HSD1

This is mind-blowing.

I've always said these people were no friends of Sikhs.

Eh? I told some of you a few years ago that some juicy stuff would come out in 2014. Most of you said it wouldnt be surprising, I presumed this wasnt going to come as a surprise to you. After all we have had the Wikileaks revelations that American mercenary companies were wary of supporting the Indian govt during the late 80s because of the CIA's position on the Khalistan issue (which was that it was a good sideshow to prevent India helping their commie buddies in Afghanistan rather than some love of Sikh independence). Though after 1989 they were happy to take contracts as British mercenary companies had done already.

So where do we go from here? Obviously the munshis in Whitehall are getting our taxes worth out of their shredders so that any documents that do come out give a positive spin. Or support the 'honest, it wasnt us gov' narrative.

FIrst they'll probably ask for proof that the SAS actually provided any help in planning the actual attack. No doubt ignoring the fact that the Indian govt had built a replica of the temple for planning for some kind of attack (a training tactic common among the SAS and SBS) and the SAS officer probably didnt just wander around the Taj Mahal on his trip.

Then they'll say the attack wasnt anything like an SAS raid. Of course it wasnt - the enemy werent some goatfuckers on opium or some phoney terrorists holed up in an embassy. The first stage of the Indian attack involved a clandestine attack by special forces. It may have even been led by the SAS for all we know. Just as the SAS attacks against determined and prepared defenders usually turns to shit in other cases like during WW2 or the first time in Afghanistan (against Kommandos and Spetsnaz respectively) so did this attack. I'm guessing but the Indian staff officers probably panicked as it dawned on them that if morning broke in Amritsar whilst they were still besieging Harimandir Sahib, their position may become unwinnable. Shades of Ferozeshah some might say. So they called in the tanks and artillery in a last ditch attempt to win and re-organise themselves before day broke.

Finally we'll be told so what? Accusations of terrorism, feigning offence at the thought that Britain could do wrong, cries of 'what have the Sikhs ever done for us?!' all trying to guilt trip and threaten us back into conformity. Be a good little Sikh and you too might have a daughter with such low self esteem that any angrezi can pick her up or have your son marry a gori and have children so you can finally feel accepted and no longer an outsider. You might even get to move to an area with no other Sikhs so you can revel in your tokenism. And dont tell me Sikhs wont fall for this. We've been falling for it for ages. How can you blame Sikh girls for being groomed when they see their elders jump up and down on other's metaphorical *****.

As for Cameron, this is his Churchill or Dyer moment. I'm guessing as he is outraged at the idea of sensitive papers being released as much as the SAS's hand in a massacre, it'll be the latter. What's Punjabi for whitewash?

Police here on Saturday registered a case of abduction against a Himachal Pradesh native for allegedly abducting a minor girl by promising her marriage.

Police have registered a case under Sections 363 (abduction) and 366A (procreation of minor girl) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint filed by the victim's mother, a resident of Guru Arjan Dev Nagar.

In her complaint to Division Number-7 police, the complainant has alleged that her 15-year-old daughter was a student of Class 10. She alleged that though her daughter had gone to pay obeisance at a gurdwara on the evening of October 10, she did not return home that day.

The complainant alleged that she later came to know that her daughter had been abducted by one Vipan Kumar, 22. Kumar, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, was at present residing in Pamal village near here. Police are yet to arrest the accused and have launched a manhunt to trace the victim and Kumar.

http://www.yespunjab.com/punjab/item/32064-minor-girl-abducted-on-pretext-of-marriage-ludhiana-police-booked-youth-from-himachal

Hundreds of students raised slogans against lackadaisical attitude of police in arresting the accused. The protesting students also lambasted auto-rickshaw union for such a brutal act by one of their members.

The agitators demanded that police should ensure proper identification and verification of cabs, auto-rickshaws and bus drivers to ensure safety of the women in the city.

Twenty one-year-old Manpreet Kaur, a student at the department of human genetics, was brutally assaulted reputedly with a screwdriver by the driver of the auto- rickshaw she was travelling in to bus stand on Saturday morning.

The attack was so severe that one of her lungs got punctured. While in the attack, the victim received multiple grave injuries on different parts of her body.

The victim is presently under observation at Government Rajender Medical College and Hospital.

However, since the incident, no arrests were made by the city police thus far.

Members of various unions - including Students Federation of India (SFI), Sikh Students Federation (SSF), All India Students Federation (AISF) and Punjabi University Research Scholar Association (PURSA) - participated in the protest on Tuesday.

Sumeet Shammi, a AISF activist, said police should also add Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as only charges under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) were slapped on the unidentified accused.

“For better security of women, the administration should at least install close circuit cameras outside educational institutions and other key points across city,” he added.

Meanwhile, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Gurpal Singh pacified the protesters, promising earliest arrest of the accused and stringent action against him. Later, the SDM also visited the hospital to inquire into the girl's health.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Hardyal Singh Mann said police had already been conducting extensive investigations into the case.

In the meantime, police got vital clues and received information about the accused, claimed the SSP, adding that they were very close to arrest the accused driver.

Meanwhile, a special team of illustrators drew up a sketch of the accused following the victim's description of him, which was distributed across several police stations in the district.

http://www.yespunjab.com/punjab/item/32178-assault-on-punjabi-university-student-student-unions-protest-against-police-inaction

It started off funny. I was at the mall buying a birthday gift for a friend of mine and, as usual, the store manager was friendly and conversational. After she took a good look at my gift, the following conversation took place:

• MANAGER: Aww, is this for your girlfriend?

  ME: She’s not my girlfriend.

  MANAGER: That’s an awful lot of money for just a friend.

  ME: (smiles) Well, maybe you can lower the price for me.

She laughed as she scanned the item through. Another customer approached the counter and waited patiently. She decided to chime in:

• CUSTOMER: Ooh, you’re buying gifts!

  ME: (smiles) Yeah, it’s for my friend’s birthday.

  CUSTOMER: Aww, that’s so romantic, your girlfriend is going to Love it.

  ME: She’s not my girlfriend.

  CUSTOMER: Hmm, maybe she’s a special friend!

I laughed at how both of them were teasing me while I waited for the manager to package the gift. The manager was really helpful that day, so I asked her if there was a number I could call to give her an “outstanding” customer service rating. She showed me the number on the receipt and thanked me for asking. As the manager wrote her name on the receipt, the customer waiting in line caught me off guard with an unexpected question:

“What country are you from?”

For some reason, the question struck me in an odd way, as if it triggered an alarm in my head and sprung forth countless things I’ve been ruminating about over the past few weeks. It wasn’t a new question at all. I have brown skin; it’s easy to notice, so I understood. People ask me where I’m from all the time, but it was different now.

