by blogadmin | Jun 3, 2019 | Delaware, DSAC, Sikhism, Year 2019
“Vand chako” (share before you consume) is one of the values Guru Nanak Dev (founder of Sikhism or Sikhi) emphatically taught. Delaware Sikh Awareness Coalition (DSAC) is grateful to New Ark United Church of Christ for the opportunity today to serve them langar (complimentary communal meal) in commemoration of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary year. What a joyous experience it was!
Please let us know if we can do langar or another kind of service for your congregation or house of worship.
by blogadmin | May 29, 2019 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Year 2019
You are not a Muslim. You have no Muslim friends. And you haven’t seen, read or heard anything positive about Muslims — ever. You never came across anything nonviolent and not disgusting about them.
Me neither!
No matter where I went, Muslims had always been in the news for the wrong reasons.
In India, the UK and even during my last 20 years here in the U.S., I have seen the anger and animosity against Islam and the Muslim communities only grow stronger and louder over the years. President Trump successfully rode it, among other things, to the White House.
I was home drinking tea in Dover on 9/11. In 2009, my wife and I, along with our two children, stayed at The Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India where, only a year earlier a terrorist attack had killed 166 people.
Perpetrators in both cases were Muslims.
Internationally, we constantly hear about the barbaric and inhuman acts of Muslim terrorist groups like ISIS, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Khorasan group, the Haqqani network and their offshoots.
An interfaith coalition distributes food to the homeless at Front and Lombard Street in Wilmington
Reaction to these groups and incidents often are quick and emotional. In Delaware, two Republican state senators
walked out of the Senate during a Muslim prayer in April 2017. The reason, one of them said, was that women and minorities are not treated fairly and respectfully by Muslims.
With no or negligible interaction with Muslims, does the negative barrage make us believe that all followers of Islam are constantly conspiring to commit evil? To explore that question, I launched a soul-sponsored expedition to discover the truth.
I asked Islamic Society of Delaware’s (ISD) interfaith chair Irfan Patel for his reaction to the senator’s allegation. “His actions show lack of understanding of our faith,” he said. “Islam teaches equal rights to men and women. In fact, laws of inheritance are a prime example of how women’s rights are respected in Islam. To give some context, women were not given electoral rights in many western societies until recently.”
I am a Sikh. Delaware’s second gurdwara (Sikh temple) opened in the summer of 2015 in Middletown. Weeks after, I organized an interfaith peace prayer there in August to mark the third anniversary of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin gurdwara killings.
We had decided on one speaker from one house of worship for the event. But, a couple of days before the meeting, I received a call from a stranger who turned out to be a professor at the University of Delaware.
He dispelled my “only one mosque” assumption. “There isn’t only one, not even two, but seven mosques in New Castle County,” he enlightened me. And Patel confirmed there are in fact 12 mosques in Delaware serving the state’s more than 10,000 Muslims.
Delaware’s Muslim community is as diverse as our nation. Its constituents are men and women of African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Far Eastern and even European origins. They represent a range of human endeavor: business, academia, engineering, construction, health care, medicine, computing, art, music, writing and poetry.
Similarly, their food, dress, interests, opinions and friendships are varied.
I meet many members of the Muslim community at interfaith events throughout Delaware. They are eager and reliable participants in the Interfaith Peace Walk I organize every April on Newark’s Main Street. Led by Vaqar Sharief and his wife Uzma Vaqar, they join in the distribution of food to the homeless and needy each month at Front and Lombard in Wilmington.
Naveed Baqir of Delaware Council on Muslim and Global Affairs was in the Senate to read the Muslim prayer when the senators walked out.
“I met with both of them afterward,” he said. “Since then, they have supported us. Recently they supported a concurrent resolution (HCR 46) on the Ramadan month,” Baqir said.
It was similarly heartening to read the New York Times story, “Muslim groups raise thousands for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims.”
In recent weeks, many Muslim organizations have been hosting Iftar dinners to celebrate Ramadan. These events have wide participation from the community, including non-Muslims.
There is an undesirable vacuum between Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere that allows for misunderstandings and stereotypes which are often exploited by those with their own agendas and uninformed views. A continuing effort from Muslims and non-Muslims alike needs to be made and sustained to bridge this gap.
In the meantime I salute all of those, in Delaware and beyond, who are already working to do so.
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This column was published online by the www.delawareonline.com on May 29, 2019.
by blogadmin | May 13, 2019 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Sikhism, Year 2019
Years ago, I was at a college classmate’s house in my hometown, Patiala. His retired colonel neighbor asked me, where in the United States I lived. “Delaware,” I replied.
“Umm…Where?”
I repeated, slowly, “Delaware.”
The colonel narrowed his eyes, picked up his large tumbler of some strong drink, (rum, probably), gulped it in one go, and said, “Delaware…huh? What kind? Software or hardware?”
