A CALL TO ACTION

I have heard nothing of this either in the Canadian media (currently obsessed with the Olympics) or the American media (as always, obsessed with America).  I did find this collage of news stories on YouTube.



I am annoyed. Why has not some unilateral action been taken by the Sikhs? These shaheeds are our brothers, this is our fight. We are absolute idiots if we expect satisfaction either from the government of Pakistan or from our dear friends in the government of India.

Truthfully, I expect nothing of the Akal Takht or the SGPC, but where is Damdami Taksal and Hazoor Takht. They boast of their weapons and their Sikh spirit. They kill innocent goats for their "Tilak of Blood," but seem as unwilling as the rest of the Sikhs of the region to actually do anything.

Do I have to jump on my winged horse and fly to Punjab and rally the troops myself?! I certainly hope not, as I have no winged horse and with my partially paralysed vocal chords can hardly speak above a whisper. 

 Earlier, I wrote

 THE SIKHS ARE BACK!!!

I pray I am right.

As a lone individual with grave physical disabilities, there's little I can do myself. 


 
I ask my sisters and brothers to rise up as one to end this menace once and for all. Let us forget our differences and stand united against these earthly demons and handle the situation as our forefathers and foremothers would have.

We can always go back to our infighting after the battle is won.

First published in Sikh Philosophy Network. 

Wings courtesy of rubyblossom

THE SIKHS ARE BACK!!

"When your enemy has you flat on your back, his boot on your face, his knife at your throat and his gun cocked at your temple, you laugh at him.  "Ha!  You can kill me, but you can't defeat me."  That's chardi kala.  That's what it means to be a Sikh."

By now we have all heard about our Sikh brothers being beheaded by the taliban in Pakistan.  The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

Perhaps they will next start bricking up young children?

First published in Sikh Philosophy Network.

From this latest article it seems that they really could have saved their lives by converting. And they refused. Let's let the world know:
 

THE SIKHS ARE BACK!

Three Sikhs beheaded by Pak Taliban

Mon, Feb 22 06:08 AM

Three Sikh men were said to have been beheaded by Taliban groups in the FATA area of Pakistan and their heads sent to a gurudwara in Peshawar.

According to information available with India late this evening, one of the Sikhs has been identified as Jaspal Singh. He and his two friends were residents of Badi near Peshawar.

(Late tonight, a PTI report from Pakistan quoted sources as saying there was confusion on the exact numbers, that two men had been beheaded and others were being held hostage. It said the body of Jaspal Singh was found in Khyber while that of Mahal Singh was found in Orakzai Agency. Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh, the sources said, were among those being held captive.)

The men had gone to the FATA area for some work but were held by Taliban groups who apparently asked them to convert to Islam. Sources said the information so far suggests that the men resisted the order and were then beheaded.

Later, their heads were sent to Bhai Joga Singh Gurudwara in Peshawar. The incident has shocked the small Sikh community in Peshawar.

This attack, sources said, comes in the backdrop of repeated threats to the Sikh community there to convert if they wanted to stay on. India has in the past taken up the issue of security of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. While the Pakistan government has been committed to providing security to minority groups, this incident has certainly made matters far more dangerous and sensitive.

The Haqqani group and factions of the Quetta Shura along with the Pakistan Taliban are active in these parts of Pakistan which border Afghanistan.

Last year, Taliban militants took over shops and homes of 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders in Ferozkhel, Orakzai Agency.

Express news service

So we climb into our Time Machine and go into the future: 

Vaisakhi, 1041 Nanakshahi (2510 CE):

Children , let me tell you about the ancient days, 500 years ago. It had been a difficult time for us Sikhs. Only about 25 years earlier, the army of India had attacked Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar - No, no, Inderjeet, this was before Khalistan had been freed and Amritsar was in the old country of India - Anyway, untold numbers were killed then and later that year, Mrs. Gandhi had been executed by us Sikhs.


This was followed by the genocide of the Sikh Quam all over India (except in Bengal, but that's another story). So it was a difficult time. There followed years of persecution in Punjab and I'm afraid many Sikhs were much disheartened, their chardi kala hibernating. Then one day in 541, a couple months before Vaisakhi, some Singhs were kidnapped by a group of Mughals called Taliban. They were offered the choice: Convert or die!


