Researcher: Dr. Kiran S. K. Arora
Study: Religious Discrimination and Race-Related Stress among North American Sikhs.

We are interested in conducting research with Sikhs living in North America. The purpose of the study is to examine how experiences of religious discrimination and race-related stress may impact the relationships, mental health, and overall well-being of Sikhs. To gather this information, we are looking for individuals over the age of 18, who self-identify as Sikh, and are living in North America, to complete a set of anonymous questionnaires online.

This study hopes to contribute to a dearth of academic literature on Sikhs and their families. Your contribution is valuable, as it would provide insight for family therapists and other mental health professionals working with Sikh families. Your participation is strictly voluntary. Confidentiality is of utmost importance, and measures will be taken to protect your identity.

The purpose of this announcement is to alert you to the research project and invite you to ask any questions you may have about this project. You may contact Dr. Kiran S. K. Arora at Kiran.Arora@umb.edu if you are interested in participating, or learning more about the study. To learn more about the study or participate, you may also go to https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=153728.

In a process that took three decades, Sajjan Kumar, a leader in India’s Congress Party, was recently acquitted for his well-documented involvement in the anti-Sikh pogroms during November 1984 in which thousands of Sikhs were murdered in three days in the country’s capital city. Five co-accused were convicted. (Source: Live Mint)

About two months ago, I observed the continuing engagement by representatives of the Indian government with the Sikh American community, which in that instance took the form of an exhibition on Sikh heritage in Atlanta, Georgia, sponsored by the Government of India. This exhibit has just recently been presented in Washington, D.C., as well, and it is consistent with increased engagement and activity related to the Sikh American community — be it directly, or through lobbying of US officials — by representatives of India. The increasing effort by Indian officials to promote the Sikh community in the United States is problematic, however, as it runs contrary to India’s track record with the Sikhs in its own borders over the past several decades.

Whether in the aftermath of a hate crime (such as in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, or recently in Fresno, California), or in what appears a deliberate attempt to brand the Sikh identity with Indian nationalism, representatives of the Indian government are insisting that they be the custodians of the Sikh community in the United States.

To an observer unaware of context, there would seem nothing out of the ordinary with such engagement by representatives of the Government of India. Historically, Sikhs originated in the Punjab area of what is now Pakistan and India, and since the Partition of British India in 1947 to create those countries, the majority of the world’s Sikh population resides in India. Many Sikh Americans have strong ties to Punjab on both religious and personal bases. And, certainly, as India’s Ambassador to the United States recently wrote to me on Twitter, there is a role for the Embassy in protecting the interests of Indian nationals — presumably, this includes Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and others — in the United States. (It must be remembered, of course, that many Sikhs and others have no proximate ethnic or familial ties to India — having adopted Sikhism later in life or having been born and brought up in the United States, in some cases for several generations.)

It is not difficult to see where this expression of solidarity with Sikh Americans is problematic, and where this role presents a conflict for India’s representatives.

When India’s representatives in the United States are hosting “Sikh heritage” exhibitions to promote the Sikh people as “the shield of India,” or insisting on their place in addressing Sikh American civil rights issues such as hate crimes and discrimination, this activity is in stark contrast with the Indian Government’s own well-documented participation and lack of responsibility around the severest of human rights abuses of Indian nationals within its own borders. Specifically, in but one example, India has itself failed to adequately address the horror of the anti-Sikh pogroms in November, 1984, when thousands of Sikhs were butchered, burned alive and raped in the streets of Delhi in just three days by organized and unfettered mobs. From complacency to active participation, government officials and police agencies have long been implicated, and various human rights organizations (such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International) have lamented both India’s refusal to administer justice for the surviving victims and its protecting of government officials who were responsible. In fact, even the US Council for International Religious Freedom continues to track India for its failure to administer justice for these abuses towards its religious communities. Recently, the White House itself asserted its condemnation of the anti-Sikh pogroms of 1984.

In this disconnect between the stances taken related to the Sikhs in India versus the Sikhs in the United States, the recent public relations effort appears as little more than a propaganda campaign to maintain a colonial ownership over the Sikh American community — one that is slowly increasing in prominence and organization. It is difficult to see these efforts as more. There is nary a mention by Indian officials in the United States of the more recent history of suffering of the Sikhs during 1984 and beyond, nor is there any concern shown for the obfuscation of justice in India towards Sikh and other communities that still continues today. For India’s representatives in the United States to “promote Sikh heritage” on one hand, and deny recent and painful Sikh history on the other (and attempt to deflect attention by defaming anyone who nonviolently raises concern about human rights as a terrorist or extremist), is certainly a scenario that begs many questions.

