A HOMAGE TO ISHMEET SINGH from World Sikh News

From World Sikh News

IDOL TURNED IDEAL TURNED ICON ISHMEET SINGH IS NO MORE

VOICE OF INDIA
BELOVED ICON OF SIKH YOUTH
ISHMEET SINGH
IS NO MORE

A HOMAGE BY THE WORLD SIKH NEWS

When he would sing a lilting lyric, he made many cry; next he would hit a happy note with a chirpy song and the audience would dance in a frenzy.

Hope and icon of the Sikh youth, Ishmeet Singh, VOICE OF ALL OF US, is no more.

Ishmeet Singh (20) drowned in a swimming pool at a resort in Maldives at around 2000 hours Indian time. He had gone to Maldives to take part in a concert. Gurprinder Singh Sodhi, father of Ishmeet, who shot to fame by winning the Star India TV Voice of India contest in November last year, said at their home in Ludhiana that the event management company, which took his son to the Maldives, informed him at around 8 pm that the singer died due to drowning in the swimming pool of the hotel where he was staying.

An honour, and the queer feeling!

Only months ago, Ishmeet Singh was honoured by ghazal samrat Jagjeet Singh and his wife Chitra with an award in memory of their deceased son who had passed away in an accident. It was difficult not to cry. And just months later, Ishmeet has also left us all. It is heartless to tell someone not to cry.


Ishmeet was a student of B.Com second year at the MNC college in Mumbai. His father said he had no idea whether his son knew swimming. He said Ishmeet had left Ludhiana on Monday for Chandigarh from where he went to Mumbai on way to the Maldives.

The news of Ishmeet Singh's death left the world, his millions of fans, South Asia's TV audience and the diaspora which followed his progress song after song, week after week, shell shocked.

The Sikh community had celebrated worldwide his achievement at becoming VOICE OF INDIA through a popular TV contest where millions kept faith him, his voice and his loving and polite personality, voting for him all the way right to the top last year.

None other than the planet's goddess of singing, Lata Mangeshkar, had blessed Ishmeet Singh. Since then, Ishmeet Singh had been in demand and even months after the show ended, TV channels would keep pulling him in one or the other program to boost their audience figures.

Forever shall Ishmeet Singh be known as the man who made being a turbaned Sikh the trendiest hairstyle statement, inspiring many Sikh young men and women to follow the ways of the Guru and keep unshorn hair. Being turbaned became synonymous with being beautiful and smart.

Perhaps Ishmeet Singh was always closer to God. The day he won the biggest contest on Indian TV in November 2007 was also the day of the Guru. It was Guru Nanak Dev Ji's gurpurab.

Ludhiana, from whose noisy and industrial lanes Ishmeet Singh had risen to become the brightest of the stars on Indian glamour horizon went into a total shock.

Sikhs who had celebrated the event from California to Calgary to Christchurch to Chandigarh were frantically calling to confirm whether the sad news was indeed true.

Ishmeet Singh was honoured by Sikhs worldwide, by even the highest of the high Sri Akal Takht.

Forever shall the Sikh community remain indebted to this young man who made us all feel proud of our identity.

At the World Sikh News, we pay homage to Sardar Ishmeet Singh, and pray to Akal Purakh in this hour of grief to give his family and friends and fans the strength to cope with the immense loss.

29 July, 2008

Sikh News Update - Victory and Great Sadness

It is hard to believe that two such different stories could be breaking at the same time.

First, the tragedy.

Ishmeet Singh is dead. Our strong, handsome young lion prince drowned in the swimming pool at his hotel in the Maldives. Here is the latest, as I write from the online magazine from Maldives, The Furaavaru:

LATEST UPDATE 23:20 Maldives Time

An exclisive interview given by the Assistant Manager to TheFuraavaru.com Stated that Ismeeth and his coluge friends whom any one dosent know how to swim and was given a baby pool for them to enjoy. Also was requested not to go to Adult pool which was very deep, but ismeeth went to the adult pool. As a result an unconssisous incidence was happed and his friend reported to the resort managment. Said Robert the A.Manager of Chaayaa dhonveli to TheFuraavaru.

"We understand that he did not know how to swim and had been advised by his friends not to get to the deep end," a hotel official said to

Stay tune with us. TheFuraavaru reporter is covering is reporting us live from ADK where ismeeths dead body was kept for further investigations. His coluges are still in a deep shock and they are inside the room with ismeeths body.

We are trying to get the pictures of the resort. We will upload the pictures from the hospital as soon as possible

After that, I suppose none of us really feel like celebrating, but we did win a large victory today.