Almost immediately, I thought about the current crisis in Pakistan, I thought about the corrupt Pakistani president Asif Zardari, I thought about the Taliban taking control of Swat Valley – a beautiful place that I visited once – and I thought about the U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan and my sheer frustration with Obama’s foreign policy. Even though it only took me about two seconds to respond, I still had more thoughts and feelings swell inside me. I feared that disclosing my nationality would disrupt the friendly interaction I had with the manager and customer. I worried that their response would be offensive or ignorant and that I would go home feeling like an “outsider.” It was too late for that. And it wasn’t their fault.

“Pakistan,” I said slowly with an unfamiliar discomfort in my voice.

I was shocked at the way I responded, it sounded like I was ashamed of it. I noticed the shift in her body language when she replied with a simple, “Oh.” It was the typical response I usually get after I tell people I’m Muslim. An awkward silence followed before she politely said, “cool.” Again, it was nothing new to me, but when I nodded and forced a weak smile, I suddenly felt the urge to leave. I left quickly after the manager handed me the gift. “It’s ok” I told myself as I heard the fast paced rhythm of my shoes walking on the marble floor, “they didn’t say anything wrong.” I thought about the possible conversation that took place behind me. Maybe they said something ignorant. Maybe they didn’t say anything at all. Maybe they had negative thoughts about Pakistan, maybe they didn’t. Maybe they wondered where it was on the map. Whatever they said or thought didn’t matter. What mattered were the countless thoughts that surfaced in my mind.

As I walked to the other side of the mall, my memory traveled back to January of 2008.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, had been killed in late December and it was the hot topic for a while in the mainstream media. I was on my way out of a post office one afternoon, minding my own business, when an older man smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you Indian or Paki?” Caught off guard by the random question and his use of the word “Paki,” I smiled at the silliness of the question. “Umm, I’m Pakistani…” I said. The man’s face turned grim. “Shame on you!” he growled. Since there were so many things I was going through at the time, my grief reached a point where I couldn’t even get angry anymore. I laughed instead. “Excuse me?” I asked. He threw his hands in the air, “Your country is a mess! You guys are killing your leaders and your women!” You can’t be serious, I thought to myself. I couldn’t believe I was standing in a post office and listening to a man flipping out on me just because I’m from a certain part of the world.

I stood my ground and called him out on his ignorance. I told him he was generalizing about me, as well as the people of Pakistan. I also told him that it wasn’t fair for him to treat me as if I had control over what country I’m from. He apologized, “I’m sorry, you’re right. See, you’re good because you’re here. You’re good because you’re an American.” Right. Typical “melting-pot” remark. Let’s mix everyone together, cut them off from their culture and heritage, and give them one identity: American. “So what about my family members who live in Pakistan?” I asked him. “Are they ‘bad’ since they’re not American?” He replied, “Well they should come over here.” Yeah, like that’s a piece of cake. And besides, what’s up with the assumption that people living in the Muslim world want to come to the United States (or any Western country)? He apologized again and then asked, “Are you Muslim?” Oh boy. “Yeah,” I said. Before I know it, he was going on about Christianity and how democratic values are also Christian values, so Muslims could benefit a lot from Christians. I tried to enlighten him about Islam, coexistence, and how we’re all created by God, but it didn’t seem like he was receptive to what I was saying. He ended up making an insensitive remark about Muslims standing at the end of the line in the afterlife. He was trying to be funny. I couldn’t stay there. I shook my head, “whatever.” As I walked out the door, I heard him say “Ah, I’m just kidding!”

I had to disengage from the conversation because it brought back memories of something that happened to me in the summer of 2007. I was working a part-time job in the photo lab at CVS Pharmacy. I Loved my job, which is why the managers always called me first whenever they needed help. It was a really happy time in my life, I had friendly relations with my co-workers, and I was really good with customers. We were incredibly low on help that day though and at one point, I was the only person on register. The line only got longer and longer, and eventually, a cranky customer started swearing at me for moving too slow for her. I ignored it at first, but then she cursed at me again and told me that I “shouldn’t work here.” I explained that we were short on help and I politely asked her to stop cursing at me. It only made things worse. “Who the f*** are you to tell me to stop talking?!” she shouted.

Finally, my manager rushed back to the front of the store. He couldn’t help but notice the angry customer and her friend. “What’s the problem here?” he asked. Before I could answer, the customer pointed at me and said, “You better watch out for this kid otherwise he’s going to blow up the store.” I froze in utter disbelief. I felt the anger rushing through my blood and then I broke out, “What did you say?! Are you judging me by the color of my skin?! Why did you say something like that?!” She shouted back, “man, just do your f***ing job!” My manager intervened and told me to take a break. I listened and began to the break room, but I heard the customers talking behind me, “if he’s going to wait for us in the parking lot, we can take him! There’s two of us.” I was so outraged and furious. I turned around and said, “Who’s talking about violence here?” She said I threatened her first because I told her to “stop talking.” I shook my head, “No, I told you to stop cursing.” My manager stepped in between me and the customers. He pushed me back, as if I was going to hit the customers or something. “Just stop,” he said to me, “Just ignore them.” The customer’s friend stepped forward and said, “F*** you, terrorist!” I was so angry that I just stormed out of the building and drove home. I was notified a week later that I was terminated because the incident “created a problem” for the store and I was supposed to “bite my tongue” just like the “company policy” expected all employees to (how I handled the case, with the help of CAIR, is another discussion!).

I reflected on these two experiences as I walked out of the mall with my friend’s birthday gift. When I started my car, I sat and spaced out for a while. I thought about how my past experiences sometimes make me so tense and uneasy whenever non-Muslims ask about religious and/or ethnic background. With the current crisis in Pakistan, I worry that the ignorant and offensive remarks will only get worse, but amidst all the politics and personal fears, I am also bothered immensely by how distant I am from my ethnic background.

The next morning, I stood in front of the mirror and felt so unusually distraught. I stared at my brown skin, my black hair, my half-Kashmiri and half-Punjabi nose; I thought about my suburban-American accent and my inability to speak Urdu and Punjabi fluently. I felt a mismatch, like I was some kind of cheap import. I felt fake and counterfeit. I thought about all the times I see older South Asians working at local stores and feeling terrible for speaking to them in English when I could be speaking in Urdu or Hindi. When I walk away, I always wonder if they’re thinking, “oh the kids in this country forget their culture and their language, it’s such a shame.” In South Asian culture, we always refer to elders as “Auntie” and “Uncle,” so whenever I see elderly South Asians, I want them to know that they are “Auntie” and “Uncle” to me. Sometimes, it feels like my skin color and name are the only Pakistani things about me. What does it mean to be Pakistani? I can put on my shalwar kameez (traditional South Asian dress) and attend a South Asian event on campus, enjoy the music, dances, and food, but does that make me Pakistani? What do I know about Pakistan – the history, the culture, the people, the great mystics, thinkers, and leaders of the past, or even the politics? Although I’ve made attempts to re-connect with my Pakistani identity in recent years, I feel that current events (as well as things I’ve observed in other Pakistani-Americans) have caused me to turn inward again in efforts to attain a richer understanding of what my ethnic identity really means to me.