One day later, their heads were delivered to the gurudwara in Peshawar. My children, that was the beginning of the Great Rebirth of the Sikh Nation, when we all woke up, reclaimed our chardi kala and returned to being Sikhs of the Guru once more...






So now we sit here in our capital each year and remember and celebrate and enjoy our great land.

HOW TO TELL A SIKH FROM A TALIBAN, ILLUSTRATED EDITION

Before I start, let me say that in writing about the Taliban, I am not indicting the Muslim community, which has many good, upright adherents, some of whom I am honoured to include among my friends. Please do not construct anything I say about Taliban to apply to the millions of Muslims who are peaceful, constructive and valued citizens of countries all over the world.

Do to a certain shallow, outward physical resemblance to some Muslim extremists, our Sikh community has been under attack since the 9/11 terrorist attacks by those who don't know any better. Now events in Pakistan, where the Taliban has attacked the Sikhs of the SWAT Valley, forcing them out of their homes, make a comparison of the two groups mandatory for anyone who really wants to understand world events. (And to stop picking on innocent Sikhs, as well.)


First, what exactly happened in Pakistan? The government there has effectively turned over control of a region in the north of the country, the SWAT Valley, over to the Taliban. In a region of this valley called Orakzai live - or rather lived - a few Sikh families. These were poor Sikh farmers who had lived in peace with their neighbours for generations, who had chosen to stay in Pakistan when most Sikhs left to move to India in the Partition of 1948. These are people with few material resources who clearly love their homes and simple way of life.




These were destroyed when the Taliban demanded that they pay a tax on non
Muslims, called a Jaziya. I have read that jaziya was originally paid by nonMuslims in lieu of military service. I have also read that it was originally a financial inducement to convert to Islam. Whatever the original purpose, in this instance, it is clearly simple extortion, not unlike "protection money" paid by business owners to organised crime to insure that the Mob will leave their businesses alone.

The amount demanded by the Taliban, was beyond the means of the community and when it was not paid, the houses of the Sikhs were razed and Sikh businesses were occupied. The Sikhs, seeing yet another massacre looming, fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and a few meager possessions.

In summary:

Lahore: The Taliban has expelled at least 50 Sikh families from the
Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after
they failed to pay 'Jazia'. The Taliban had demanded 12 million rupees ($242,840, GBP 161,271)
as protection money from the Sikhs, who have living in the region from
hundred of years, but they could arrange only 6.7 million rupees.($135,586, GBP 87,355)

Later, it was reported that the extremists occupied houses and shops
of the Sikhs in Qasim Khel and Feroz Khel areas of the Agency and
auctioned their valuables for 0.8 million rupees ( $16,190, GBP 10,750), The Daily Times
reports. Earlier, the Taliban had also demolished houses belonging to
the Sikh community in the region.

The Taliban's Orakzai Agency chief Hakeemullah Mehsud ordered the
demolition of the houses after the Sikhs failed to meet a deadline
fixed for payment.

Having established, I hope, that Sikhs are not Muslim extremists, who then are Sikhs? Briefly, a Sikh is a follower of Sikhi or Sikhism, a panentheistic (look it up!), monotheistic religion that originated in Punjab, in what is now northeastern India and southwestern Pakistan. Rather than summarise the beliefs, which is really beyond the scope of this article, I suggest you go to about.Sikhism and look around. It's interesting and educational.
The religion sprung up and developed at a time when Mughals (Muslims) had imposed a brutal dictatorship on the people of part of what is now called "the Asian subcontinent," that is India and Pakistan. I will now compare some aspects of Taliban and Sikhs.
Since people are generally more visual than verbal, I have included a picture gallery of major differences between the two groups below.
There is a certain superficial physical resemblance. The men of both groups grow beards and wear turbans. The majority of members of both groups are brown. The Taliban, however, are by and large Arabs, with Middle Eastern origins.   I stand corrected.  The Taliban are, by and large Pushtans of Afghan origins.  Although there is a growing number of Sikhs of European and African descent, most Sikhs today are still either
Punjabis or descendants of Punjabis.

Taliban discriminate against women in many ways: imposing Muslim dress which completely covers her, denies her education, restricts her movements so she is not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a male relative. (I wonder what happens to a woman who has no male relatives?)
Sikhi teaches that men and women are equals. In fact, the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Sikh Code of Conduct - forbids a woman to cover her face.

Here is an example of Sikh music, a sort of hymn called a kirtan. Notice that it has a happy sound and is a joy to hear! Also notice that it is sung by a woman!
.

