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.

Hair, Hair and Hairs

I had published this post in my personal blog, sometimes - 2, thinking it a bit too light for this blog. However a couple of readers of both blogs have suggested that my Khalistani readers might also enjoy it.

It has been suggested that it might even give nonSikhs a little insight into our attitude about hair. I don't know about that. This is just my experiences and my thoughts. Anyway, after dead children in Gaza, murdered girl-foetuses in Punjab (and elsewhere) and all that is wrong in India, maybe we Khalistanis need a little relaxation..

So here goes:


My husband is again annoyed at all the money I spend on my hair. I think this is normal. Women do tend to spend a lot of money on their hair.

I was discussing this with a friend online. What are the things most women do to their hair? Straightening, I mean, relaxing, perming, weaves, braids, extensions, all kinds of styling and, of course, cuts.






She said that she spends about $100.00 a month at the salon, in addition to home care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, gels, mousse, sprays and a weekly deep conditioner. That can easily add up to another $50.00 per month. Then there are brushes, combs, ties, and ornaments. I am going to disregard them, as I have no way to approximate that.


My expenses are somewhat less. In twenty years of marriage, I have been to a salon - not even one time. Wait, I was in a salon once. I'll tell about that later. I have never used or paid for the services of a salon even once. Well, once...I'll tell that story, too..

Given those figures, the average American woman would have spent about $36,000.00 over twenty years.

My expenses are somewhat less. I buy only three products for my hair: shampoo, conditioner and hair oil. Although I refuse to use that hair garbage from the dollar store - it makes my hair, which is very dry, break off and my scalp itch - I do not use the expensive salon items. I buy what is on sale at the local grocery/drug store. Shampoo and conditioner cost about $7.00 each for a bottle. One bottle will last me about a month. Hair oil, even imported from India is not expensive. The kind I usually use costs about $6.00 a bottle and lasts a couple of months. But let's say, I use a bottle a month. That all adds up to to $20.00 per month. Over twenty years, that adds up to a grand total of $4,800.



That means I have saved us about $31,200 over the twenty years of our marriage. I'd say I'm quite a bargain!

About that trip to the salon. A friend asked me to meet her there. With some misgivings, I agreed. I do not think any keshdhari Sikh could possibly feel comfortable in such a place. (For my nonSikh readers, being keshdhari means following the distinctively Sikh practice of leaving the hair unshorn and in its natural state.)

I am keshdhari. Going to a hair salon felt a little like going to a brothel. Interesting, a bit disgusting, quite daring and very uncomfortable. I was very much out of place, rather like a lioness at a dog show.

I first noticed the smell. A hair salon smells a bit like a chemistry lab without fume hoods. Ammonia seemed to predominate, along with some smells I couldn't identify. Someone had lit some incense, I suppose to cover up the noxious odours. It didn't work. Both my nostrils and my eyes were assaulted and I felt vaguely sick to my stomach.




The sights that met my eyes were a bit shocking. I mean, I know what goes on in these places, but to actually witness it! Here were all these women, all seemingly having a good time, mutilating their hair in various ways with these toxic chemicals. I could almost hear their tortured hairs screaming out in agony. And on the floor lay strands and strings of amputated hairs of all sorts of colours, some natural, most dyed. All dead.







My friend was in another room, but the receptionist recognised her name when I asked her. I left a note asking her to meet me at a near-by coffee shop and got out of that chamber of horrors. That was maybe 15 years ago; I have not been in one since.


I will be honest. Many years ago, while married to Mani, I did go to a hair salon for a service. I took it into my head that I wanted to get my hair professionally conditioned. I think mostly I was curious at exactly what went on in there. I found out.

I explained that I just wanted a deep conditioning. As this was in Montreal, of course it was all in French. I'll spare you and write in English. The young woman who was to serve me had bright blonde hair of an improbable shade puffed around her face to make her head look very round. She approached me. saw my neat bun and reached up to take out my kangha. I let out a yelp and fastened it to a sort of string around my neck. Jeanette - I don't remember her name, but that seems appropriate - loosened my hair which fell and fell and fell. She actually let out a little gasp and said she'd never seen such long hair. There was no approval in her voice; in fact her tone was accusatory. She picked up the ends of it and with several hmm, hmm, hmms, examined them closely "Virgin hair," she murmured.. "You have split ends. I'll have to trim them off before it can be properly conditioned."


"You'll do no such thing. Cut a single hair and I'll have your," I caught my breath and choked back the obscenity that had been on my lips, "cosmetology licence."

"Do you belong to some weird religious cult or something that won't let women cut their hair?"

"Or something," I growled. "And men don't cut their hair either."

"Well, you should break free and become your own woman." She picked up her scissors. "Long hair is really not becoming on you with that long neck. You have such a high forehead, you really need some cute bangs. You really need a sexy new hair style. Let me help you get free from all " - she held up my precious kesh - "this."

I admit that I sprang out of the chair and got out of there fast. I suppose she still thinks that I came from some strange cult and had inadvertently wandered into the Twentieth Century.

After that I conditioned my own hair - or rather Mani and I did each other's hair, which was not only safer, but also a lot more pleasant.

I have one more thought about long hair. I once watched on The Oprah Winfrey Show, an episode that greatly disturbed me. A bunch of women - and one man - with very long hair were to get makeovers. The main point was to cut off that awful, old-fashioned, ugly, long hair. Give these people a modern, "sexy" look. I admit they did look very different, but BETTER? Not in my opinion. I had the same reaction I have when someone suggests I'd look better if I wore make-up. I always respond,"Better? No, just different." The man went from a strong, masculine man with a full beard and mustache, and hair as long as - although not as healthy - as a keshdhari Sikh to a somewhat girlish metrosexual. I did not like at all.