I was born in Lahore, Pakistan. My father’s family descends from Kashmiris who migrated to Lahore, and my mother’s family is Punjabi. Although I’ve never experienced what it’s like to live in Pakistan (since my family moved to the United States shortly after I was born), I’ve stayed there on long visits. The first time I visited Pakistan was in 1999 and I remember hating it. The bumpy roads, the crowded traffic, the poverty, the pollution, the electric cutting out randomly – it all made me miss the United States. At the time, as a 15 year-old, I admit that I felt better than everyone else because I was an American citizen. When I returned to the U.S., I would tell my White non-Muslim friends how proud and grateful we should be to live in America. Like many other Pakistani-Americans that I knew at the time, I made fun of Pakistani/Indian music, culture, language, accents, and dress. I associated all of those things with my parents; it had nothing to do with me. I was American.

I went to Pakistan again in 2000 for my Uncle’s wedding and my opinion of the country didn’t change much. I still thought it was backwards and uncivilized, although I remember seeing something that struck me as oddly positive. On our way to the wedding, a truck accidentally hit one of our party’s cars. The respective drivers – complete strangers – got out and shook hands! Then, we invited the truck driver to the wedding! That was something I don’t ever recall seeing in the United States. Still, I longed to leave Pakistan, so much so that I couldn’t even appreciate the fact that my Uncle’s wedding lasted for three days (as opposed to the typical single-day weddings I would see in Hollywood films). I couldn’t appreciate the decorations, the dancing, the beautiful South Asian dresses, or the immense amount of preparation that went into it all. I regret that now.

It wasn’t until I visited Pakistan in early 2002 when I really learned to appreciate it. As many of my friends know, 2002 was a special year for me. It was the year I discovered my inner voice. I remember sitting in the car while the driver navigated us through the busy traffic of Lahore and without warning, a question struck me in such a profound way. The question didn’t come from someone, it came from within: I asked myself, “Why do you hate this place so much?” I stared out the window and saw people walking with their spouses, children, and friends. They were going somewhere. To school, to work, to buy something, to have fun with their friends – every day activities that my friends and I would do except in a different part of the world. This place was home to them. “This is where you were born,” I said in my thoughts, “This place is in your blood.” It helped that I had a great time with my family that year too, but I also believe that these questions didn’t come to me randomly or without meaning. For the first time, when I left Pakistan, I was sad. Sure, I was happy about going home and seeing my friends again, but I also felt like I didn’t get enough of a chance to explore more, i.e. explore more about myself.

Since it was post September 11th, I was already experiencing a lot of hostility and prejudice in my predominately White non-Muslim high school because of my religious background. When I returned from Pakistan, classmates and teachers asked a lot of ignorant questions. Questions like: “Why do they have weird names?” or “Are they Taliban?” or “Don’t they hate America?” The most insulting one probably came from my friend’s mom, “Are they very pro-bin Laden over there?” I told her that Osama bin Laden was the last thing on my mind when I was there and I also added that she should visit Pakistan some time since it’s a beautiful place. As a result of my new appreciation for Pakistan, I started to become more religious and spiritual. It was the first time in my life when I read the Qur’an on my own free will and it was the first time I prayed without anyone instructing me to do so. It was a very special turning point in my life since I began to contemplate religion and spirituality in ways that I never did before, but what I didn’t realize was that my attempts to become a better Muslim actually distanced me from my ethnic identity rather than compliment it. In actuality I was doing something that many young Pakistani Muslims do these days: I was trying to be Arab.

Over the years, I’ve found that discussing Pakistani identity is quite problematic and controversial at times because it’s often perceived as “religion versus culture.” Generally speaking, we Pakistanis try to distance ourselves from India as far as possible because we think India is synonymous with Hinduism, therefore “kuffar” (nonbelievers/infidels). It’s silly actually considering that (1) India has the third-largest Muslim population in the world and (2) prior to the partition in 1947, Pakistan was part of India; therefore the similarities in culture, dress, food, and language are inescapable. In any case, many Pakistani Muslims in America cut themselves off from India and Indian culture in pursuit of an “authentic Muslim” identity, which happens to point to the Middle-East. In other words, we take on a pseudo-Arab identity.

So many times, I’ve heard fellow Pakistani Muslims saying that we should abolish culture completely because there is no culture in Islam. We’re Muslim and that’s it. I bought into that for a while. “Yeah, we Pakistanis watch too many Bollywood movies,” I would say, “We have girls dancing at our weddings, that’s not Islamic!” As I condemned Pakistani culture, I didn’t realize that I was adopting another culture: Arab culture, or at least what I perceived to be “Arab culture” (saying “Arab culture” is inaccurate since the Arab world is filled with diverse cultures, religions, and dialects, it can’t be narrowed down into “one culture”). In my freshmen year of college, I would wear my keffiyeh (traditional Arab scarf), drive around blasting Arabic music, and making enormous efforts to learn Arabic. To give you an idea of how much I studied Arabic, I can put it like this: my Arabic pronunciation is much better than my Urdu and Punjabi pronunciation. I don’t regret learning the amount of Arabic I know now; I admit that it helps understanding your prayers a lot better, but I feel a tremendous amount of shame when I make pathetic attempts to speak Urdu. When I throw in some Arabic phrases when I meet Arab-speaking people, they smile and tell me how good my accent is. When I try to speak Urdu with South Asian friends and family, they laugh because they can hear it mixed with my American accent.

I became discouraged when I saw the same Pakistani Muslims who despised culture taking dabkeh lessons (folk dance of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq), smoking hookah, or wearing thobs (traditional Arab dress for men), as if there wasn’t anything cultural about those things. They would also rebel against the South Asian pronunciation of their names and pronounce them the “correct Arabic” way. It dawned on me that we weren’t getting rid of culture; we merely getting rid of South Asian culture – our culture. As Fatemeh Fakhraie writes in her brilliant article, “The Arabization of Islam:”

What is troublesome about all this is that most Muslims who are non-Arabs complain that they’re not seen as Muslims because they’re not Arab (or ethnically Middle Eastern, in some cases). But when non-Arab Muslims take Arab names or wear Arab clothes under the guise of “Islamic authenticity,” we’re all reinforcing the idea that we’re not really Muslims unless we have some link to Arab culture.

I have seen many Pakistanis Muslims using Arabic words like “akhi” (brother), “ukhti” (sister), “wallahi” (I swear to God), and even non-religious words like “yanni” in their conversations. There’s nothing wrong with this, but if they inserted Urdu words instead of Arabic words, they wouldn’t be taken seriously. Why? Because we don’t take Urdu seriously. The only time we’ll use Urdu is to be funny. It’s like, “haha, you sound like a FOB!” The only time we’ll use Urdu in a serious manner is when we’re speaking to elders (because it’s an “older people” thing, right?). Speaking Arabic, on the other hand, is taken seriously and even makes you look like a better Muslim. We attribute more religiosity to Muslims who can give khutbahs or speeches with “proper Arabic pronunciation.” Even at the recent CAIR event I attended, one of the guest speakers was a South Asian Muslim woman who made sure she pronounced every Arabic word and Muslim name “correctly,” as if not doing so would lower her credibility. It was interesting because I didn’t hear any of the Arab speakers pronounce Pakistan correctly (they said “Pack-istan” rather than “Paak-istaan”), and yet you see young South Asian Muslims striving to pronounce Arabic correctly.