If representatives of the Indian government wish to present themselves as allies of the Sikh American community, they must start by first becoming so for the Sikhs in India. Until justice for large-scale and decades-old human rights abuses exacted by complicit governments, agencies and officials towards Sikhs in India is achieved, it is difficult to accept with any legitimacy the overtures made towards the Sikh community in the United States.

[Cross-posted on American Turban]

Two of my fellow Sidakers from the class of 2012 have written wonderful blog posts that are succinct and tell you concisely what their Sidak experience was like. Please do give them a read: Santbir Singh on Sikhchic  “Why I’ll Be There.” and Ruby Kaur on Sikhnet with the aptly titled, “Amazing Sidak.”  It should come as no surprise that my post about my experience is long, but I’ve inserted photos to hide this fact.

Last July was a busy one for me. I attended a playwriting workshop in Cape Cod, and directly after that, it was off to Texas for two weeks of Sidak, an experience I still find difficult to put into words. It is officially:

“a distinctive leadership development program for young adults seeking to increase their commitment towards the Sikh faith. This two-week intensive immersion in Sikh culture, language, values and community though understanding bānī (scripture), tvārīkh (history), and rahit (discipline), is held annually in the Hill Country of San Antonio, Texas.”

There is nothing I disagree with in their description, but to me it is much more than just those things. I first learned about Sidak from a blog post on TLH by Sharandeep Singh, and I was very enticed by the Gurmukhi course. So enticed, I applied, despite my initial reservations. Those reservations were primarily based on the fact that I didn’t fit into the perceived demographic I had pinged in my head as the sort of person who would attend Sidak. I’m not a Sikh active in my community (at least not in the conventional sense), the gurduara, or even someone who had grown up attending Sikh youth camps, except one year at Jakara when I was 30 (http://ow.ly/l2F6X). I’m in my mid-30s, occasionally go to the gurduara, and while I read, write, and speak Punjabi “relatively well,” I am not well versed in Sikh theological terminology. I had no idea what the difference between a tuk, a var, or a bani were, when they’d be used in class or during Divan.

So, of course, I took the most intensive track: Gurmukhi 101, taught by S.P. Singh, who was surprisingly really funny, very helpful, and thoroughly engaging with the driest material in the world: grammar. His profile photo on the Sikhri site is decidedly very serious, like a Masterji, waiting for you to screw up your pronunciation, so he can take out a wooden bat and smack you one (http://www.sikhri.org/people-staff.html). But he was fantastic. Really patient with all of us, and eager not just to spout off information or to prove how much more he knows than us, which became evident very quickly, but so interested in making sure we understood what was going on. And his tangents were sometimes mesmerizing, other times funny, and always insightful. Often, they were a mix of all three, a feat to pull off.

Most of what we did in the class was dissect grammatical patterns, find some very interesting connections with root words, and understand how transliteration worked. But we’d often take segues, discussions would briefly get into controversial areas, quickly return to our lesson objectives. He even made a point with bani designed just to be a grammatical exercise that our Gurus had a great sense of humour (something I had never even taken into consideration) and he effortlessly cited several banis that illustrated this. And S.P. Singh himself has a really mordant sense of humor that was thoroughly infectious, like when he’d look at you glum-faced when you answered a question correctly, watch as you go through second-guessing yourself, and then declare, “You are right!” During the short breaks, he’d listen to Public Enemy and dissect the lyrics with very amusing, but insightful analysis. “Ehh kehnda ussi rab nu – apna God jeda  – onu kuthe varga treat karde ne.” (He is saying that we treat our God like a dog,” referring to Public Enemy’s, “ Is your God a Dog?” track.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO9SOJ-vcgA

The instructors, as well as fellow Sidakers, do not shy away from controversial topics such as the discussion of meat for amritdhari Sikhs. We were even able to read various rehat maryadas in their original text. All of the instructors, without exception, were great at keeping our interest and keeping us engaged. I never felt there was a moment of busy work. Everything was relevant. I was really surprised that all of the instructors were so passionate about their subject and so readily available to chat. They often just hung out in the langar hall, even after hours, or outside their rooms (which are amazing and super clean).

Moments after I had arrived at the airport, Inderpreet Singh rolled up in his car to come pick me up.  Sitting in the back seat was Ruby Kaur, who had flown in from Philadelphia. We spoke briefly about what brought us to Sidak and gave vague reasons. She was taking Sikhi 101, didn’t speak Punjabi very well, couldn’t read or write Gurmukhi, and wanted to understand Sikhi from the ground up. (Yet she managed to sing a shabad in its entirety by the end of the second week, and followed along with Asa ki Vaar, even without the aid of the iSikhi app, rendered useless if you can’t write Gurmukhi.)  I told her I was taking Gurmukhi 101 because although I can read and write Gurmukhi (very slowly), I want to understand the Guru Granth Sahib on a deeper level, particularly its structure, grammar, and poetry.

