Another Lie of The US Army

I am no fan of the acts of aggression that the US Army have been inflicting on the innocent people of Iraq. And I have thoroughly denounced the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib Prison and elsewhere. Please do not interpret my stand on this issue as an endorsement of the unrighteous use of force.

That said, this morning I received this latest release by the Sikh Coalition.





It seems that these two Sikh gentlemen joined the Army in order to get money for their education. This is pretty normal in America. There is currently no draft; it is an all volunteer army. So one of their inducements to gain recruits is to offer this financial aid for college. This is the only way that many intelligent young people - both men and women - are able to afford this education that they need.

These two young Sikhs joined up in order to get their educations, both in the medical field. They were told that their turbans and kesh would be "no problem." Now that they are to go on active duty, the Army has recanted on their promise and insist they must abandon their turbans and Articles of Faith, in this cast, their kesh.

Before 1981, turbans were allowed. Then during the repressive Reagan Regime, all "conspicuous" religious articles of faith for its service members were banned by the Army. Those who had previously tied turbans were allowed to keep them. I have managed to track down pictures of the two officers mentioned in the article, also medical officers Colonel Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, a doctor, and Colonel G.B. Singh, a dentist, both of whom retired last year (2008).




Although many of us have a great disdain for the American military machine, nonetheless, we cannot stand by and let our fellow Sikhs be shorn because of their lies. I see this as a civil rights issue, not any approval of the US Army on my part.

(Note: if they lie to their own people, can there be any reason they would tell the truth to the rest of us?)


From Sikh Coalition:

(Washington, DC) April 7, 2009 - This Vaisakhi, the Sikh Coalition will stand alongside two Sikh military recruits to call on the U.S. Army to end its ban on turbans. The men, both medical professionals in the Army, are being told that they must remove their religiously-mandated turbans and cut their unshorn hair and beards when they report for active duty in July.

Today, we are asking for your help to ensure Sikhs' right to serve.

Captain Kamaljit Singh Kalsi, a doctor, and Second Lieutenant Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist, were part of an Army program that pays for medical education in return for military service. At the time of their enrollment, military recruiters assured both men that their turbans and unshorn hair "would not be a problem."

Captain Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Rattan maintained their Sikh identity throughout graduate school, during specialized Army training, at Army ceremonies, and in Army medical facilities. Four years later, the Army is telling the two Sikhs that the recruiters' assurances were false and that they will have to forsake their religious practices.

Next Tuesday, the Sikh Coalition will launch a campaign to protect Sikhs' right to serve in the U.S. Army with their Sikh identity intact. That day marks the 310th anniversary of Vaisakhi - the day Sikhs received their articles of faith. On April 14, 2009, the Coalition will file a formal complaint with the Department of Defense's Inspector General on behalf of Captain Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Rattan.

"After four years of training in Army facilities, I was shocked to learn that the Army would go back on its promise, and expect me to choose between my faith or my service to my country," said Captain Kalsi. "There is nothing about my religion that stops me from doing my job. I know I can serve well without compromising my faith."

In 1981, the Army banned "conspicuous" religious articles of faith for its service members. However, Sikhs and other soldiers of faith who were part of the army before the 1981 rule change were allowed to stay. As a result, Colonel Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, a doctor, and Colonel G.B. Singh, a dentist, continued to serve in the U.S. Army with their turbans and unshorn hair for the past twenty-five years. They both retired in 2008. Despite this, Captain Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Rattan are being prohibited from taking up the very same positions in the Army today.

In 2008, the United States celebrated the 60th anniversary of the integration of our armed forces. On that day, President Harry Truman declared "there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." Today we are asking the military to follow this core American principle with words and actions.

To learn more, please visit our Campaign Action Center. There, you can sign on to a petition, get details for Tuesday's press conference, and find out about other ways you can help.

As always, the Sikh Coalition urges all Sikhs to practice their faith fearlessly. If someone tell you to remove your articles of faith, please report the incident.

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

W3I: The Sad And Disgusting Affair of Jagdish Tytler - Part Two

After, Tytler was given a clean chit, this article appeared in The Times of India. It is followed by my response, first published in slightly different form in the Gurmat Learning Zone.

Riot victims speechless

Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 3
Veeran (70), a victim of 1984 riots, has consoled her seven daughters
all these years saying that justice would finally be meted out to
them. She had lost her only son and two sons-in-law to the riots. She
is speechless since yesterday and does not know how to face her
daughters after years of reposing their trust in the CBI.