But it’s not just pronunciation that’s changing. Words are changing and being replaced too. The best example is how the Urdu phrase, “Khuda hafez” (God be with you), has been replaced with “Allah hafez.” They both mean the same thing, but thanks to the growing influence of Salafi movements among Sunni Muslims in Pakistan, the use of “Khuda hafez” became gunah (sinful). “Khuda” comes from the Persian word for God (pronounced “Khoda” in Farsi), but since Arabic is taught to be the “Muslim language,” it has been replaced with “Allah hafez.” I remember, on one of my trips to Pakistan, I heard some of my relatives say, “don’t say ‘Khuda hafez,’ it’s gunah! Say ‘Allah hafez.’” As Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy elaborates:

Persian, the language of Mughal India, had once been taught as a second or third language in many Pakistani schools. But, because of its association with Shiite Iran, it too was dropped and replaced with Arabic. The morphing of the traditional “Khuda hafiz” (Persian for “God be with you”) into “Allah hafiz” (Arabic for “God be with you”) took two decades to complete. The Arab import sounded odd and contrived, but ultimately the Arabic God won and the Persian God lost.

And of course, there’s nothing wrong with saying “Allah hafez.” I say it now and then, but why are we labeling “Khuda hafez” sinful? Is one “more Islamic” than the other? Have Muslims forgotten that God teaches logic and reason? Does it make any sense that God can only understand Arabic? The same kind of propaganda was used against those who followed Jesus, peace be upon him, when they were told that Angels could only speak Hebrew and not Aramaic. Consider this Qur’anic verse:

“Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful; by whatever name you call upon Him (it is the same), to Him belong the most Beautiful names.” (17:110)

Avoiding the use of “Khuda hafez” is also an example of how Salafi Muslims strive to abstain from biddah, or innovation, which in turn explains their strong opposition towards culture. Subsequently, we see Salafi Muslims seeking to purge Sufism (Islamic mysticism) out of Pakistan. The Sufis are Islamic mystics, who do not see Sufism as a separate sect of Islam, but rather an inclusive and necessary mystical dimension of Islam that explores one’s inward journey for God, self, and Divine Love. The Sufis often express their Love for God and the Prophets through music, dancing (notably whirling meditation), and Divinely-inspired poetry. Conservative Muslims perceive this as “Indian Islam” and accuse the Sufis of committing biddah and even shirk (associating partners with God), even though the Sufis, like all Muslims, don’t worship anyone else besides God. Qawwali music, for example, is a Sufi musical style of South Asia, but since Salafi Muslims condemn music, many Pakistani Muslims don’t learn to appreciate Qawwali for what it is. I remember one of my dad’s Pakistani co-workers was sitting in my car and he heard me listening to Qawwali music. He said to me, “man, why are you listening to this? You’re not supposed to sing about Allah in songs, that’s a sin.” I couldn’t help but think about the times I sat in his car and heard him listening to hip-hop music with excessive profanity and pornographic lyrics – he’s telling me that listening to Qawwali is sinful? This is just an example of how deep the conservative Salafi brainwashing is on Pakistanis. As is evident from my father’s friend, the conservative teachings even affect those who aren’t as vocal about their Muslim identity. As Sufi Muslims teach to be accepting of others, I’ve often found that conservative Muslims tend to be more about conformity, and this is a huge problem because it’s not only an attempt to pull us away from ethnic identity, but it’s also a way of “infidelizing” Sufi Muslims or anyone else who doesn’t agree with Salafi interpretations of Islam.

Recently, I gave a Pakistani cricket jersey to a friend of mine who became Muslim earlier this year and a couple of Pakistani Muslims in their mid-twenties made silly remarks about the jersey. They said, “We should get him a shirt that says ‘Islam.’” I felt like responding, “If he wore a shirt that said ‘Free Palestine,’ you wouldn’t say anything, right?” And it’s true, we see Muslims – both Arab and non-Arab – wearing Palestinian keffiyehs or “Free Palestine” shirts in the Mosque and no one makes an issue about it. No one accuses them of being more cultural than religious.

The little secret about us Pakistani Muslims is that we like when people mistaken us for Middle-Eastern. We get all flattered. Really? You thought I was Arab? Wow, thanks! But when people ask if we’re Indian, we respond in disgust. The first time I noticed this difference was in college when my professor felt like bashing on Muslims one day (she was one of the most Islamophobic teachers I’ve ever had). She asked, “Where are all my students from the Middle-East?” She immediately looked at me because she knew I was Muslim. “I’m actually from South Asia,” I said, “but thanks for the compliment.” Smile. I said that in defense of Middle-Easterners since there’s such a negative perception of them in the media (and also because Middle-Easterners get lumped together with Muslims). About a week later, I remember asking a non-Pakistani girl if she was Pakistani, and she responded with disgust, “No! I’m not! Why does everyone always think I’m Paki?!” Well, excuse me, I didn’t mean to offend you. I mean, ew, Pakistani? Who wants to be Pakistani? Ask us if we’re Palestinian, Lebanese, Egyptian, or even Iranian, and we’ll totally be cool with that. Why? Because we don’t want to look like Pakistanis. We don’t want to look like what we are.

The “Arabization” of Islam has gotten to the point where religious scholars from immensely popular Islamic websites like SunniPath.com teach that Arab Muslims are superior to non-Arab Muslims and that praying behind Shia Muslims will invalidate your prayer!

If Malcolm X was Pakistani, he’d have a lot to rip into us about. On one hand, we have Pakistanis completely emulating the images and behavior they see in Western pop culture and on the other, we see Pakistani Muslims trying to behave Arab in order to “authenticate” their Muslim identity. Either way, we’re distancing ourselves from our Pakistani and/or South Asian roots. Where did all of this internalized racism and self-hatred come from? Malcolm X was Muslim, but he also taught African-Americans to be proud of their roots and heritage. Why can’t Pakistani Muslims do the same? When bombs fall on Gaza, Pakistani Muslims throw on their keffiyehs, pump their fists in the air, and chant “free Palestine,” but where are they for Pakistan? Now, our country is in trouble. There are U.S. drone attacks killing innocent Pakistani civilians in tribal areas. The Taliban have taken control of Swat Valley, imposed their oppressive Taliban law, and destroyed over 200 schools, mostly girls’ schools. Did you read that? Good. Read it again. According to Tariq Ali, Pakistani author of “The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power,” the majority of Pakistanis are not only anti-Taliban and anti-extremism, but 70% of them perceive the U.S. as the greatest threat to peace in Pakistan. Will we Pakistani Muslims in America start educating ourselves about Pakistan or will we do what most of the Pakistanis at my Mosque do when I tell them the latest news from Pakistan: shrug their shoulders, shake their heads, and simply say “yeah it’s crazy”?