During the drive, Inderpreet told us he was one of the instructors, that he and his sister, Jasmine Kaur, grew up in Japan, and then expounded on how succulent Texas barbeque was. Then, just as we entered the compound of where we’d be staying for two weeks for Sidak 2012, he said, “but there’ll be none of that here. You’ll only be eating vegetarian food the entire time.” Fortunately, the food was absolutely delicious and included quite a bit of creativity. It’s strange to think back to this first day because every doubt and reservation I had about coming to Sidak in the first place went out of the window. I felt very much at home. The second day, Jasmine Kaur, Inderpreet Singh’s sister, laid down the law. But after a few days, once order had been established, she was constantly smiling and brightening up our day, alongside Sara Stroo, and between the two of them (and a great kitchen crew), they pretty much handle everything that makes the lives of us Sidakers run smoothly.  And the food is top notch. Sara even adds little smiley faces with jalapenos to some of the dishes.

The next day, I met my roommate, fellow Gurmukhi 101 student Tripat Singh, who looks scary before he opens his mouth. The first thing he said to me was, “Mind if I put some stuff on the bathroom counter?” I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Go for it,” and he promptly filled the entire area with scented oils for his beard and hair. Lavender. By way of explanation, he told me he was an acupuncturist. This explained nothing, but he let me use the lavender, so I didn’t care. He wore this intriguing turban (not in this picture) that he told me was a Kenyan style, which he  just liked the look of. He had no links to Africa. It was utterly fascinating being his roommate. And being able to ask him intimate questions on his experience with Sikhi, which I later was able to pose to others, but he was really the first one to be so forthcoming. And aromatic. He was also really tidy, folding all his clothes neatly into the drawers, maintaining a separate laundry bag, his turbans all in the storage space above. Meanwhile my kacha and banian were flung across the room the second I came back from class, my face flat against the pillow. Somehow I managed to brush my teeth and shower before passing out from all the work we had to do. Make no mistake, when they say the workload is intense, it’s not a joke. Or a metaphor. But it’s also an incredibly rewarding experience, and it surpassed every expectation I had.

Oak Creek took place during our first divan, and rather than get caught up in the despair, I was so impressed by how quickly Sidakers organized things. And I still remember the best piece of advice from Santbir Singh that reverberates in my ears everytime I hear someone talk about Sikhi in the shadow of Christianity: “speak from a place of pride, not of shame. Don’t talk about who we are not; talk about who we are.” Words applicable in any situation (http://thelangarhall.com/activism/shooting-at-oak-creek-gurdwara/)

My primary motivation for taking Gurmukhi 101 was oddly not spiritual. At least I didn’t think it was. I wanted to be able to understand it in a structured academic course – and not one taught by some dude whose qualifications were that he was from Punjab and could speak Punjabi.  I didn’t even know where to start because I had no interest in solely reading translations, and I couldn’t quite figure out why I couldn’t understand the vocabulary written in the Guru Granth Sahib, but could understand modern spoken Punjabi.  And certainly a major driving force is that I live in the NYC area, while my parents are in California, so trying to instill Sikhi to my daughter, who is three now, was a huge factor as well.

Almost as soon as I returned from Sidak, I began a year-long intensive fiction program at the CUNY Writers’ Institute in New York City, and during workshop of my novel-in-progress, which centers on a father-son relationship, using the backdrop of 9/11 and 1984, I would constantly receive comments like, “These foreign words need to be translated.” A pre-Sidak me may have translated langar hall to community kitchen, or the Guru Granth Sahib to Sikh Holy Book. I’m not as easily swayed now, and I have Sidak to thank for helping bring out that confidence.  It also gave me a sense of community I didn’t know I needed. The idea of sangat, as Harinder said during one of our divans, “is transformative. If you’re not being transformed, it’s not a sangat. It’s just hanging out.”

Everyone’s experience at Sidak is obviously very different. And I recommend any of the tracks with the following caveate: this is not a camp atmosphere with ample time for socializing, nor will there be an opportunity to wear fancy clothes.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn and deepen your knowledge, as well as interact with other Sidakers and instructors. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone even mildly interested in exploring Sikhi either as a stepping stone or to deepen their study in a structured academic environment, and it’s loads of fun too. As important as the actual courses are, equally as important is the sangat, who I found to be very supportive, friendly, intelligent, and I am in touch with a majority of them via social media (read my post on the lighter side of Sidak: http://ow.ly/l2zH0).  Sidak allows you the rare opportunity to read academically, think critically, do homework that is graded, ask questions, and be thrown straight into the deep end by requiring you to not only do coursework, but wake up in time for divan, attend evening Rehras Sahib, help with seva duties, and actually listen and think. It’s startling how things I thought I knew were so quickly dismantled, forcing me to re-examine everything. And that’s the way I think it should be. Not learning just for the objective of coming up with the one correct answer, but to start asking the questions for yourself and embarking on a path towards the right direction.

