Debate about the right to carry a kirpan
Should religion be an excuse for carrying daggers?
Sikhs should be allowed to carry ceremonial knives in schools and other public places, says Britain’s first Asian judge. But can religion ever justify loopholes in the law, asks philosopher Rebecca Roache.
The idea of children being allowed to carry knives while at school sounds like a red rag to a bull. But that is what Sir Mota Singh QC, Britain’s first Asian judge, who is now retired, says should be allowed. Not any old knife – but the ceremonial dagger known as the Kirpan.
The Kirpan is one of five “articles of faith” which also include Kesh (unshorn hair) and Kara (steel bangle) that are worn by practising Sikhs.
Read full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8506074.stm
Mightier than the kirpanI find it hard to justify knives being allowed in schools – be they Sikh ceremonial symbols or otherwise
Hardeep Singh Kohli The Guardian, Tuesday 9 February 2010
What do you know about Sikhism? The men wear turbans. It comes from the north-west of India. It has at its heart the five “Ks”, the kesh (long hair), kara (steel bangle worn on the right hand), kaacha (undergarment), kanga (comb) and kirpan (a ceremonial dagger); all baptised Sikhs are expected to wear the five “Ks” daily. Sikhs are regarded as the best dancers in the world. This is all unequivocally true, especially the last part.
But I’d like to concentrate on the fact that Sikhism is the only world religion that requires devotees to carry a dagger. The function of the kirpan arose from necessity. From the end of the 16th century, as the Moghuls swept through Persia into the peace-loving hinterland of the Hindus, converting them to Islam, Sikhs became defenders of freedom, guardians of religious independence, champions of tolerance; and we were willing to lay down our lives for the cause. In that context it is easy to understand why we needed daggers, which were carried with us at all times since the threat of violence was constant.
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/09/dagger-dilemma-sikhism-kirpan-schools
Language, the Nation, and Symbolic Capital: The Case of Punjab by Alyssa Ayres
Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 67, No. 3 (August 2008): 917–946.
ABSTRACT
A movement to “revive the spirit of Punjab and Punjabi” in South Asia has enabled a surprising thaw between the two Punjabs of Pakistan and India. That this revival movement has been catalyzed from within Pakistan rather than India raises intriguing questions about language, nationalism, and the cultural basis of the nation-state. Although the Punjabiyat movement bears the surface features of a classical nationalist formation—insistence upon recovering an unfairly oppressed history and literature, one unique on earth and uniquely imbued with the spirit of the local people and the local land—its structural features differ markedly. Pakistan’s Punjab has long functioned as an ethnic hegemon, the center against which other regions struggle in a search for power. Yet the Punjabiyat movement presents Punjab as an oppressed victim of Pakistan’s troubled search for national identity. This essay argues that a theory of symbolic capital best explains this otherwise peculiar inversion of perceived and actual power, and underscores culture’s critical role in the nation’s political imagination.
Read further: http://alyssaayres.com/2008/08/language-nation-symbolic-capital-punjab/
Expanding horizons by Shinder Thandi
The Tribune, 24 November, 2009
THE Sikh Studies programme at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA, began in Fall 1999 with three clear objectives: to initiate teaching of Sikh studies at UCSB; promote research and publications on Sikh studies; and work toward establishing UCSB as the leading center of Sikh and Punjab studies in North America. Five years later, in 2004, the Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies was established to further consolidate the work already undertaken and also to add further objectives, which included promotion of scholarly exchange, community outreach, teaching and promotion of Punjabi language and hosting the Journal of Punjab Studies. Measured in terms of actual achievements, the programme has far exceeded its expectations and has now emerged as the premier center for the study of Sikh tradition.
Read full article: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091124/edu.htm#1
Punjabi Poet Amarjit Chandan Receives the Anad Kav Sanman 2009
Chandan accepting award from Krishan Khanna (middle). Bhai Baldeep Singh (right).
India Islamic Cultural Centre Auditorium was a venue for an unusual celebration of the spirit of poetry, music and painting – a fusion of the folk, classical, sufi and gurbani traditions of undivided Punjab – to bring together poets, artists and musicians for a rendering of the poetry of Amarjit Chandan – the recipient of the Anad Kav Sanman, 2009 for his seminal contribution to Punjabi Poetry, and for bringing Punjabi Poetry on the International Scene.
The function began with a musical tribute to Baljit Kaur Tulsi by Rupinder Pal Kaur, who sang one of Tulsi’s poems in Raga Peelu.
Professor Namvar Singh, Hindi literary critic and Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University presided over the Award Ceremony and Krishan Khanna, the Painter, was the Chief Guest of the Second Anad Kav Tarang Festival, organized on the occasion of the conferring of the Award, instituted in the memory of a Punjabi poet, Baljit Kaur Tulsi. The award, offered to eminent poets, includes a cash prize of Rs. 2.25 lacs, a citation, a silver plate and a turban. Anad Kav Sanman is unique in South Asia in the sense that it exclusively celebrates poetic excellence to honor the memory of a woman poet.
Read full article: amarjit chandan press release
Sikh fighter pilots over Europe and Merlins in Afghanistan
The Times, 14 November, 2009
The British premiere of a documentary about British-trained Sikh fighter pilots of the First and Second World Wars is to be screened at the RAF Museum at Hendon, northwest London, on November 22. A seminar about the deployment of the Merlin helicopter in Afghanistan will be held at the same venue on March 10.
Diverse as they are, these two events illustrate what a small world of unexpected inter-relationships exists within the RAF. Both the first Sikh pilot, Flight Lieutenant Hardit Singh Malik, and the speaker at the seminar, Merlin pilot Squadron Leader Simon Reade from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, are products of No 28 Squadron RAF. Reade is the squadron’s second-in-command.