I have always told people (and myself) that I am Muslim first. I still say this, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t be appreciative or proud about being Pakistani. I am not encouraging fellow Pakistanis to support the Pakistani government – that’s not what I’m suggesting at all since the government is absolutely corrupt. What I am encouraging is that we care about the country we come from as much as we care for the country we live in. As Tariq Ali writes, the people of Pakistan cannot be blamed for the failure of their politicians or the recent violence that is unfolding. I am not saying we shouldn’t learn Arabic either. I still want to learn Arabic, I still wear my keffiyeh to represent the Palestinian people, and I still listen to Arabic music, but not at the expense of forgetting my South Asian heritage.

I try to make as many efforts as I can to brush up on my Urdu and Punjabi, and I also read about the history of Pakistan and India. I know all humanity descends from Adam and Eve (peace be upon them both), but why do I have to ignore the people in between? I am not ashamed of my Buddhist, Hindu, or possible Jewish (many Kashmiris claim to be one of the ten lost tribes of Israel) ancestry. I embrace that. Why should we ignore the great mystical poetry of Amir Khosrow, Mirza Ghalib, Bulleh Shah, and Allama Muhammad Iqbal? Why should we ignore the beautiful architecture of Shah Jahan (he built the Taj Mahal)? I remember when I was listening to a Qawwali song by the legendary Pakistani singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, I felt like I was reconnecting with a missing part of me. I would constantly listen to his beautiful wailing and hear so many emotions being expressed: Love, yearning, pain, sorrow, grief, joy, and happiness. “This is the voice of my soul,” I would think to myself, “this is that other side of me that I have forgotten.”

The last time I went to Pakistan was in 2004 and it was the first time I visited the country with respect and appreciation. I hope to visit again someday. I often wonder if the country will recognize me as the child of its land or as some tourist just passing on by. I know I stand out when I go to Pakistan. It’s in my body language, the way I walk, the way I speak, but all that doesn’t matter to me because I know that I am striving to re-connect. I know I am making an effort. I would like to revisit the Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore to reflect on the timeless history. I want to see the city of Muree again and enjoy the beautiful mountains. I want to visit the Sindh and let my heart mourn with the tragic Love story of Sohni and Mahiwal (depicted left). I would like to visit Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. I would like to trace my ancestry, visit Kashmir and then India.

I am a Pakistani who has grown up in the West and I know that my experiences may be completely different from what people in Pakistan experience, but it still hurts me to see what is happening in Pakistan today. I still care. It hurts even more when I see such a strong anti-Pakistani sentiment in the United States. Discussing Pakistani politics is another blog post, but I would like others to know that Pakistan is a beautiful place filled with a rich culture that is struggling to survive amidst Westernization and heavy Salafi influences. I find hope in the fact that the majority of Pakistanis are strongly against the Taliban and the corrupt politicians governing them.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said in his last sermon: “All humankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black has any superiority over a white- except by piety and good action.” The Prophet would not have addressed this issue if there weren’t noticeable differences among human beings. As the Qur’an says: “Another of His signs is the creation of the heavens and earth, and the diversity of your languages and color. There truly are signs in this for those who know” (30:22). There is also this famous verse: “O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, so that you may know one another.” (49:13)

In closing, I would like to share that as I wrote this reflection on Pakistani identity, I found myself asking, “Why is Pakistan so important to me?” I responded simply: I was born there. Many of family members are there. My ancestry is there.

Those answers suffice for me.

Khuda hafez.

http://www.racialicious.com/2009/04/17/searching-for-my-Pakistani-identity/

A woman allegedly imprisoned in a cellar, raped and kept as a virtual slave while a child was stabbed in the stomach for smiling, a jury was told. It is alleged that she was locked in a cellar by Ilyas Ashar, 83, and his wife Tallat Ashar, 66, at their home on Cromwell Road in Eccles, Salford, and forced to sew, wash, cook and clean without pay.

A woman allegedly imprisoned in a cellar, raped and kept as a virtual slave while a child was stabbed in the stomach for smiling, a jury was told.

The woman, who is deaf and unable to speak, is said to have been subjected to years of abuse after being trafficked into Britain from Pakistan.

It is alleged that she was locked in a cellar by Ilyas Ashar, 83, and his wife Tallat Ashar, 66, at their home on Cromwell Road in Eccles, Salford, and forced to sew, wash, cook and clean without pay.

A jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court was told she slept on the cellar’s concrete floor without access to a toilet until she was rescued by police in June 2009.

She is also said to have been regularly beaten, repeatedly raped and assaulted.

The couple are on trial and deny any mistreatment. The woman gave police a series of 14 video-recorded interviews using sign language.

Jurors yesterday continued to watch the recorded interviews.

In one recording, the woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, described how she was viciously assaulted at the home after she returned a smile from Ilyas Ashar.

She said his wife Tallat saw the exchange and got ‘really mad’, plunging a kitchen knife into the girl’s stomach, causing her to vomit and bleed heavily.

Through a signer, the woman told police in an interview: "The old lady was watching me and I was really frightened. The old lady was really mad because I smiled back. She saw me smiling at him and she stabbed me with a knife. It was really sore.

"It was bleeding. It was really bad and I was being sick. It was really sharp."

The woman said the couple used cloths and plasters to treat her. She added that after ‘three sleeps’ she believed she was taken to a male doctor and given tablets, but the wound was not mentioned.

She said her cleaning and cooking duties continued. She said: "I was still woken up and I would do different jobs in the house. I did not really get to rest that much."

Earlier, the woman told how the couple had arranged a passport for her. She told police in interviews she remembered having her photograph taken and using her thumbprint on a document. She added that she recalled seeing ‘staff’ when she landed in the country but she could not understand them.

She told police: "There were staff that I looked at. They looked at me and they looked at my passport. They were talking and I did not understand them."

The jury also heard that the woman was shuttled back and forth from Pakistan to Britain several times to cook and clean.

Ilyas Ashar denies charges of false imprisonment, human trafficking and 12 counts of rape. Tallat Ashar denies charges of false imprisonment, trafficking, sexual assault and unlawful wounding. The couple, and their daughter Faaiza Ashar, 44, also deny benefit fraud charges.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/eccles-sex-slave-trial-girl-was-stabbed-681955

Multiple marriages are on the rise in the U.K.’s Muslim communities—and the women are the ones seeking out second-wife status.

Aisha laughs out loud at the thought of how her colleagues and clients would react if they knew she shares a husband. The laughter makes her loose hijab slip slightly, exposing a few strands of dark hair. “They would be dumbfounded and probably prurient,” she sniffs. As far as they are concerned, her 42-year-old factory-owning husband has only one wife—this thoughtful attorney sipping Earl Gray tea in the sitting room of a pleasant and very middle-class Edwardian house in a leafy residential road in northwest London.