Check out http://www.sikhri.org/sidak-training-development.html for information on applying to Sidak 2013.

Yesterday, a Guatemalan court found Rios Montt, now 86 years old, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. He came to power in 1982 in a US-backed coup and oversaw “a scorched-earth policy in which troops massacred thousands of indigenous villagers. He entered the court on Friday to boos and cries of ‘Justicia!’ or justice. Prosecutors say Rios Montt turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape, torture and arson to try to rid Guatemala of leftist rebels during his 1982-1983 rule, the most violent period of a 1960-1996 civil war in which as many as 250,000 people.” (link)

Rios Montt awaiting the verdict in Guatemala. (source: New York Times)

The former dictator has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for genocide and 30 more from crimes against humanity. This is the first time in history that a head of state has been found guilty of committing genocide in his or her own country. The significance of this conviction cannot be overstated for the people of Guatemala as well as other parts of Latin America and the world where genocidal tyrants have never been held accountable for their atrocities.

What we’re not hearing much about in the US news coverage of this unprecedented trial is the US government’s role in Guatemala at the time (and earlier, beginning with the CIA coup against Arbenz in 1954, essentially for the benefit of the United Fruit Company). While there is much to celebrate in this conviction, key architects and underwriters of these policies of terror in Guatemala (and other parts of Latin America) have faced no consequences for their instrumental role in the genocide. Efrain Rios Montt was trained by the US Army at the school formerly known as the School of the Americas, infamous for training Latin American soldiers and leaders in the art of torture and repression. Rios Montt was close ally of the Reagan Administration, which considered his leadership style necessary in the so-called fight against communism. Revolutionary struggles were building in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and the Reagan Administration saw to it that they would be crushed as would anything or anyone that posed a real or perceived threat against multinationals corporations exploiting the continent’s rich natural resources.  In practice, what this meant in Guatemala (and elsewhere) was if you are indigenous and/or poor, you must be a leftist and thus, you must be silenced, intimidated, and/or killed.

Sound familiar?

Strangely enough, I learned about the brutal US-backed dictatorships in Latin America years before I learned about Operation Blue Star and the months and years of terror that came after in north India. It was not until senior year of college when I decided to do a research paper on 1984 that my eyes really began to open. The stories of disappearances, of systematic torture, of rape, of setting people and villages on fire, sounded disturbingly similar to the stories of Rios Montt’s Guatemala, Pinochet’s Chile, Trujillo’s Dominican Republic. In all cases, targeted, ruthless violence against a specific community was obscured by claims of ad hoc guerilla groups or “communal riots” being behind the terror. In Guatemala and elsewhere in Latin America, anti-communism justified everything, in India anti-terrorism. In Latin American indigenous people, poor people, and leftists paid the price, in India, Sikhs. In all cases, thousands upon thousands were tortured, imprisoned, and killed by government forces themselves or agents of the government (i.e. civilians paid off and armed by the police or Army).

As Sikhs are still waiting (and fighting for) justice for what our families and communities endured in India, perhaps we can learn from our Guatemalan brothers and sisters who successfully tried and convicted a former head of state who once seemed untouchable. Perhaps we can also learn from the overlapping stories of both horror and survival and resistance in the face of horror from Latin America. While there is much to celebrate in yesterday’s conviction in Guatemala, we know that the status quo of impunity still rules in most parts of the world. Hopefully Guatemala will inspire us to continue even stronger in our struggles for justice and accountability.

In his groundbreaking 2001 book Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting, Vijay Prashad explains the anti-black racism so pervasive in our communities:

But all people of color do not feel that their struggle is a shared one. Some of my South Asian bretheren…feel that we should take care of our own and now worry about the woes of others, that we should earn as much money as possible, slide under the radar of racism, and care only about the prospects of our own children…

Since blackness is reviled in the United States, why would an immigrant, of whatever skin color, want to associate with those who are racially oppressed, particularly when the transit into the United States promises the dream of gold and glory? The immigrant seeks a form of vertical assimilation, to climb from the lowest, darkest echelon on the stepladder of tyranny into the brightness of whiteness.

Indeed, South Asians and other immigrants have long distanced themselves from Black Americans for generations. This is not only a consequence of racial politics in the United States, but of racial and cultural dynamics in South Asia (and other parts of the world) that often rely on (false) notions of cultural and national identities existing in vacuums.