Agency's clean chit to Jagdish Tytler yesterday not only scratched
their wounds but also rubbed salt on them. "We somehow survived the
riots, lived with the loss of our breadwinners, hoping it would be a
balm on our wounds. We are more hurt today not for the fact that we
have been wronged but because justice eludes us," said Veeran.

She had fled from her house in Tilak Nagar in New Delhi during the
three fateful days along with her daughters and took refuge in a
local gurdwara. She lives in state's biggest colony of 1984 riot
victims, who echoed their sentiments to a The Tribune team today.

With tears in their eyes, they narrated their horrid tales of 1984.
"Burning tyres were put around the neck of our men. The girls were
chased, kidnapped, raped and killed. Bodies of many girls were not
even traced," said Harbans Kaur, who lost her brother-in-law and four sons.

Davinder Kaur, whose husband was burnt alive; Gurcharan Kaur, whose
infant son was thrown in a tandoor in the compound of her house;
Veeran Wali, who lost her husband; and Baldev Kaur, whose husband was
burnt after his truck was torched, were shocked at the decision of the CBI.

"When the inquiry was ordered, we had a sigh of relief that the CBI
would deliver justice. Now, I am certain the CBI sleuths, too, work
under the wings of AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi. We are totally broken,"
Surinder Singh, a victim.

Later, they burnt an effigy of the CBI and blocked traffic on the
southern bypass. [Note by Mai: We burn effigies, they burn US!.

My response:

I read this today and nearly cried. I need to write to my sisters, fellow survivors of this horrendous experience.

My dear, beloved sisters (and brothers, too),

I am sure some of you who are readers of this blog will read this. Even though you are silent, I know you are there. Nearly 25 years ago, our worlds were shattered, our families tortured and murdered before our eyes, all that we loved bloodied and destroyed in a few days of madness. But, stop! Not everything we loved was destroyed. We have proven ourselves to be true Singhnis and Kaurs, worthy to be called "Lioness" as well as "Princess." We have proven that we are spiritual descendants of our Sikh foremothers, that through Guru's kirpaa, we can be as strong and as tough as is necessary.

It has been hard, harder than can be explained, even for me, and it was much easier for me than for most of you. I had the country of my birth, Canada, as a refuge, with a sorrowful affluent family to shelter me from most of the physical, and many of the emotional, hardships you have faced. You were left, not forgotten, but not properly cared for and honoured as the mothers and daughters and wives of shaheeds, as well as heroes in our own right.

For all these years, we have cried for justice, for those who instigated this bloody pogrom to receive the punishment they have so richly earned. It looked as if we would finally, finally, get the satisfaction of seeing at least one of our tormentors pay for his misdeeds. It seems as if that is not to be. Today we are hurt, angry, devastated. How could this happen? Corruption? Bribery? Ineptness? Something else? I do not know.

But this I do know. My sisters, we are Sikhs! We do not give up. We do not give in to despair. I feel the pain of Bibi Surinder Kaur ji when she exclaimed, "We are totally broken." I know it feels that way. But the broken can be mended and, perhaps, become stronger than before. There is a lot of truth to the statement, "What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." We are not destroyed. We must dig deep into ourselves and, especially those of us who are Khalsa, find that infinite well of chardi kala that is the gift of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj, our beloved Guru Papa Ji.

My sisters, make noise! Make a lot of noise! Block traffic! Burn effigies! Make a huge stink so these people know that, while they can kill these mortal bodies, they cannot destroy us and they cannot touch the spirit of chardi kala that burns within each of us. We must hold each other up and freely share our strength with each other. Never let those who seek to destroy us forget that the Sikhs, both Kaurs and Singhs, are here and we won't disappear. And we won't be ignored.

I firmly believe that everything that happens is the Hukam of Vaheguru. I rarely understand why this or that happens; Akaal Purakh neither consults nor explains its Hukam to me. I am not in charge. I can only do what I see to be right to the best of my ability. This I know for certain, although evil flourishes around us, this is not our destination. This is not our home. Every day, each of us, wherever she (or he) is on this great journey, moves closer to the day when when we are re-united with our Husband as the unblemished bride.

So, my beloved sisters, this great injustice is just a temporary setback, not a defeat. We must pick up the broken pieces of our lives and the pieces of our broken hearts and carefully glue them all back together with the superglue of chardi kala. We are loved. We are strong. We are Kaurs.

Chardi kala!

Your sister,
Harinder Kaur, called "Mai"

]

W3I: The Sad And Disgusting Affair Of Jagdish Tytler - Part One

************************************************************

Note: I went looking for the latest Sikhtoon and found this instead:

Quotes of the week
"I am happy today that truth has prevailed. I will fight the election and I am hundred per cent sure that I will get the votes of all sections of the society."