Her immediate family and close Muslim friends know the truth: 41-year-old Aisha is a second wife and for three years has been conveniently—at least for her—sharing her businessman husband with his first bride. “It was my choice to marry him. There was no coercion.” With a wry giggle she says: “I wanted a partner and man-hunted for one using a marriage agency and this suits me.”

“I didn’t want to remain single and I wanted my relationship to be endorsed by my religion, so sleeping around or living with a non-Muslim wasn’t an option,” she says. “This works for me.”

Being a co-wife is a situation that apparently works for other successful British Muslim women, who have delayed marriage to build careers and discover that by the time they are ready for a husband, their age counts against them and they don’t have the pick of the crop. For them, sharing a husband is a practical solution that allows them a suitable partner and stable companionship all sanctioned by Islam.

And it has the added bonus of allowing the women to retain the independent lives they have developed for themselves during their single years. “I didn’t want a full-time husband,” Aisha says firmly.

She admits that the first wife, whom her husband married 15 years ago in an arranged union, wasn’t initially happy with the arrangement but has “come round,” although the two wives have little to do with each other and seldom meet. Aisha sees her husband on alternate days and nights—although if either of the two children from his first wife falls sick, or there’s a family emergency, Aisha will be compensated for any time lost as a result of timetable changes.

The unexpected trend of professional British Muslim women agreeing to become second or third wives has startled Islamic religious leaders, some of whom disapprove, and is now gaining political attention with British Conservative politicians vowing to stamp out the practice—although how theoretically they will accomplish this remains unclear. Under U.K. law multiple marriage is illegal, but co-wives are exploiting loopholes.

The attitude of these co-wife professionals stands in marked contrast to those of many liberal female activists in the Middle East, where, in the wake of the Arab Spring, polygamy is experiencing an upsurge.

Under dictators such as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi, multiple wives were discouraged. Now, the issue has become a clashing point in the region’s culture wars. In February, liberal activists in Libya bristled at an Islamist-inspired judicial decision that makes it much easier for men to take on multiple wives. Activists such as Farida Allaghi, a veteran human-rights campaigner and founder of the Libyan Forum for Civil Society, warned Islam was being hijacked by men and argued the Arab Spring was seeing a lurch toward religious conservatism.

But the part-time wife trend in Britain would seem to be less of an expression of religious conservatism and more a reflection of what could be described as Muslim libertarianism. The professional Muslim women say they are adapting Islam for their purposes and making it work for them in the modern Western world. They are the proactive ones, seeking to be co-wives, rather than being pressed into such marriages, say Muslim dating agents.

They say, ‘I have a career, I have a business but I don’t have time for a full-time husband. I want a stable relationship, but it needs to revolve around my schedule.’"

Bigamy (having two wives) and polygamy (having more than two) were first made illegal in England and Wales in 1604 and in the 17th century carried the ultimate punishment—the death penalty. Now a conviction for either can be punished with up to seven years in prison. Technically, though, Aisha’s marriage doesn’t exist. Like other polygamous Muslim marriages in Britain, it was enjoined under Islamic Sharia in a religious ceremony known as the nikah that isn’t recognized automatically by British authorities—and thus doesn’t fall afoul of British law. Muslims can register their Sharia-sanctioned marriages officially with the state but most don’t unless there’s a pressing immigration reason to do so. And those who enter polygamous marriages are certainly not going to open themselves up to being prosecuted.

With the marriages being conducted in nikah ceremonies before one of Britain’s more than 80 Sharia councils, or in the privacy of private homes, no one has reliable statistics on the polygamy trend. And fearful of prompting a non-Muslim backlash, polygamous families tend to be wary of talking with the media. Three years ago, the British government estimated that perhaps a thousand Muslim men were bigamists or in polygamous relationships, but some Muslim community leaders believe that figure is way off and their estimates range as high as 30,000 men. Some suspect it could be even more commonplace and one London doctor confides that several of his Muslim patients in the district of Vauxhall, just south of the river Thames, are involved in bigamous or polygamous marriages. “I saw two co-wives simultaneously the other day,” he says.

Across the country, Sharia councils and Muslim marriage agencies are reporting a dramatic increase in the number of women willing to be co-wives, especially women in their 30s and 40s. In stark contrast to the past, when bigamy and polygamy were more often than not something associated with poorer and more working-class first-generation immigrants, now many of the women are like Aisha—university educated, successful when it comes to their careers, and firmly middle-class.

This is far removed from the picture of demeaning exploitation that non-Muslim British critics of polygamy present in arguments for the banning of the Sharia-sanctioned practice.

Britain’s Sharia councils have been unpopular among Conservative Party lawmakers since the mid-1990s when they were accorded limited semi-official status and allowed under British civil law to arbitrate some legal disputes involving family law or financial contracts. There are now more than 85 Sharia councils—from London and Manchester to Bradford and Nuneaton—and they operate mainly from mosques. Critics fear the courts are eager to expand their reach and they argue their values are inimical to Britain’s liberal traditions. Recently, the councils were in the news after an undercover BBC television documentary team found Sharia judges unsympathetic to wives suffering physical domestic abuse. Sharia judges were pressing abused wives to return to their husbands and avoid the police.

For Conservative peer Baroness Cox, Sharia councils detract from the idea that everyone in Britain should fall under a single legal code and she says they effectively create a parallel quasi-legal and moral system that treats people differently depending on their religion. She points to the growth in polygamy as evidence of this. She has been pushing a measure to curb Sharia councils. However, short of outlawing the councils from presiding over any marriages—a move that would provoke a Muslim outcry and deprive Muslims of a religious ceremony—it isn’t clear how her measure would stop polygamy.

Cox argues that there are two polygamy trends underway in Britain: that of the part-time wives, like Aisha—and another “where the majority of co-wives are the ones living a more Taliban-like existence in very closed communities who can’t get out, can’t speak, and are trapped and a lot of them are suffering.” She says that the professional, articulate women are out and about and more visible but worries they are “not typical of the majority of co-wives trapped in the more closed communities, who have been brought over from countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan and are often illiterate and terribly unhappy.”

She worries that second wives have no real legal protections if the relationships fall apart—nor do the children conceived in any such marriages. “Our duty to safeguard the vulnerable seems in danger of being undermined out of sensitivity towards some minorities,” she says. Other politicians maintain that by failing to confront polygamy in either guise, Islamic conservatives are being empowered indirectly and modernizing Muslims are being thwarted.

But Mizan Raja of Islamic Circles, a community-based nonprofit in London that runs Muslim marriage events, says this is a simplistic way of looking at polygamy and that there’s no neat split between modernizers and religious conservatives. The women he deals with who are becoming co-wives would consider themselves modernizers—in fact trailblazers, shaping Islam to conform to their very modern lifestyles, he insists.