Given this often depressing storyline, it is crucial to understand that South Asian and African people have been interacting, sharing, and co-creating for hundreds of years. Prashad’s 2001 book documents some of this fascinating history from the subcontinent to the Caribbean, as he puts forward an alternative to liberal multiculturalism, which implies that cultures are mutually exclusive and are to be preserved. Instead, he suggests a paradigm shift towards polyculturalism, which, unlike multiculturalism, “assumes that people live coherent lives that are made up of a host of lineages–the task of the historian is not to carve out the lineages but to make sense of how people live culturally dynamic lives. Polyculturalism is a ferocious engagement with the political world of culture, a painful embrace of the skin and all its contradictions.”

In this polycultural spirit, I was excited and fascinated by this recent program that aired on Public Radio International last week called African Sounds of the Indian Subcontinent. The program and accompanying photo essay document the musical connections between Africa and South Asia, from African influenced Sufi trance music to jazz in Hindi film music to Afro-Indo-Portuguese Baila music in Sri Lanka. You can listen to the entire program below.

Uncovering these little known histories is essential to our communities unlearning so many misconceptions about people of African descent, who are so often seen as so different from us and so seen as the “other.” Indeed, our histories are deeply intertwined, as are our futures.

Earlier this year the Center for South Asia at Stanford University along with the Jakara Movement hosted its 4th annual Sikholars Conference (see the recap here).  This successful endeavor bringing the latest academic research with an engaged community audience allows for fruitful discussion and exchange.  Not limiting this event only to California, Sikholars conferences and workshops have been previously held in British Columbia, Canada and now in London, UK.  Teaming up with Queen Mary College, University of London and Singh Sabha Southall, the Jakara Movement is proud to present Sikholars London.

For those in the UK (looking at you @Blighty), hope you get to check it out and experience Sikholars – London.  For more information visit their website here.

Editorial note: the author talked to her colleagues on the Sikh Feminist Research Institute’s editorial board about why they are feminists. This blog post collects their views to mark the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi, which took place this weekend.

Image via Kaur Illustration

When you hear the words ‘Sikh feminist’ what images does it bring to mind? Perhaps it evokes a general image of Asian women holding placards and angrily protesting? Or maybe it reminds one of a grand warrior saint like Mai Bhago riding her horse into battle? Or possibly a more contemporary incident comes to mind, like the one of Balpreet Kaur who last year deflected taunts from an Internet troll by eloquently explaining why she decides to keep her facial hair in a society where women are largely pressured to be perfectly formed and hairless. Or maybe it evokes none of these images.

As editorial board members of a Sikh feminist body we feel compelled to express our philosophy as a proactive and empowered one. All of us look to the Sikh (and non-Sikh) values of equality, honesty and strength (among many others), to anchor our lives in an everyday spirituality. But that doesn’t mean our motivation has always rooted from a positive place.

One of us was sexually assaulted which absolutely shattered a personal notion that being strong, assertive and smart can keep you insulated from an attack. If anything, it laid bare the vulnerability that exists if you happen to be born a woman in a world that can devalue one so extremely and how that devaluation is integrated into the culture and system we live with. A culture and system which many men and women internalise – sometimes, to a massive extent.

Others on the editorial board have seen the way prejudices have been laced into our and our family’s day-to-day lives and this has made feminism a requisite to our existence. A big question that has run through all of our minds as we grew up: if Sikhism advocates equality then why do women take a backseat in so many areas of life? Why are women not always allowed to go where they want to go or to speak up truly about what they feel? Why, in some Sikh families is a male baby still celebrated more than a female baby? If we are truly equal and free, why are we sometimes told that these questions should not even allowed to be asked?

We believe feminism is at the core of the Sikh religious philosophy, which is actually quite a mystical one that encourages peeling back the layers of manmade conventions that society has imposed over history and time. We believe this includes the gender labels that have become entrenched and accepted without question, in our daily lives over aeons. Unravelling these layers will lead to a greater recognition of each other as equal but different souls, all of whom deserve to sing their unique song.

Others may say Sikhism has a more universal and humanistic core. But we argue that to get to the universal and humanistic, you have to go through the feminism. If we have a vision of universal equality, that is great; but for women to be a part of that, they must be treated equal to men and in many, many instances, like some of our personal experiences have shown, they are not. But not only that, men must see how their roles as men can be much, much more than patriarchy and culture has led them to believe. This is where feminism comes in. It requires women and men to reflect on how they may or may not be contributing to this idea of equality between the sexes. It is not an aggressive stand-off, it is an honest listening, exchange and collaboration.

