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Obama cites Oak Creek massacre in New Delhi speech, site of 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom

February 12, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While he didn’t visit the Sikh faith’s holiest site during his trip to India two weeks ago, President Obama did create a bit of a stir as he openly advocated for religious freedom and peaceful coexistence of faiths in India, citing in his speech the mass murder of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012: Obama said no society is immune from man’s darkest impulses, as he raised the 2012 shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin that killed six […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Ami Bera, Barack Obama, hate crimes, India, Narendra Modi, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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"1984: 29 Years On, Are We Any Better As A Nation?" (Source: India Resists)

Remembering the 1984 Sikh genocide

November 1, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Each year, the end of October is met with heavy hearts for Sikhs around the world, as we commemorate the organized genocide against Sikhs in Delhi and across India in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh shot the Indian Prime Minister dead in retaliation to her ordering of the attack on Sikhism’s central shrine, the Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) only six months before, which […]

Categories: 1984 • Tags: anti-Sikh progroms, anti-Sikh riots, Beant Singh, Delhi, Harmandir Sahib, India, Indira Gandhi, New Delhi, Satwant Singh, Sikh genocide

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"The Hindustan Times Newspaper Published on 15th August,1947." (Source: The Allrounder)

Independence and Partition: clear words, unclear legacy

August 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Coinciding with independence celebrations in Pakistan and India on August 14 and 15 respectively, an article in The New York Times features the 1947 Partition Archive, a project based in Berkeley, California, led by Guneeta Bhalla. The two-year-old project is creating an oral history archive of personal stories from survivors of the religion-based partition of Punjab and Bengal in 1947 that created the nation-states of Pakistan and India, and later, Bangladesh: …its dozens of volunteers have video-recorded 647 oral histories […]

Categories: Events, Reflections • Tags: 1947, 1947 Partition Archive, Guneeta Singh Bhalla, India, New York Times, Oral history, Pakistan, Partition of India

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A graphic by the National Sikh Youth Federation in the United Kingdom describes the initiating events during the Indian government's attack on Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) in June 1984, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. (Source: NSYF)

Remembering June, 1984

June 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The year 1984 is forever etched into the Sikh psyche after it was added to the long list of atrocities against the Sikh people by rulers of their land. During the first week of June of that year, the Indian Government launched “Operation Blue Star“, an attack on the center of the Sikh faith in Amritsar, India, and invasions of numerous other Gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship) across Punjab and India, under the pretext of neutralizing militants that had taken […]

Categories: 1984 • Tags: Amritsar, Darbar Sahib, Golden Temple, Gunisha Kaur, Guru Arjan, Guru Arjun, India, Indian Army, National Sikh Youth Federation, NSYF, Operation Blue Star, Punjab, Simran Jeet Singh

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"Nazar Kooner addresses the gathering at the Sikh temple on South P Street with Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall and sister-city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora of Amritsar to his left earlier this month in Bakersfield." (source: Bakersfield Californian)

Mayor of Amritsar is impressed with Bakersfield, California

April 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In August 2011, the city of Bakersfield, California, announced a “sister-city” association with Amritsar, Punjab, India, the center of the Sikh faith and home to Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s central Gurdwara). Recently, the Mayor of Amritsar visited Bakersfield, an unassuming city 100 miles north of Los Angeles that contains a large Sikh population and is economically based on the agricultural industry: Amritsar, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora told the Hindustan Times, is a far cry from the squeaky […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Amritsar, Bakersfield, Bakshi Ram Arora, California, Darbar Sahib, Harmandir Sahib, Harvey Hall, India, Nazar Kooner, sister-city

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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

"What is he panning for? A man cleans a huge pan to prepare a non-alcoholic drink during celebrations of Hola Mohalla festival at Anandpur Sahib, India. The Hola Mohalla festival is celebrated during the Hindu religious festival of Holi, marking the congregation of Sikh devotees from all over the country. Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters" (source: The Guardian)

Picture of the Day: Happy Hola Mohalla 2013!

March 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

This week, Sikhs are celebrating Hola Mohalla, a three-day festival on the Sikh calendar that coincides with the Hindu celebration of Holi. Began in 1701 by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, this celebration is an exhibition of the martial tradition in the Sikh faith. The main festival takes place at Anandpur Sahib in India.

Categories: Events, Picture of the Day, Sikhism • Tags: Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh, Hola Mohalla, India

Still from film "Who killed Bobby Rai?" by Naujawani.com

The “I Pledge Orange” movement, one year on

March 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

This week marks one year since the “I Pledge Orange” movement took hold of the minds and hearts of Sikhs around the world inspired by one Balwant Singh Rajoana, a man on India’s death row who was scheduled to be executed on March 31, 2012, in Punjab, India. Balwant Singh was charged for participating in the 1995 assassination of Punjab’s then-Chief Minister, the tyrannical Beant Singh. After the protests in Punjab and around the world, Balwant Singh’s execution was stayed. […]

Categories: 1984, TV/Movies • Tags: Balwant Singh Rajoana, Beant Singh, Harwinder Singh Mander, I Pledge Orange, India, Naujawani.com, Punjab, Who Killed Bobby Rai?

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: India

Obama cites Oak Creek massacre in New Delhi speech, site of 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom

Remembering the 1984 Sikh genocide

Independence and Partition: clear words, unclear legacy

Remembering June, 1984

Mayor of Amritsar is impressed with Bakersfield, California

“Free Bhullar” protests scheduled tomorrow in SF and NY

One year later, another Sikh faces execution in India

Picture of the Day: Happy Hola Mohalla 2013!

The “I Pledge Orange” movement, one year on