Operation Shudi Karan Rape Sikh Girls 1984

NOTE: This post is not recommended for children, although this is a subject that all Sikhs need to know.

As International Women's Day, 2009, draws to a close here in North America, I think it is appropriate that we stop and remember the sufferings of our Sikh sisters at the hands of the Punjabi police in 1984, lead by the infamous, notorious Gobind Ram, who called his urine the "Amrit of Gobind Ram," as he forced Amritdhari women to drink it.

I apologise for the necessity of posting something in such incredibly bad taste.



URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogwT_A4Oidw

With thanks to DS Gill, IHRO

The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME

I've had my share of life's ups and downs
But fate's been kind, the downs have been few
I guess you could say that I've been lucky
Well, I guess you could say that it's all because of you

If anyone should ever write my life story
For whatever reason there might be
Ooo, you'll be there between each line of pain and glory
'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened to me
Ah, you're the best thing that ever happened to me

Oh, there have been times when times were hard
But always somehow I made it, I made it through
'Cause for every moment that I've spent hurting
There was a moment that I spent, ah, just loving you

If anyone should ever write my life story
For whatever reason there might be
Oh, you'll be there between each line of pain and glory
'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened to me
Oh, you're the best thing that ever happened to me
I know, you're the best thing, oh, that ever happened to me

This post is purely personal and probably self-indulgent. Possibly I shouldn't talk about it in a public forum. I have noticed a change in myself. For the past almost 25 years, I have sung the above song, always to my beloved martyred husband. I think I was reminding myself of all the happiness, the good times we had had with our little nuclear family consisting of Mani, my husband, Sandeep, our child and myself. (Not forgetting also my huge joint family, of course, but for this purpose, I was thinking just about the three of us.)

When I would feel a bit down, lonely, perhaps verging on - horrors! - self-pity, I would remind myself that, while there had been a lot of problems and some tragedy in my life, overall it has been a pleasant life, full of all sorts of wonderful things. I had had a love from my husband that most people only dream about. I was the adored, pampered, spoiled wife of a very good and loving man and the mother of an equally sweet, loving saintly Sikhling. Since I seem to be writing a bit of a tribute to the great males in my life, let me mention in passing that my Dad was also a great man who took great pains with my education, gently - usually - moulding me into the woman I am now. I have had to remind myself of these blessings from time to time.

So I have often found myself singing this song to my dear Mani.

Last week, while on my daily walk, I found myself singing it again. But, astonished, I realised, with a difference. No longer was I singing to Mani. Walking and seeing Vaheguru, Akaal Purakh, whatever term you might wish to use, I was singing not to a beloved man, but to my Guru.

I suddenly realised what really was "the best thing that ever happened to me." However great this man Mani was/is, however great our love, these things are effects. Now I see and realise the Cause. I know this is all very obvious and something I have always been taught, but this was an 'aha!' moment, an epiphany for me. Now it is a part of my personal reality. (I told you this was personal and self-indulgent.)

Life is hard, yes, otherwise what would be the point? Life is also good. Akaal Purakh is good. Our dhan dhan ten Nanaks are good. Our eternal Guru is good. So much goodness around us. So much greatness.

"Who in such a world as this cannot heal his sorrows? Welcome this sweet sunset bliss. Sunrise comes tomorrow."

Anonymous poet

International Women's Day - 2009

I was so very sincerely hoping that this year, I would be able to write a nice cheerful post about how much progress we have made in the last year regarding the most important women's issue in the Punjabi Sikh community. (Here I speak not of the nonPunjabi Sikh community; they have their own problems, fortunately not this particular one.)

I am referring, of course to the murdering of our daughters before they are born, what is called female foeticide. I have named this the Fourth Ghallugharah, and it is still in full swing. SHAME ON US!

No my dear brothers and sisters, I refuse to let up until this horror is ended!


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

Unfortunately, I can do nothing better than to reproduce my post from International Women's Day of last year, 2008.

Maybe next year...



There is a lovely little nursery rhyme that every child in the UK and Canada knows. I am not so sure about the children of India, so I reproduce it here: (If you'd like to hear the melody go to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!


As long as I have been expressing myself publicly (about 2 years), I
have said that the most dangerous enemy we Sikhs have is not the
Indian government, the Deras or even the Hindus. It is no force from
outside our own community. It is ourselves. We are fast destroying
ourselves through one particular practice. I have here a little poem
I wrote about that. It unites IWD and our self-destructive
tendencies.



Tinkle, tinkle, little boy,
Bring your parents so much joy.
You're their diamond, you're their pearl,
They're so glad you aren't a girl.

Punjab practice straight from hell.
Very soon its evil tell.




You are looking for a wife,
Someone who will share your life.
Not a woman to be found,
Rotting foetus in the ground.


Guru's teaching has been taught,
But its meaning never sought.
Daughter is a gift from God,
Not a dead, decaying clod.


Without woman, there's no life,
No more children, no more wife.
Guru's teachings die off now,
Go and worship sacred cow.



Tinkle, tinkle, little boy,
Bring your parents so much joy.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, 2008 2009!!!!




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

BEEBI PARVEEN KAUR

BEEBI PARVEEN KAUR, originally uploaded by BAAGHI SINGH...

My dear sisters and brothers. I have this photograph of Bibi Parveen Kaur evidently taken on 5 March 2009, today, as I write this. I see stress on her face. I also see a sister undefeated, remaining still in chardi kala. I see a strong and proud Khalsa Kaur, a sister we can be proud of and whom we need to stand beside.