As we usher in this new year after the Sikh celebration of Vaisakhi, we hope the spring that approaches is not just one that will affect the weather but also a new beginning for the way we interpret women’s role in Sikhism, Asian culture and the world. We must continue to fight against violence and blatant degradation against women (and men). But let us highlight the empowering traits and roles of women in Sikhism (and other cultures and religions) past, present and future as inspiration to move towards a truer equality.

Cross-posted at: the f word blog

As something as horrifying as this afternoon in Boston is literally unfolding, as we are worrying about loved ones who may be affected, we already have to worry about the consequences of backlash violence. We have to worry about the sensationalism in the media. We have to worry about being attacked because of the color of skins, the turbans or hijabs on our heads, the beards on our faces. I pray that people in the United States and beyond have learned something in the last 11 and a half years. I pray that the collective response to today will be drastically different from the knee-jerk racism that pervaded the days, weeks, months, and years after 9/11/01.

But honestly, I’m not so sure how hopeful I am.

Already, the New York Post reported that the suspect is a 20-year-old Saudi national being guarded at a Boston hospital, a claim that has been refuted by the Boston Police Department. The Post, hardly known for objective, fact-based journalism (see my 2011 piece on “Turban Warfare“), also reported that 12 were killed in today’s explosions, while the police department has reported two dead. Reporting like this contributes to the frenzy and fear that allow bigotry to thrive. The kind of bigotry that killed Balbir Singh Sodhi in Phoenix on September 15, 2001. The kind of bigotry that put Rajinder Singh Khalsa in the hospital in 2004 in Richmond Hill. The kind of bigotry that burned down the Joplin mosque and attacked several other Muslim houses of worship and schools last year. The kind of bigotry that reigned terror on Oak Creek, Wisconsin on August 5, 2012.

Some right wing pundits have been even more blatantly racist this afternoon in response to the explosions. Fox News commentator Erik Rush went so far as to tweet this afternoon that Muslims are evil, and “Let’s kill them all” after immediately blaming the explosions on Muslim terrorists without any evidence.

As of this writing at 7pm EST on April 15th, no arrests have been made. We know very little about what is behind this horrific afternoon in Boston, yet it is already clear who is going to pay the price, regardless of the facts.

“Indians, many of whom were Sikh, worked at the Hammond Mill before its demise in 1922. During that time period, the Indians left their mark on Astoria, participating in wrestling matches, occupying Alderbrook also known as “Hindu Alley,” and forming the Ghadar political party. Courtesy of Clatsop County Historical Society.” (source: The Daily Astorian)

One of the legacies of the earliest Sikh and Indian immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century was the creation of the Ghadar Party, a political movement based in northern California that sought to promote India’s liberation from British rule.

Led by Indian expatriates in the United States, the Ghadar Party was formed in 1913. One of its main activities was the publishing of literature to promote resistance to British rule and for a free India. Obviously a threat to the ruling class, the literature was banned in India, and upon their capture, the Ghadarites were often imprisoned or executed as terrorists by the British.

This year, the San Francisco headquarters of the Ghadar Party has been opened to the public by the Indian Consulate as a museum. The printing press that the Ghadar Party used to print their literature is also now on display at the Gurdwara in Stockton, California. However, while it was previously believed that the Ghadar Party was founded in California, historians now place the genesis of the movement further north in the state of Oregon, where Johanna Ogden recently mapped a forgotten (and primarily) Sikh settlement of laborers in 1910 known as “Hindu Alley”.

According to an article in The Daily Astorian, it now appears that before California, the Ghadar Party was seeded in Oregon one hundred years ago by this group of laborers in Astoria, a small labor town along the Columbia River.

“…the Daily Budget printed a notice on May 30, 1913, announcing an invitation to hear Har Dyal, a Stanford professor and “noted philosopher and revolutionist in India.” Dyal delivered a lecture on India. His presentation sparked the founding of the Ghadar party, a revolutionary nationalist party that was “an uncompromising and radical new direction for Indian nationalist politics.”

The Ghadar Party was founded in a meeting that took place in Finnish Socialist Hall in Astoria before the movement became based in Stockton and San Francisco in California. This discovery offers significant insight as we follow the steps of the earliest Sikh and Indian immigrants to this country.

This October, this historical significance will not to be forgotten as the City of Astoria will be commemorating the founding of the Ghadar Party one hundred years ago in their city. Johanna Ogden and noted Sikh American historian Dr. Bruce La Brack have been involved in documentation of this history and the growing plans for the centenary celebration. In a recent appeal to the Sikh community (see below), Dr. La Brack describes the process that has led to the celebration of this historical milestone for Astoria and for Sikh Americans.

This historic event deserves our attention and demands our participation. If you would like more information or can act as a resource, please contact Johanna Ogden or Dr. La Brack at the contact information listed at the end of their message to the Sikh community, below.