At least the shorn hair was donated to Locks of Love, a charity that makes human hair wigs for children who have lost their hair, usually as the result of cancer treatments. A worthy cause.



Now, in case you are thinking that these Sikhs are a bit daft with this whole hair thing, allow me a brief explanation. We believe that our Creator knew what it was doing when it made us and we couldn't be more perfectly made. We have hair for a reason, in fact, several practical reasons which I am not going into right now. Even if we could find no practical reason for hair, the fact is that Akaal Purakh (God) gave us a gift of our hair and it is for us to gratefully accept and cherish this gift. (Of course, there's more to it than that, but I think that'll be enough for a start, eh?)

If we still seem a bit daft to you, that's OK. We don't mind. Most of us anyway.

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

"WHY KHALISTAN? WHAT'S WRONG WITH INDIA?"

Probably the question I get asked most often is: Why do you want Khalistan? What's wrong with India?


The answer to the first question can be short and sweet, or it can be long and complicated, but it always must involve the second. You could, of course, simply look at the blog header pictures. " But that was 25 years ago! Get over it!"

So I have decided to answer the second. I will be publishing articles, current articles, here that answer that question. I'm not sure exactly what I will come up with, but I rather imagine they will cover topics such as poverty, pollution, corruption, caste and the like. I can imagine that groups of people, such as Dalits, Muslims, Christians, even Naxalites will also turn up. I really don't know. We will find out together. I might anger some people. Correction, I will anger some people. I promise, though, that I will tell the truth as reported by the Indian press; I will not exaggerate. Where will this all end? I don't know. Really, I have no idea.

This I do know, we Sikhs built India before there was a country called "India." We were the ones who fought and died and were imprisoned, tortured and executed by the British in the freedom struggle so that Mohandas K. Gandhi and his followers could claim a "nonviolent independence."


We have worked hard. After Partition, our hearts broken by the broken promises of Nehru and Gandhi, we picked up the pieces and marched forward to benefit the nation that had betrayed us. Our farmers in Punjab have fed the nation. Our soldiers have defended the nation. Our businesspeople have largely sustained the economy of the nation.


For these contributions, we are being treated to Sardar jokes, being portrayed in Bollywood as thugs and buffoons, being condemned as terrorists and, in general, being disrespected.

In short, we have lived this old saw:

WE THE WILLING LED BY THE INCOMPETENT HAVE BEEN DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE
UNGRATEFUL. WE HAVE BEEN DOING SO MUCH WITH SO LITTLE FOR SO LONG, WE ARE NOW
QUALIFIED TO DO EVERYTHING WITH NOTHING.

Some of us are sick and tired of all this.

That said, this article came to me through IHRO a couple days ago. It is about a tribal woman in Assam who has shown great courage and class in not letting herself be humiliated into silence. Let it be the first in this series.

Stripped Assam woman in poll bid

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

A tribal woman who was stripped and assaulted in India's north-eastern state of Assam is to contest the parliamentary elections.

Laxmi Oraon has been nominated by the regional Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF).

She was stripped by locals when she took part in a rally in 2007 demanding better tribal rights.

Pictures of Ms Oraon running naked across a market in Assam's capital Guwahati caused outrage in India. (Note: To preserve the dignity of the lady, I haver chosen not to use these pictures.)

Ms Oraon had joined the rally in November 2007 along with thousands of Adivasi tribespeople, who mostly work as labourers in Assam's 800 tea gardens.

The rally turned violent and the Adivasis started vandalising shops and beating up policemen and locals before they were overwhelmed by a huge number of local people.

Ms Oraon was stripped and beaten before an Assamese man took off his T-shirt, covered her and dragged her to safety.

'Taunted and teased'

Nearly 16 months later, Ms Oraon has been offered a ticket to contest the Tezpur parliamentary constituency.

"She is a symbol of Adivasi exploitation, of minority exploitation in Assam. We want her to contest the parliament polls on our ticket and she has agreed," AUDF general secretary Hafiz Rashid Choudhury said.

Ms Oraon said while accepting the nomination: "I may not win but I want to make a point. That the Adivasis will no longer take the exploitation lying down."

The AUDF is a Muslim-dominated party but claims to represent other minorities in Assam - among them the Adivasis, whose ancestors were brought from central India to work in Assam's tea estates by the former British rulers.

Assam's ruling Congress party claims to represent minorities fairly, but the AUDF has increasingly sliced into the Congress area of influence among the minorities, especially the state's 30% Muslim population.

"Our party has been set up to represent the interest of all minorities, so we cannot ignore the exploitation of the Adivasis," Mr Choudhury says.

"And Laxmi is a living symbol of this exploitation."

After her humiliation, Ms Oraon has often appeared in the media - particularly in the state of Jharkhand, where her ancestors came from.

She was an honoured guest at the launch of a book by the leader of the Jharkhand Disom party, Salkhan Murmu, in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi last April.

Ms Oraon also finished her school leaving examinations last year.

"My humiliation did not end with the stripping and beating. It followed me to the examination centre, where I was taunted and teased," she told journalists.

Ms Oraon and her family have accused the ruling party of trying to "bribe" her to stay quiet after the stripping episode. Congress firmly denied the charge.

It says it handled the issue fairly, setting up a judicial inquiry commission to identify the culprits and punish them.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7934133.stm

Published: 2009/03/10 09:20:29 GMT

© BBC MMIX

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.