Could this ignorance, coupled with bigotry, have led to the killing of three Sikh women and a Sikh man at an apartment complex in Ohio’s Cincinnati city, on 30 April? While External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said that this was “not a hate crime”, questions continue to linger amid investigation into the case.
Is it possible that the Sikh family was more vulnerable (in the eyes of the perpetrators) because they were Sikhs / Asians?
Sikh Diaspora in Delaware & Cultural Diversity
Almost all the South Asians living in Delaware are first generation immigrants. As long as they could eat their rice or rotis at home, their cultural and religious aspirations rarely superseded family and economic priorities. Therefore, I was amazed to see a huge (and diverse) turnout at Lalkar 2019 , a national collegiate bhangra and fusion dance competition. From the 62 university teams that had applied, eight teams were selected to perform at the University of Delaware.
Significantly, the event’s success was a true tribute to the message of Guru Nanak in his 550th birth year—bringing people together in respect, peace and love.
On 19 March, the Delaware Sikh Awareness Coalition (DSAC) organised a luncheon in Dover, the capital of Delaware. It was before we went to the state Legislative Hall, where the Senate and the House were scheduled to pass a concurrent resolution, declaring April 2019 as ‘Delaware’s Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’.
The participants at the luncheon were a diverse lot, and included men and women as young as 16 and as old as 86. Those originally from India included Gujaratis, Punjabis, Sindhis, Delhiwallahs, UP, Bihar, MP, and many from the southern part of India. Among the Americans there were people across Christian denominations, and one Jew.
Various community leaders, legislators and individuals of different castes, colour, abilities and professions were in the audience. Many of them even took the opportunity to experience wearing a Sikh turban.
‘Why a Real Tribute to Guru Nanak Should Be An Interfaith Celebration’
The topic of discussion at the luncheon was ‘Why a real tribute to Guru Nanak’s 550th should be an interfaith celebration’. Most had never even heard of Guru Nanak.
Starting from the “Na ko Hindu, Na Musalman” (No one is Hindu, no one is Muslim) proclamation after his communion with God in 1499, Guru Nanak used art (writing hymns in divine poetry) and music to take his message of Ek Onkar (all creation by one creator) to the world. Along with two companions, Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana – the latter playing the rubab – Guru Nanak used melody and music to spread his message.
His successors temporally and spiritually built on the foundations of peace and communal harmony that Guru Nanak had laid.
Among the 36 were Baba Sheikh Farid, Bhagat Namdev, Sant Kabir (the maximum contribution by a non-Guru author and the fifth largest among all authors), Bhagat Ravidas, Bhagat Kalshar, Bhagat Nalh.
The holy text also depicts the importance of dissent, and that too, respectful dissent. On page 1380 of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Amar Das disagrees with Baba Farid ji after more than 250 years, and the divine dialogue is presented in a sublime way. In fact, Farid ji’s bani (hymn) is in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, before which millions bow their heads every day. This also depicts the virtue of tolerance and regard for all, that Sikhism embodies.
What Guru Nanak Truly Wanted
At the end of the presentation, a slide show on Harmandir Sahib, whose foundation was laid by Sufi saint Mian Mir Sahib, was presented – to further illustrate the point of communal harmony and religious tolerance. Post-luncheon, we went to the Legislative Hall where Delaware Senator, Bryan Townsend, introduced the resolution in the Senate, and Representative Paul Baumbach introduced it in the House. It was unanimously passed in both the chambers. Governor John Carney signed an executive proclamation, declaring April 2019 as ‘Delaware Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’.
This was the third year in a row that this feat was accomplished. But what made this edition stand out is the participation of diverse groups, across communities. This is what we believe, Guru Nanak really wanted.
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This column was published online by the www.thequint.com on May 13, 2019.
by blogadmin | May 11, 2019 | Sikhism
Mauj and Mazza in the fizza: These pictures of Vaisakhi celebration today in “India House” in Washington D.C. (India’s US Ambassador residence) where I was an invitee with my family don’t show food stalls (FREE): chaat, lassi, golguppe, maki-di-roti & saag, karhi-chol, chhole-bhutere, dahi-bhalle, etc. You can very well guess why! Khao yaan photo khincho? You sure can answer this one on my behalf!
Major Minhas and I are with Harshvardhan Shringla, India’s US Ambassador, at his residence in Washington D.C. celebrating Vaisakhi.
by blogadmin | May 11, 2019 | Delaware, Ramdan, Year 2019
Month of Ramadan is on. Yesterday, in Aetna Banquet Hall, Vaqar Sharief, and I hosted an Interfaith Iftar that was attended by 300+ Delawareans. My heartiest gratitude and thanks to everyone who participated in it. You helped build peace and spread love!
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