Read full article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6916305.ece
Exploring Ravidas By Daljit Ami
© Tasveer Ghar: A Digital Archive of South Asian Popular Visual Culture
Ravidas was a prominent figure in the bhakti movement and a renowned poet of the nirgun bhakti tradition that valued the worship of a formless God (Fig. 01). He lived near Banaras (also known as Varanasi or Kashi), already a major centre of spiritual learning in the 14th and 15th centuries. Belonging as he did to one of the lowest castes of Hindu society, the Chamar or tanner, the spiritual status he attained was profoundly troubling for orthodox Hindus of his time. His ancestral profession was the making and mending of shoes. Members of the Chamar caste were considered physically and ritually impure on account of their occupational contact with carcasses, and were deemed to be ‘untouchables’ in medieval Hindu society which operated according to normative values determined according to one’s place in the caste hierarchy. The reading of Sanskrit scriptures was prohibited to lower castes, and direct access to the deities of the upper castes was restricted. In such an environment, Ravidas chose to defy the priestly caste, and to worship a formless God who could be envisioned without the mediation of human intermediaries.
Read further: http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/essay/82/index.html
Tale of two Pakistans
Pakistan has been described by Newsweek magazine as “the most dangerous place in the world”. However, as intense fighting continues and casualties rise, Mohammed Hanif in Karachi says that for the moment there is still a thriving social life.
Last week I received an e-mail from the foreign editor of a European newspaper who said: “So I wonder if you could write a story for us about living in Pakistan which, looking from here, seems to be the bottom of hell.”
I was tempted to write to him and tell him that we were not at the bottom of hell yet, but we were trying hard to get there.
Or something like, yes, we are at the bottom of the hell but at least the weather is fine.
I also thought of asking whether the bottom of hell is supposed to have hole-in-the-wall cash machines and art galleries.
Read further: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8318121.stm
Popsamiti
Popsamiti paper is a collection of articles and ideas by writers and artists. Popsamiti is a free paper, a limited edition, A3 in size and printed on recycled paper. A limited limited edition includes a handloom textile sample from Akaaro.
http://www.popsamiti.com/paper.html
Popsamiti is a project curated by Tajender Sagoo. It is a platform for artists and writers to explore themes in art and culture with the aim to forge new narratives for the 21st century. A multi disciplinary project, popsamiti is a print publication, a pdf download,a website, and a debate.
Popsamiti is an attempt to move beyond being defined by post colonialism. In short, the aim is to create space for the culture of everyone.
Punjabi to be Canada’s 4th biggest language by 2011
September 26th, 2009
TORONTO – Punjabi is set to become the fourth largest spoken language in Canada by 2011 after English, French and Chinese, according to Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
The minister made the announcement Friday night after inaugurating the seventh Spinning Wheel Film Festival at the Royal Ontario Museum here that will feature films by or about Sikhs.
Read further: http://blog.taragana.com/law/2009/09/26/punjabi-to-be-canadas-4th-biggest-language-by-2011-13178/
A quiet triumph for humanity
MUCH-AWAITED REUNION: Grandmother Leelo Begum flanked by her brother Lekh Raaj and sister Kamala Devi.
It has now been nearly three months since my naani (maternal grandmother) reunited with her brother and sister. They were separated in October 1947. Witnessing the two sisters meet for the first time after that, yards forward of the family home in Mendhar (District Poonch in Indian-administered Kashmir), was nothing short of an epiphany for me.
I spent the last 22 of my 37 years trying to make this happen, and for the most part, it seemed an unattainable dream. Since April 2005, staying put in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — I came down from the United Kingdom — was my only means to ensure my dream was attained.
Read further: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/09/19/stories/2009091951480900.htm
A General And A Labyrinth
A Bully For You
Musharraf, in exile, hasn’t lost his bluster. The West, at least, pays him lip service.
Sanjay Suri on Pervez Musharraf: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261608
- Organises mehfils or singing soirees at his flat on Hyde Park Crescent. Visiting Pakistani singers perform there.
- Buys music at Ilford suburb, shops otherwise at Selfridges
- Plays a weekly game of bridge with his friend Brig (retd) Niazi Ahmed.
- Went for a 10-day cruise.
- Attends seminars, lambasts those who point fingers at him. Participated in a meeting at the British Parliament with thugs in tow. Ended in a fracas.
- Attended a function organised by Khalistanis to celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day.
- For the next three months, likely to be in Saudi Arabia. In December, it’s off to the US on a lecture tour.
WH McLeod obituary by Tony Ballantyne
New Zealand scholar and an authority on the history of Sikhism in The Guardian, Thursday 3 September 2009
William Hewat McLeod, who has died aged 76, was a scholar whose life’s work helped transform the understanding of Sikhism. He produced a remarkable series of publications and was central in establishing Sikh studies as a distinctive field. Although his own work was careful, measured and judicious, it frequently provoked controversy.
Hew, as he was known, was born and raised in a farming family near Fielding, in New Zealand‘s North Island. He completed his schooling at Nelson college before attending the University of Otago, Dunedin, where he undertook a BA and then an MA in history. He also met Margaret Wylie there, and in May 1955 they got married.
Hew then began theological studies and in 1958, with his wife and son, Rory, joined the New Zealand Presbyterian church’s mission to Punjab. At Kharar, in Punjab, he learned Hindi and Punjabi as well as teaching English at the Christian Boys secondary school. He found that his lack of training as a language teacher and his New Zealand accent made this task difficult.
Read in full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/03/w-h-mcleod-obituary
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