To the Sikh Community,

We wish to announce some exciting developments related to evolving plans by the City of Astoria, Oregon, to celebrate the centenary of the founding meeting of the Ghadar Party in that city, currently scheduled for October 1-5, 2013.

Further, we wish to seek your advice, and, perhaps, eventual participation in this event, to ensure a Sikh presence and input in these activities. To understand how this all came about, permit me give you some background, because it is rather unusual set of events that has led to this point.

In April 2011, I was contacted by the editor of the Oregon Historical Quarterly asking me to review an article submitted to them on the topic: “Ghadar, Historical Silences, and Notions of Belonging: Early 1900s Punjabis of the Columbia River.” Eventually, this article appeared in Vol. 113 (Summer 2012), No. 2, pp.164-197, of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. I thought it was an intriguing and well-researched account of early Sikh pioneer life in Oregon employing original documents, photography, and a variety of historical sources. The author, Johanna Ogden, drew upon her University of British Columbia MA thesis (2010), Oregon and Global Insurgency: Punjabis of the Columbia River Basin, for this article. We eventually met (she also lives in Portland, Oregon) and found we had many academic research interests in common.

This past November Johanna and I gave an invited public presentation, “From The Dalles to Astoria: Re-Remembering Punjabis of Early 1900’s Oregon,” at the History Pub Monday sponsored, in part, by the Oregon Historical Society and held at McMenamins Kennedy School. We were amazed that almost three 300 people attended, many of whom were surprised to learn that Sikhs had ever immigrated to Oregon, let alone been involved in the founding of a radical political movement that began in Astoria.

We were encouraged by many of the audience to make this apparently forgotten chapter in Oregon history more widely known. Through a set of fortuitous circumstances, Ms. Ogden and I eventually began correspondence with various historical and governmental groups in Astoria, explaining to them how central their town was in the formation of Ghadar, and the subsequent national and international implications of that event.

program of the same topic in Astoria to make the community more aware of this part of their local history. On February 10th, at the invitation of Karen Mellin, who President of the Astoria City Council, we visited Astoria where we met with a number of local historians, politicians, and community members. From there, things moved rather quickly and what was to be a single-evening presentation has, in one month, morphed into proposals for a full scale, city-sponsored celebration of Ghadar and early Punjabi immigrants! While we are working on the many details yet to be decided, it appears that activities may include: a festival of Sikh or Sikh-themed films (mostly documentary); a public display of portions of the UC-Berkeley “Echoes of Freedom” traveling exhibit with additional panels on Oregon-specific history; and some type of public symposia or modest lecture/conference held at the local junior college.

The mayor has already issued a proclamation (attached) and things are moving rapidly forward. Astoria is even considering initiating a “Sister City” relationship with Amritsar. I am very grateful for the enthusiasm of the Astoria community and their support for a Ghadar celebration. However, we all are concerned that since there are few local Sikhs in the area, that somehow the celebration might evolve to be largely a non-Sikh affair, which seems both a bit odd and awkward, at least to us. The Astoria organizers are quite open to any suggestions about how to insure that contemporary Sikh perspectives are represented.

I think Sikhs and Punjabis, not only in the US West Coast and Canada, but perhaps even in India, might be interested in this kind of event. Some might even wish to participate in it and/or share their constructive suggestions about how to structure the celebration to appropriately include Sikh viewpoints. We have been in touch with, among many others, Harish Puri, and he is considering coming to Astoria in October.

This notice is simply to let you know about this rather unexpected and potentially significant civic event. While Johanna Ogden and I set this in motion, it will be largely planned and executed by the City of Astoria, although we shall continue to act as consultants to the council and will be part of the October events.

If you wish to correspond with either Ms. Ogden or me, we would appreciate hearing from you. We will share your suggestions with the appropriate officials. Since the date of the celebration is only a bit over eight months away, sooner would be better than later if you have any ideas or suggestions related to the event. We look forward to corresponding with anyone interested in helping to assure the Astoria Ghadar centennial celebration is a successful educational event.

Sincerely,
Bruce La Brack

Contact Information
Bruce La Brack
2349 NE 17th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97212
Cell: 209-471-8318
Home phone: 503-288-0581
blabrack@pacific.edu

Johanna Ogden
503-502-1377
johannaogden@yahoo.com

[Cross-posted on American Turban]

Today, the government of India has once again proved why it’s claim to being the world’s largest democracy is laughable. Not to mention the media in India, which claims to be fair and democratic in nature, however, this is simply not the case. India’s media is clearly state run and its news outlets make stories that create divides within communities. Why am I saying all this?