“I am seeing divorced or widowed women and women in their spinster years, wanting to become co-wives. It is the women coming forward wanting this, not so much the men,” Raja says. “They say, ‘I have a career, I have a business, but I don’t have time for a full-time husband. I want a stable relationship, but it needs to revolve around my schedule.’ This is a creative way to be in a stable relationship. For them a key thing is not to be stuck in a full-time marriage: they want some strings attached and don’t want other strings.”

Of course, some conservative Muslims frown on the “some strings attached” attitude to marriage, arguing that it is too flippant and misunderstands the obligations and responsibilities that are at the heart of Muslim marriage. While the Koran permits polygamy—it did so as a protection for women who remained unmarried, especially widows whose men had fallen in battle—marriage entails some specific obligations on men, including treating all wives fairly and equally, not just materially but emotionally and sexually as well.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, an influential member of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, recently warned that being able to complete this duty was beyond most men. Even keeping a secret second wife is a breach of the Koran, since it fails to treat both wives equally. And marriage just for sexual gratification is not a valid reason to wed. The Muslim conservatives say part-time wives are little more than mistresses.

The spurt in polygamous marriages was first noticed about four years ago when Britain’s Sharia councils saw an unprecedented jump in inquiries about polygamous marriage. It shows no signs of falling off, observes Khola Hasan, a Muslim scholar who advises the Islamic Sharia council in the inner London suburb of Leyton. “There’s a definite increase in polygamous marriage,” she says. “Sharia councils are seeing it and marriage agents are encountering it. When I was younger, 20 years ago, this was almost never heard of and we never talked about polygamy at home, but now it is becoming much more common and I don’t see any signs that this is just a fad.”

She agrees that professional women—generally third- or fourth-generation immigrants—are drivers behind the part-time wife trend and that they have a clear idea of what they want. “Traditionally women married in their early 20s but now they are delaying marriage to study and to establish careers and before they know it they are in their late 30s and partners are hard to find,” Hasan says. “Also, we are seeing more divorce among Muslims—from being rare it has jumped to one in eight of Muslim marriages ending in divorce, and for divorced women it is easier to find a husband who wants a second wife.”

She adds: “If they have children from a previous marriage, they often prefer to be part-time wives—they may not always want the husband around. They are happy to have the support when they need it from a partner but like to focus on their children.”

That’s a reason cited by Nazia, a 34-year-old social worker, for her part-time marraige. She lives in an outer London suburb south of the capital with her two small children, whose father died in a car accident. For several years she remained single before meeting and marrying her accountant husband. He was married already to a distant cousin from Pakistan. “It was an arranged marriage and they have little in common—he’s well-educated and she’s not. With me he can be more himself. But he would never divorce her and his parents accept me, although it took them time. I get on with his sisters very well, and I do see his first wife every now and again. We are not best friends or anything, but it is OK.”

She says she thought long and hard about the marriage. She wanted her children to have a male figure around but didn’t want to have to share her kids the whole time. “This way I get my space and time with the children, and when I need a man, there he is.” She is uncomfortable talking about what the arrangement must be like for the first wife, and how she might have felt when the news had been broken to her by her husband that he was taking a second wife. “Well, not great, I suppose,” Nazia offers. According to Sharia councils, polygamy is now among the top 10 reasons cited by women wanting to divorce.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/08/05/britain-s-muslim-communities-see-rise-in-multiple-marriages-as-career-women-seek-part-time-husbands.html

My brother had similar experiences in some banks. He's keshdhari too.

Was it anything like this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10326254/City-broker-sues-over-curry-muncher-racial-slurs.html

Man, all it would take is a few cases where these idiots are sued till they squeak and their HR departments might take it a bit more seriously. It might make them employ less Sikhs but it should mean that Sikhs gravitate towards better workplaces or at least ones that are geared more towards real work rather than English past times.

Hmmmmm......

Eh?

Anyone know of the story of the Sikh spy who tricked a British regiment before the Battle of Chillianwallah? The story goes that a British regiment was marching down the road near Chillianwallah as part of the main British force when a Sikh officer started riding alongside them. Thinking he was from one of the Eastern Sikh States the regiment stopped and saluted. The Sikh officer inspected them, asked some a few questions and then ordered them on their way. The regiment saw him canter off in front of them before bolting across a field towards the Punjabi lines. It dawned on them what was going on but their shots missed as he was out of range and had gone into the woods where the Khalsa had set up positions. I cant remember where this was from but all this talk of spies brought it back.

It's all well and good criticising people of the past but it's not like modern Sikhs have overcome any of the previous problems that the Sikhs of the 18th century had dealt with. At least they went up to Peshawar, Multan, Ladakh etc, our modern lot cant even hold on to EP.

I would like to ask the author and any other Sikh what kind of perfect society would Sikhs like to live in? The author seems to insist that money obsessed rich Jatts created an unegalitarian society. Which is true to some extent. But what was the alternative? Communism? The truth is there should have been greater sharing of resources and wealth but with the increase in Sikh numbers there was always going to be some inequality.

Which brings me onto another thing that Sikh historians dont seem to like to talk about - freeloaders. In the times of the Guru Gobind Singh Ji it was easy to act or to proclaim things that would show your faith but if you refused to fight or refused to do your duty there was no point claiming you were holier than Swiss cheese as everyone in your community would know. As the 18th and 19th century came along and Sikhs won over the Mughals and Afghans, anyone could claim to be SIkh. Where as the Sarbat Khalsa was usually so good at choosing leaders/organisation/roles etc, as more more people joined the faith and the ability to weed out the idiots waned it turned into an Idiocracy.

This can be seen by what happened after Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death. The hoi polloi held the aristocracy hostage and pretended it was to uphold the egalitarian values of the Khalsa. In reality it was just to squeeze more money out of the Government. Everyone likes to slag off the Dogras. But did you know they were elected by the Khalsa to lead them into the First Anglo Sikh War? All those Sikh men, young and old, Jatt and non-Jatt, decided that the Dogras would lead them. They sat by whilst the traitorous converts murdered royals, exiled heroes and lined their own pockets. All the while proclaiming how religous they were, how much they loved the average person and how great the future would be after the British had been defeated. It's a bit rich to complain about an aristocracy when you cant even have a proper revolution and replace it with a better system - and to then go on and lose everything.

If you want a bit more insight into the relationships of the classes of the Khalsa Raj, look at the letters British officers and spies wrote around that time period. There is one which talked about how melancholy Sikh officers in Lahore looked, just like their counterparts in Paris. Which isnt surprising as both countries had armies with strong republican tendencies as well as being countries in turmoil which led to the Second Republic for the French and annexation for the Punjabis. The English and Prussians never had to deal with that so it's no wonder the latter made a habit of kicking in the French Army when they got the opportunity. Another book I read by a British officer talked about his discussion with old Sikh soldiers who were now employed by Britain. They said to him that the British won because their officers fought and died alongside the men where as their Sikh officers would tell them to go off and fight but wouldnt care what happened. Anecdotal evidence, yes, but it is telling of some battalions/regiments. How many times have you heard fundo Sikhs come up with deluded ideas on the real world and bizarre theories that they are not so keen to actually go out and practice? For SIkh officers, with the constant threat of riots and average soldiers shooting them for the sake of 'equality', it's no wonder they didnt want to lead them into battle. If they were so equal and knowledgeable shouldnt the average Jogs be able to do it themselves?