I cannot give an example of Taliban music, since the Taliban ban music entirely, even to the point of killing songbirds when they controlled Afghanistan.
I cannot give a current example of Sikh government, since the Sikh Empire (1799-1849) governed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh is no longer around. However, two big differences between Sikh rule at that time and Taliban rule now are that capital punishment did not exist in the Sikh Empire, while it is common among the Taliban. And a huge difference, different religions were not only tolerated in the Sikh Empire but were actually respected, while the Taliban not only lack respect or tolerance for other religions, but also condemn all other forms of Islam, their own religion.
But enough of words. I have written enough to tell about the differences, now a few pictures to show the differences.

AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE:  THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT ONLY THE TALIBAN.  MOST MUSLIMS ARE DECENT, PEACEFUL, LAW-BIDING PEOPLE WHO ARE AS APPALLED BY THE EXCESSES OF THE TALIBAN AS I AM.  



Note: Should anyone wish to reproduce this post, I will be happy to send you the html to make it easy for you. Just leave your e-mail in a comment or e-mail me at simayanan1 [at] gmail [dot] com. MHK

KHALISTAN ALERT! The Taliban Threaten West Punjab

I'm sorry to break into your weekend fun, but something really big and alarming has come up.

Today on CNN, I heard a most upsetting story. It seems that the Taliban in Pakistan have not only taken over the Swat Valley and forced their nonMuslim tax, called jizya, on Sikhs there, but much more alarming, they have made inroads in West Punjab. This is very serious.

When it comes to draconian oppression, the Taliban are masters! Imagine Punjab with no music, no dance, no colourful women, no joy. We all know that Punjabi celebrations can get out of hand. Weddings, especially are way too big, way too showy, way too expensive. But -

Can you imagine being flogged for going to one?





Can you imagine having your feet cut off for dancing at one?



Can you imagine a long, torturous prison sentence for singing at one?



Or - should you be a woman - execution for even expressing a desire to go to one?



That is the dark, joyless world of the Taliban.


That is the Punjab of the Taliban.

"After it rains, there's a rainbow and all of the colours are black...

Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town..."
That's a song, but you better not sing it!



I have no idea what we can do about this, but I know it must be stopped. We are the chardi kala people, remember? We cannot allow this land to be turned into a no-laugh zone. The first step is to be aware. This is from today's New York Times:

MILITANTS THREATEN PAKISTAN'S POPULOUS HEART

April 14, 2009

By SABRINA TAVERNISE, RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ERIC SCHMITT

This article was reported by Sabrina Tavernise, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Eric Schmitt and written by Ms. Tavernise.

DERA GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan — Taliban insurgents are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads in Punjab, the province that is home to more than half of Pakistanis, reinvigorating an alliance that Pakistani and American authorities say poses a serious risk to the stability of the country.

The deadly assault in March in Lahore, Punjab's capital, against the Sri Lankan cricket team, and the bombing last fall of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the national capital, were only the most spectacular examples of the joint campaign, they said.

Now police officials, local residents and analysts warn that if the government does not take decisive action, these dusty, impoverished fringes of Punjab could be the next areas facing the insurgency. American intelligence and counterterrorism officials also said they viewed the developments with alarm.

"I don't think a lot of people understand the gravity of the issue," said a senior police official in Punjab, who declined to be idenfitied because he was discussing threats to the state. "If you want to destabilize Pakistan, you have to destabilize Punjab."

As American drone attacks disrupt strongholds of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas, the insurgents are striking deeper into Pakistan — both in retaliation and in search of new havens.

Telltale signs of creeping militancy abound in a belt of towns and villages near here that a reporter visited last week. Militants have gained strength considerably in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan, which is a gateway both to Taliban-controlled areas and the heart of Punjab, the police and local residents say. Many were terrified.

Some villages, just north of here, are so deeply infiltrated by militants that they are already considered no-go zones by their neighbors.

In at least five towns in southern and western Punjab, including the midsize hub of Multan, barber shops, music stores and Internet cafes offensive to the militants' strict interpretation of Islam have received threats. Traditional ceremonies that include drumming and dancing have been halted in some areas. Hard-line ideologues have addressed large crowds to push their idea of Islamic revolution. Sectarian attacks, dormant here since the 1990s, have erupted once again.

To read the rest, please go here: Taliban In Punjab