JAGDISH TYTLER, 1984 genocide accused after getting cleared by India's Central Bureau of Investigation - April 2nd, 2009
************************************************************

I had not intended to write about "Sikh issues" under the W3I title, but this one belongs nowhere else.

I wrote this yesterday and, upon showing it to some friends, it was strongly suggested that some of what I had written could, perhaps, be problematic. I have edited out those parts. Please note that this is not censorship; I have voluntarily removed these.

[Edited]
.

Let me digress from Tytler's case for a moment and give a short course in US Constitutional law. The First Amendment to the US Constitution, the beginning of the Bill of Rights reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

These rights are very broad and have been very liberally interpreted by the US Supreme Court. In the USA, where I currently reside and to whose laws I am bound, the "freedom of speech," which is interpreted as "freedom of expression" is very liberal and taken very seriously. Hate speech is "protected speech," even the burning of the national flag is, legally, "protected speech." Hurting the feelings of any community is "protected speech." I believe that a public blog, such as this one is, is also protected as "freedom of the press," equally liberally interpreted. Even most pornography is legal, although there are rather strict limits to broadcast TV and non-pay radio - called the "public airways." So I have two Constitutional protections to protect me. I am free to say almost anything.

[Edited]

A friend of mine in Punjab has described the feelings of the people there. Here is an e-mail I received yesterday morning:

waheguru ji CBI gave clean chit to TYTLER.. y this is so ji, such a
corrupt country.. no one our side.. dear ji wat wl happen nw.. is
this hukam of waheguru ji..

Evidently, many are in a state of shock. Bleeding Punjab continues to bleed. We are crying, crying tears of sadness and pain, of course, and also tears of anger of rage, of frustration. We must not let our emotions overwhelm us. We must act rationally and calmly. After, we are looking for, in fact, demanding justice. Our people continue to be mocked by the Government of India, in this case by the CBI. I am no expert in the Laws of India, so I must ask, "Have we really tried every peaceful means of bringing this criminal to justice? Is there nothing further to be done?" These are honest questions. What are the answers?

We believe that this [man] is responsible for the deaths of many of our people in and around Delhi in November, 1984. As most readers of this blog will already know, the dead include all of my immediate nuclear family, as well as two brothers and some cousins. We have been waiting nearly 25 years, not waiting patiently, but waiting.


Now this. And these two [people]. Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar are on the Congress Party ticket. I wonder at the sanity of any Sikh who would vote Congress with those two standing for office. (Of course, my own sanity has been questioned by those opposed to the establishment of Khalistan, but that is not relevant here.)

Can you believe that this Jagdish Tytler is gloating. Look at the look on his face. He says he is "happy that the truth has come out." I wonder what definition of "truth" he is using. Of course he is happy. He dodged a bullet on this one. Or did he? Bribery, I am told, is common in such cases. He even claims, according to the Times of India, that Sikhs have always voted for him. Is he insane or are we?

The Ultimate Sardar Joke

.
"A bombshell of a Sardar joke was dropped on all of us a few days ago and here it is in case you missed it." Thus a friend wrote to me. Like almost all Sikhs, I detest Sardar jokes. This is the worse, most insulting I have ever seen and I cannot bring myself to post it in my blog. Still, you need to see it.

'To quote George Orwell

"The aim of a joke is not to degrade the human being,

but to remind him that he is already degraded." '

W3I: "One Land, Two Laws"

A few days ago, I explained that I feel the need to answer the question I am often asked: "Why Khalistan? What's wrong with India?" Hereafter, I shall refer to this series as 3WI. Here is an article about a doctor, a pediatrician who had been working with India's poor, giving them necessary, compassionate healthcare denied them by their government.

So let us now consider the strange case of Dr. Binyaka Sen. It seems that his crime is being a compassionate doctor. He had been held in solitary confinement in the Raipur Central Jail in Chattisgarh since 15 March 2008. Thanks to an international uproar, he has been released from solitary confinement and is a regular prisoner again. Now the fight must be for his unconditional release and total exoneration of these ridiculous charges. India again works again those trying to help her.

Click here to go to the website supporting Dr. Sen.

I am not here going to comment on Varun Gandhi. I consider him a fool, an idiot with attitudes typical of his family (although rarely spoken publicly). . I will write about him after the election, should it be necessary.

India: One land, two laws
Indian Express

NEW DELHI: This is a country where the law clearly protects the rich and famous and comes down heavily, very often unfairly, on the poor and powerless.

