Rajdeep Singh

Amardeep Kaleka, son of WI Gurdwara shooting victim, explores run for Congress

October 31, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Amardeep Kaleka, son of Sikh Temple of Wisconsin President Satwant Singh Kaleka who was killed by a white supremacist during last year’s mass shooting in Oak Creek, has announced that he is planning a run for US Congress as a Democrat, hoping to challenge his district’s incumbent Representative Paul Ryan (who also was Republican Mitt Romney’s running mate during the Presidential election last year): Kaleka said he wants to bring accountability and transparency back to Washington. He blamed the government […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Amardeep Kaleka, Democratic Party, Milwaukee, Mitt Romney, Oak Creek, Paul Ryan, Rob Zerban, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, US Congress, Wisconsin

"Harshaan Ahluwalia, 2, dribbles a soccer ball during a friendly soccer match in solidarity with young players who wear turbans Saturday, June 15, 2013 in Montreal. Quebec's soccer federation announced it is ending its much-criticized turban ban Saturday." (Photo credit: Paul Chiasson | THE CANADIAN PRESS. Source: The Globe and Mail.)

The secularism-religious freedom divide

August 20, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

To the north, Canada’s province of Quebec is seeking to prohibit religious symbols such as the wearing of the turban, yarmulke or headscarf by public employees in a political maneuver believed to be veiled in secularism. The move by Quebec’s provincial government follows in the footsteps of the Quebec Soccer Federation, who earlier this summer attempted to ban the wearing of the turban in amateur soccer in the province (the ban was lifted after national and international criticism and objection). […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Interfaith, Politics • Tags: Canada, freedom of religion, Immanent Frame, Kathleen Skerrett, Multiculturalism, Quebec, Religious symbolism, Secularism, soccer, Turban

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill lay a wreath at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi on July 23. Gandhi's granddaughter, Tara Gandhi, is at right. (Source: Deccan Chronicle)

The Veep visits India

July 24, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

As Vice President Joe Biden visits India this week, I was reminded of President Barack Obama’s visit to India in late 2010, in which he avoided visiting the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, Punjab, a site which reportedly draws up to a hundred thousand of visitors per day, not including Presidents of the United States. For a well-known location which has such appeal to Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike and to residents of and visitors to India, it was noteworthy that […]

Categories: 1984, Politics • Tags: 1984, 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Amritsar, anti-Sikh pogroms, Barack Obama, Darbar Sahib, drug trade, drugs, Golden Temple, Harmandir Sahib, Joe Biden, Mahatma Gandhi, November 1984, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, USCIRF, Vice President of the United States

House Rep. Bera seeks CA Hall of Fame for Dalip Singh Saund

June 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In May, US House Representative Mark Takano of California honored Dalip Singh Saund in the House Chamber as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Dalip Singh held the same seat from 1957 to 1963 as the first Asian American, Indian American and Sikh American House Representative in the United States. Yesterday, during a speech in the House Chamber, Representative Ami Bera, an Indian American, called on California Governor Jerry Brown to induct Dalip Singh into the California Hall of […]

Categories: Politics • Tags: Ami Bera, California Hall of Fame, Dalip Singh Saund, Jerry Brown, Mark Takano, United States House of Representatives

What the President said, and didn’t say, about the Oak Creek, WI, shooting

May 23, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In his speech today about the US government’s counter-terrorism activities and strategy, President Barack Obama made reference to home-grown radicalized “individuals”, citing explicitly the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek last August: Finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States. Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin; a plane flying into a building in Texas; or the extremists who killed 168 people at the Federal Building […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Barack Obama, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Terrorism, White supremacy, Wisconsin

Honoring Dalip Singh Saund

May 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On May 16, US House Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) commemorated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by honoring one of his predecessors, Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American (and only Sikh) to serve in US Congress (1957-1963): Congressman Saund was the first Asian American Member of Congress, the very first Member of a non-Abrahamic faith, and the first Member born in Asia. He was also our first Sikh American to enter Congress. He also represented my hometown of Riverside, California, […]

Categories: Events, Politics • Tags: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Dalip Singh Saund, Mark Takano, United States House of Representatives, US Congress

In a process that took 30 years, Sajjan Kumar, a leader in India's Congress Party, was recently acquitted in the case implicating his involvement in the anti-Sikh pogroms in 1984. Five co-accused were convicted.(source: Live Mint)

The Indian Disconnect

May 21, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

About two months ago, I observed the continuing engagement by representatives of the Indian government with the Sikh American community, which in that instance took the form of an exhibition on Sikh heritage in Atlanta, Georgia, sponsored by the Government of India. This exhibit has just recently been presented in Washington, D.C., as well, and it is consistent with increased engagement and activity related to the Sikh American community — be it directly, or through lobbying of US officials — […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: 1984, 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Government of India, November 1984, Sajjan Kumar

"South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley enters the State House chamber in Columbia to give her State of the State address in January. Democrat Dick Harpootlian has told activists to “send Nikki Haley back to wherever the hell she came from.” (Mary Ann Chastain/AP)" (source: The Daily Beast)

SC Democratic Party: Nikki Haley should “go back to wherever the hell she came from.”

May 6, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Friday, at a state Democratic Party event in South Carolina, party chairman Dick Harpootlian used interesting words to describe Governor Nikki Haley’s origins: “In about 18 months from now, hopefully he’ll have sent Nikki Haley back to wherever the hell she came from.” Nikki Haley, who has been discussed often on this blog, comes from a Sikh American family and later converted to Methodist Christianity. During her campaign for the governor’s seat, she regularly touted her Christian credentials. Despite […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Dick Harpootlian, Nikki Haley, Sikh Jesus, South Carolina, South Carolina Democratic Party

American Turban

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Politics