Sadda Haq is a fictional movie based on real events surrounding the militancy era in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s. Showing accounts of “false encounters” and police brutality, the movie aims to show why average citizens were forced to take up arms against the oppressive regime. The movie was set to release worldwide today on April 5, 2013. Although the Indian Government can’t ban the movie worldwide, the Punjab government did manage to ban the movie in Punjab and other parts of India in just a few hours prior to its opening after the movie was privately screened to Punjab Police members and state government officials.

These officials who watched the private screening included the likes of DGP Sumedh Saini. Interestingly enough, the ban comes from the Punjab government run by Parkash Badal of the Akali Party, a party that is supposed to represent Sikh interests, but at the same time has promoted Saini to the ranks of DGP(Deputy General of Police) even after countless human rights claims exist against him for his participation in the post 1984 Punjab genocide of Sikh youth.

Over the past few days the Indian news outlets have been talking about Sadda Haq being a controversial film promoting Khalistan. It is no doubt that Sadda Haq discusses the militancy era, but its aim is to show the truth that has been pushed under the rug by the government and media.

The media has been stating that sentiments have been hurt with Jazzy B’s promotional song for the movie, “Baghi,” in which Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s name is slated alongside Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Balwant Singh Rajoana. How is the media making this claim?

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is a household name in Sikh homes. His picture adorns the walls of many homes and ballads of his actions are sung in Gurdwaras across the world. Balwant Singh Rajoana’s execution was put on hold due to the Sikh nation coming together only a year ago. I am not expressing an opinion on either individual, but rather stating that the media’s “outrage” of Guru Gobind Singh Ji being named in the same line as Bhindranwale and Rajoana is factless and baseless. The Sikh nation is not offended by the song, as it has reached over 200,000 views on YouTube and 1,800+ likes compared to only 160 dislikes.

The media then expresses outrage the Bhagat Singh’s name is used alongside Rajoana. Has the media forgotten India’s history? Bhagat Singh was wanted for the murder and for throwing bombs in the assembly hall. For the British, he was a rebel or “baghi.” In the same light, Balwant Singh Rajoana is in jail for his connection with then CM Beant Singh’s assassination. Rajoana’s actions are not seen any different from Bhagat Singh’s action- however, the Indian media fails to recognize this.

My strife is with the biased and one-sided new reports coming from Punjab. Whereas the movie is being called “Khalistani” and Sikh groups advocating for its release are being called “radical,” extremist groups such as Shiv Sena are giving open threats to kill people if the movie is released. Shiv Sena has also threatened to kill singers like Jazzy B for singing such songs. However, not once is this news being spread on the mainstream news channels. Furthermore, Shiv Sena is never mentioned as a “radical” Hindu group.

The views of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and Balwant Singh Rajoana are views of the Sikh nation. From the Sikh perspective collectively advocated via the Akal Takth, Bhindranwale is a martyr, and Rajoana is a living martyr. The news outlets should not report false news to divide the community. No Sikhs have taken offense to these individuals being mentioned together in the same line as Guru Gobind Singh Ji, so there is no reason that the state run media should play pretend and present a distorted picture.

Sadda Haq has been banned in Punjab due to the harsh realities it has portrayed. The movie will most likely be watched by thousands across the world where bans are impossible to enforce. Unfortunately, the Indian media resort to old tactics claiming that support for a revolution is only present in nations outside India, and those living in Punjab do not support such actions. Gauging such support in Punjab will be impossible if the movie is banned. However, the move to ban Sadda Haq in Punjab, the support shown for Jazzy B’s song, the Sikh nation rising for Rajoana a year ago, and the household name of Bhindranwale, only show that the Sikh nation yearns for a change.

As long as the Sikh nation is plagued by state run media, corrupt politicians, and sold out religious leaders the Sikh nation will continue its uphill battle to show the world what really occurred and continues to occur in its homeland of Punjab. After first expressing support for the movie, the SGPC has now become mum on the subject. If the SGPC was to truly represent the views of the Sikh nation, then it should speak for the people- that’s how democracy works.

Indians have already been presented a biased view for almost 30 years in regards to the atrocities committed during the 80′s and 90′s. The biased news reports, and showing “some” Sikhs being anti-national has given the impression to Indians that only some “radical” Sikhs care about 1984, and most Sikhs are over it.

The truth is that you can not move past an event or even forget an event when the event was never even remembered. So long as the truth is withheld and the events are portrayed falsely, Sikhs will continue to feel alienated. If India truly wants to include the Sikh nation, it needs to bring the culprits to justice, it needs to allow freedom of speech, and its citizens need to stand with their Sikh/Punjabi brothers and sisters and ensure that such injustices are never committed again and that those responsible for past acts are convicted. Otherwise, the old saying goes that, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”