The legend beneath the picture says:

5 march 2009 nu peshi ton baad karnal courts ton baahr aunday hoy.

Click on the picture to go to the flickr page.

These comments were also made on the picture:

Bibi Ji da Court case vich ki hohya?

What happened to the court case of Bibi ji?


BAAGHI SINGH.. says:

REBEL SINGH says:


27 april di tareek payi a aggay,
The next date has been set for April 27,

kal kujh ehna n saathi 6 singhs day khilaaf sarsay vale khach saadh day premiyaan(cheliyaan) deeyaan gvahiyaan v san,
yesterday there was testimony against her and other six Singhs by the fans (disciples) of the cunning Sarsa Vala Sadh,

internal report da jada nahi pata,baaki bhain parveen kaur nay B.A-1st year day exams di permission mangi hai judge kolo,
don't know much about the internal report, except that sister Parveen Kaur has asked permission to write her BA first year exam from the judge,

baaki saarey singhs(including beebi) da case karnal(haryana) to patiala refer karn di mang keeti gayi hai ji.
as well, demand has been made to transfer the case of all the Singhs (including the Bibi) from Karnal to Patiala.

Her case has brought me great personal pain. I cam imagine what she is going through. My own experience with the police of "India" (Occupied Khalistan). And I was never charged with anything. Perhaps the should have dealt with my then and there. In spite of hate mail and a certain number of threats, I refuse to be quiet. Those of us who know from personal experience must raise our voices and not stop until this sort of bullsh*t ends.

It might be appropriate to say Ardaas on her behalf.

More Thoughts Of A Sleepless Night

As I write this, I have just gotten back from my daily walk, in fact I am still breathing heavily. A strange walk today. The naam-jap just refused to come, so I turned on my wrist radio - and the earbuds kept falling out of my ears. Then I stumbled over the body of a dead crow. (Death is easier than life.) I started remembering last night and a brilliant thought came to my mind: Why not a post for the Khaliblog?

So here you are.

Another sleepless night. Nothing worked. I tried muscle relaxation, I tried soothing music, I tried warm milk. I could have taken an Ambien, but I hate intoxicants, so I laid in my bed and thought about the day.

A friend had suggested to me that I'd drive anyone not into heavy-duty Khalsa-ing crazy. Really, though, off-line I do have a fairly normal life where I rarely talk about Sikh stuff. After all, Sikhi is something to do, not really something to talk about. Sikhi is a verb.

So what is being a 24/7 Sikh (is there any other kind?) all about. To begin with, it starts with what seems to be two polar opposites, the saint and the soldier, the sant-sipahi thing, closely related to the miri-piri thing. The sant-sipahi seems to have an almost Taoist flavour to it. "The good soldier is not violent. The best soldier acts without anger." No anger, no hatred. To unite the sant and the sipahi is incredibly difficult.

And it doesn't stop there. There is a third element. We are supposed to do this while living a normal life!. No monastery, no convent, no escape from the world for the Sikh. Instead pray, earn an honest living, give to charity, all while attempting to be that sant-sipahi thing. I wonder if anyone - aside from our Guru Jis, of course - have ever succeeded at this. I wonder what success in this for an ordinary Sikh, an ordinary Khalsa would look like. Well, we are supposed to do our best.

At this point, restless, I get up and walk around the house a bit. The pain in my knee only wakes me up further. I sit in the freezing cold living room and turn on the radio to "random tuning." Guru ji uses the voice of The Eagles to ask me, "If it all fell to pieces tomorrow, would you still be mine?"

And I think that being a Sikh means not just taking my life to the limit, but then, living in the limit, metaphorically, at least. (You engineers reading this know what I'm talking about.)

Then I hear Stephan Stills off the Four-Way Street Album (1970). "But if we can't do it with a smile on our face, if we can't do it with love in our heart, then children, we ain't got no right to do it at all. That just means we ain't learned nothing yet. We're supposed to be some sort of different. Dig it! Dig it!"

And when you're looking for your freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can't find the door
(Can't find it anywhere)
When there's nothing to believe in
Still you're coming back, you're running back
You're coming back for more

So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

All pictures from Charles Meacham's series, Being Sikh. If you would like to see more - and I hope you do - go to his website, Charles Meacham Photographs, click on 'Galleries,' and go to 'Being Sikh.'

SikhByChoice Project

SikhBy Choice? What does that mean? What does that mean to you? Who is SikhByChoice? The answer is, of course, every Sikh is a Sikh By Choice. Although most of us were born into Sikh families, that does not make you or me or anyone else a Sikh. No, that is a choice we make ourselves, personally, an individual choice.

The facebook group, SikhByChoice is collecting stories of how individuals became Sikhs. Yes, dear reader, if you are Sikh, that means YOU!

Please have a look at their SikhByChoice Project Website. You can read stories by others and learn how to leave your own as well.

Also please check out and possibly join the facebook group, SikhByChoice

Here is the illustrated Sikhography of Vishavjit Singh , the creator of Sikhtoons.

And below here is the latest Sikhtoon Cartoon Caption Contest. We have all gone through - or will yet go through - the matrimonial thing. What are Mr. Singh and Ms. Kaur saying to each other? To enter go to the Sikhtoon Caption Contest. Deadline for this contest is March 14, 2009. I have entered. Why not you?