For all those listening / watching aghast at how low our politicians can sink - e.g. Varun Gandhi’s vituperative attack against the Muslim community in an election address in Pilibhit from where he will contest on the BJP ticket - they always knew deep down that nothing would come of it. The interim anticipatory bail granted to him on Friday is on those very predictable lines.



The scion of Sanjay Gandhi will grow from strength to strength in an age which hails ‘khalnayaks’ who indulge in communally divisive politics .For them there is no Model Code of Conduct but a Model Code of Self Seeking Hate Politics. The BJP will not take away their symbol from Varun .Nor will the law of the land really move against him and keep him from contesting the election. And getting a bail will be child’s play for a person as influential as Varun Gandhi.

Contrast this with another case playing out in far off Raipur in Chattisgarh. The case of Dr. Binayak Sen , a good doctor who worked tirelessly to provide health care to the poor and who has been languishing in jail for nearly two years now . The charges slapped against him were that of having sympathetic links with Naxalites and allegedly being a courier between a jailed Naxalite he was treating and a businessman.



While the Raipur Sessions court rejected his bail application in July 2007, the Chattisgarh High Court denied bail twice, first in July 2007 and again in December 2008.

Countless media reports and organizations fighting for his release have pointed out that although Dr Binayak Sen has been arrested on charges under the controversial Chattisgarh State Public Security Act, none of the over 80 witnesses produced in his trial so far at a sessions court in Raipur have been able to substantiate any of these charges.

So far the Chhattisgarh government and its police have also not been able to provide any proof of his involvement in extremist activities.



Yet the barefoot doctor, whose life’s mission was to heal those who had been left out of the state’s medical radar, has been denied bail and left to rot in jail for 22 months. What is worse his health has been fast deteriorating and appeals for justice have fallen on deaf ears.

In the days and months following his incarceration there has been an international and national demand for the release of Dr Binayak Sen. As many as 22 Nobel Laureates signed a petition in support of his immediate release terming his arrest a travesty of justice. But it has failed to move either the BJP government in the state or the UPA government at the Centre.



On March 16, 50 activists of the national campaign for the release of Dr. Binayak Sen, marched to the jail in Raipur in a ‘jail bharo’ agitation to highlight the case.The Raipur Satyagraha was led by well-known social worker and Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey and include eminent persons like documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan and members of various civil society groups, civil rights organisations, trade unions, lawyers, journalists, medical professionals and women’s groups.

The satyagraha will be held every Monday in front of the jail in Raipur where Dr Binayak Sen is incarcerated. They are demanding that the Chattisgarh government should stop opposing the grant of bail to Dr Sen. Denial of bail should not be used as a punitive measure as this goes against the spirit of the entire justice system and constitutional rights, they stress.

In a bid to win over high profile judicial support in favour of Sen, there is now a petition going around with former Supreme Court and High Court judges. Eminent former Supreme Court Judge V R Krishna Iyer has already put his weight behind the petition along with six others.

Clearly the law as it plays out for Varun Gandhi and Dr Binayak Sen smacks of one land-two laws.

S.KASHMIR SINGH PANJWAR

S.KASHMIR SINGH PANJWAR, originally uploaded by BAAGHI SINGH...

A true Lion of The Panth

Father of Shaaheed Bhai Rajwinder Singh Panjwar and Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar(Current Chief of "KHALISTAN COMMANDO FORCE" )

I asked Baaghi Singh, the photographer:

He has such a joyous, chardi kala face and a beautiful bearing. Just looking at his picture is an inspirartion.

If only we children all had such a parent! Then maybe all of us parents would have such children.

(Where is Bibi [Whoever] Kaur, their mother?)

BAAGHI SINGH.. says:
Bapu Kashmir Singh was sat in a gathering of elder Singhs in village panjwar, as I approached them and asked to take Bapu Ji's picture, he was overcome with joy, the glow on Bapu Ji's face is captured here...

During the Sikh struggle for independance, Bhai Parmjeet Singh Panjwar was (and still is) one of the most wanted Jujharoos, as the security forces could not capture this lion, they resorted to inhumane methods such as torturing and kiling family members, Bibi Mohinder Kaur Ji, the mother of Bhai Parmjeet Singh panjwar was picked up by the police from her home and taken to Jhabbal police station, where she was tortured & later attained Shaheedi.
Bhai Parmjeet Singhs brother, Bhai Rajwinder Singh Panjwar also suffered the same fate.

For more info about the Shaheedi of Mata Ji and Bhai Rajwinder Singh, please read Zulaam Gatha by Baghail Singh Baaghi
Posted 7 hours ago.