Sarika Singh has won her case. She was the young lady in Wales who refused to remove her kara in compliance with her school's dress code. Here is what I just read in The Langar Hall:

Moments ago, the BBC reported that the UK's High Court affirmed her case, stating that the dress code unfairly burdened Singh's freedom of religious expression. Both advocates and the court expressed frustration with the school, stating that the issue had been clearly defined in U.K. statutes and case law for over 20 years. This judgment opens the door for students of all religious backgrounds; in addition to the banning of the kara, other UK (private) schools have moved to ban the crucifix, the hijab, and the yarmulke. Against this "confining" interpretation of secularism (an interpretation more common on the European continent), the UK courts have clarified the intent of the country's inclusionary and anti-discriminatory legal framework.

This comes from Times OnLine:

Sikh teenager Sarika Watkins-Singh wins right to wear bangle
Frances Gibb, Legal Editor

A Sikh teenager won a legal battle yesterday over her right to wear a bangle that she holds central to her faith.

Sarika Watkins-Singh, 14, had been excluded from school for breaking a “no jewellery” rule by wearing the bangle, known as the kara.

But the ruling by a judge in the High Court means that she can return to Aberdare Girls' School in South Wales in September wearing the kara, a slim steel bracelet.

Her lawyers told Mr Justice Silber that wearing the kara was “extremely important”, just as it is to Monty Panesar, the England spin bowler, who has been pictured wearing the bangle.

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Yesterday the judge condemned the “seriously erroneous attitude” of the school, which had equated the wearing of the bangle to displaying the Welsh flag - ignoring its religious importance.

However, Martin Ward, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that he was disappointed.

“The school had offered the student reasonable alternatives to accommodate her religious beliefs, such as wearing the bangle, but not so that it was on display, and it is frustrating that the courts did not find this acceptable.”

The ruling appears to run contrary to recent rulings that give schools discretion on religious dress or items of jewellery. However, it is in line with a 25-year-old law lords ruling allowing Sikh children to wear faith items, such as turbans, to school.

Jack Rabinowitz, a lawyer and expert in education law, said: “We have had a House of Lords ruling in favour of a school that would not allow a girl to wear the full Muslim veil and also a ruling in which a girl lost her case against being banned from wearing a chastity ring.

“The House of Lords said that schools needed to have very clear guidelines but subject to that, there was no reason why they could not ban whatever they wanted to.” That ruling still stood, he added.

Mr Justice Silber made clear in a summary yesterday that the case was specific to its own facts and did not involve a wider issue of “whether the kara should be permitted to be worn in other schools”.

Sarika, from Cwmbach, near Aberdare, who is of mixed Welsh and Punjabi origin, was at first taught in isolation and was excluded eventually for refusing to remove the bangle, in defiance of the school's policy, which prohibits the wearing of any jewellery other than a wrist watch and plain ear studs.

The judge upheld her claim of indirect discrimination on grounds of race and religion and declared that the school had failed in its positive obligation to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations.

He said that there was “an enormous difference” between rulings allowing schools to ban the Muslim niqab (full veil) or jilbab (long coat-like garment) and the “unostentatious” and “very small” bangle.

After the judgment, Sarika's mother, Sinita, 38, said: “It is just such a relief.”

Sarika said: “I am overwhelmed by the outcome and it's marvellous to know that the long journey I've been on has finally come to an end.”

She added: “I just want to say that I am a proud Welsh and Punjabi Sikh girl.”

Anna Fairclough, legal officer of Liberty, who acted for the family, said: “This common-sense judgment makes clear you must have a very good reason before interfering with someone's religious freedom.

“Our great British traditions of religious tolerance and race equality have been rightly upheld today.”

After being permanently excluded last November, Sarika was enrolled at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, where she was allowed to wear the kara. The judge said that the Aberdare school had offered to take Sarika back.

The judge said the school's governing body accepted that the way it conducted the appeal was unfair. He refused the school permission to appeal, although it can still seek permission from the Court of Appeal.

The kara is one of the five Ks of Sikhism, the others being the kesh (uncut hair), the kanga (wooden comb), the kaccha (specially designed shorts) and the kirpan (sword).

The governors and head teacher of the Aberdare school said they would take time to consider the judgment. “The decision to defend this action was taken after careful consideration by all concerned, and in good faith. It was not taken lightly. We regret that this action became at all necessary.”

If Sarika wished to return, she would be offered help and support to reintegrate her.

Oh, yeah, I bet she'd really be welcomed back with open arms! *rolls eyes*

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WHY TRY TO FIT IN?
YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!