After the war did the Sikh plebs turn around and say to the aristocrats 'look we've both messed up, let's work together to rebuild ourselves,' like so many other races have done after catastrophic wars? Like hell they did. They jumped into bed with the goreh and never looked back. Did the Jimmy Saviles give you children the equality you always wanted lol? Sikhs went and fought in places they had no issue with, against people they had no quarrel with all in the hope of some grand prize. But we even managed to mess that up by letting Master Tara SIngh (what caste was he again?) lead us into the worst case scenario. Another convert with his own ideas of a perfect future leading us into oblivion which suits the people of their old background. Beginning to see a bit of a pattern here. Well done Khalsa.

When will this race to the bottom end? Who knows. But with the Ravidassias in Brum battering one another in their temples over money and 3HO doing the whole 'Bhai Can You Spare A Dime?' routine all the time, I dont think this is a caste issue anymore.

Because we are 'half devil and half child'

lol

Stop quoting lines from Jimmy Savile's Burden.

I got to say though.....

Now that I've met a good few people from Canada and have spoken to relatives I know well, who grew up here in London and have been living in Canada for a few years now.

Very often, Canadian brothers and sisters have a child like naivety towards the real, dark world. I know from speaking to relatives who've migrated that this is widespread problem because things are generally so cuddly out there.

Aint that the truth. Though in 15-20 years when all the racist chavs and poor sulleh from here that have gone and settled there have roots and brought up kids it may mean our lot will have to grow up and stop living in Disneyland.

Unless they dont want to take heed of this warning. But we all know what will happen then.

That all being said, wild finger pointing at all Muslims is the height of dumbness too. Isolate the Paks. Anyone who knows, will know that THAT community is the one mass producing the nonce cases targeting Sikh girls. If other mussies have started doing it, it will be because they are following that lead/example (I know a few odd half-caste converts have got involved in the converting business in the past).

HSD, you're too intelligent to not understand that generalising is just going to shoot us in the foot. Sort yourself out dude.

Whether I am smart or not, even I can see that muslims in general would like to brush this under the carpet. Why? Because a lot of non-pak muslims simply dont care as long as they arent affected or something they hold dear isnt attacked. If that is the case then Islam will not stop being targetted until muslims learn to leave alone what others hold dear. It's a simple enough point. The muslim community has two options. Join in with backing their brothers and trying to sweep this under the carpet which will forever tarnish Islam and its adherents wherever they may come from and justify everything bad that will happen to them in the future. Or turf the paks out and show that they can be good muslims by dealing with those who use Islam to justify bad practices. If they will not be smoked out of their hole by what is going on then they will get gassed with the rest of the rats.

One thing Sikh fundos need to get through their thick heads is that just because you would throw siropas around, bow down to and let your women jump up and down on anyone who is nice to you doesnt mean that if you are nice that everyone else will give you all that you want. Has it ever occurred to anyone that all these guilt trips and promises of future reward are exactly what the white and musis always do to placate us? In Canada white politicians do this with the Sikh community all the time. Do this to get that. Oh it wasnt good enough. Oh you've got to try harder. Even the Scots/Chinese/Africans dont fall for these empty promises and set up to fail requests. Why are Sikhs so childish that they cant see this? If we met their demands, they would want more. If we gave them more they would say we havent given them enough. All the while the issue we want resolved is left to fester as it is drowned out by the constant whining and wants of others put before the needs of our own. If the muslims wanted to help us stop the groomers they would do it unconditionally.

Send him back to Pakistan.

Well it looks like all the pendu rapists have left to come here so they decided to import some. And they say Sikhs are most egalitarian when it comes to women issues.

Lol a loyal dog always comes back to his master even if the master kicks hims out. Shoo Shoo stop humping my leg and get out. The master has work to do.

Like a dog's tail huh? Good one lol

Mate, you're the only b*tch round here. Which is surprising considering your complete lack of respect for women. Run along now, save the world from the dumbasses. Oh and dont take that as meaning you should kill yourself lol.

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/muslims-respond-news-sikh-girls-raped-muslims-uk

Ah man and I was enjoying myself so much as well, it was like the good old days on here.

Oh look how smart he is, grading me and going on about spelling. Cries about how much a victim he is to cover up his own patronising self. *Snore*. Dont cry though, you could send a cloud to rain on me or melt my KitKats. After all you are this super smart psychic who is a far better judge of everything than anyone else.

Nah mate, you're a tinfoil bender. Just without the tinfoil.

I think you need to stop being such a fundamenalist. I know it may be nice acting like the muslims but your views on law and order are so off the mark I think it's best if you stuck to the abstract and left the real world to the people who live there.

I read in Bobby Bansal's book that at least one of the gora generals of the Lahore fauj was also a British spy, given his treatment subsequent to the annexation. Can't recall the name, it was the one who was a closet Jew apparently?

What does his religion have to do with it?

I was flicking through an old book by Kapur Singh called 'Parasaraprasna' (first published in 1959) and came across the following on page 33 of the eversion on the sikhbookclub website.

Maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise that the British had spies right at the heart of the Sikh court?

I'm surprised he was paid so little by the British. Considering how other sources talk about how Maharaja Ranjit Singh liked to throw his money around his court it seems this guy was a politically motivated spy rather than an economic one. The fact that he got so close to the centre and there were no reprisals after the wars show how rubbish Sikh counter-intellgence/spying was back then.

Lol I thought I told you to go away?

Obviously your magical powers arent as good as you thought they were.

The Sikhsangat discussion on this story is worth a read.

Patiala police today claimed to solve the murder case of 13-year-old student, who was allegedly raped and murdered while returning from coaching class on Monday, with the arrest of a migrant labourer.

Her body was found in the fields with severe injury marks on the head. A case of rape and murder was registered. The accused hit the girl with brick on her head and face to conceal her identity.

Medical board of doctors, conducted the postmortem at Civil Hospital, Malekotla and vicera was sent to the forensic lab for examination.

The girl, who lived in Gaura village of the district, had gone for tuition and when she did not return, her family informed police after which a search was launched. During the search, the family located the cycle of girl on a kutcha road in between the fields and her body was found after a brief search in the fileds.

The murder was committed when girl left the house of a class mate at 6.00 PM after attending tuition. The residence of the girl is in agricultural fields, where only few residence are built and accused finding her alone committed the crime.

http://www.yespunjab.com/punjab/item/31744-migrant-labourer-arrested-for-brutal-murder-of-13-year-old-sangrur-girl

I don't appreciate your rude, snide and condescending comments. Keep them to yourself.

Oh boo hoo you're offended. Shouldnt defend paedophiles then. Shouldnt you be watching clouds or moving foil or something anyway?