Event Details

HISTORY OF JAGO

The Jago Sikh Young Professionals organization began in 2005 for the purpose of bringing together Sikh young adults of a mature age group (18-35) across cities to come together to explore issues of relevance to their generation, most second generation Sikhs. This purpose is achieved through educational, religious, and social platforms!
As influential Sikh young adults of society, the goal is to first educate our generation on their rich heritage and secondly to provide greater awareness on Sikhism to the outside community. This is pursued through thought- provoking sessions, reputable speakers, peer-moderated talks and group discussions. An integral aspect of the conference is the religious exchange promoting education, exploration, and introspection of the Sikh faith.
The last and essential aspect of the conference is the social arena. We hope to encourage a comfortable atmosphere where Sikh young adults can meet and interact with other adults from across North America, network, and form friendships. Peer sangat provides the opportunity and most formidable avenue to learn and grow through other perspectives. Through activities and events, attendees will gain support from fellow Sikhs and enjoy others’ unique viewpoints to help foster bonds and bridge long-term relationships.

TOPIC OF JAGO 2009 CONFERENCE:

This year the world witnessed a monumental change in American politics, Barack Obama became America’s first African-American President. There is no doubt we as a nation, comprised of individuals from all regions of the world and all walks of life, have evolved within the past 300+ years. We have grown from a nation condoning slavery of African-Americans to a nation democratically electing an African-American as President. America is known as a place where all things are possible, a nation of opportunity.

As a nation of opportunity we were able to witness this change, many of you facilitated such change this past year just by voting. Let us continue and come together to facilitate similar change within our own Sikh community at home. As Sikhs we have experienced racial and religious discrimination by certain individuals/groups not only from our motherland of India but from the land of opportunity, the United States, as well as in Canada. Similarly, a majority of Sikh mothers, daughters and sisters have experienced gender discrimination by their own community of Sikhs, comprised of both males and females. Therefore, let us unite and begin to take steps towards creating a nation full of opportunities for all Sikhs, men and women alike, not only in our own country of residence but within our own Sikh community as well. Let us unite and begin to create a new humanity.

Thus the topic of this year’s Jago Sikh Youth Conference is
A New Humanity: A Platform on Equality.

We will be discussing the issue of equality from a number of aspects:
(1) We will be discussing equality through Gurbani translations.
(2) We will be discussing equality from a legal aspect concerning men who have encountered discrimination within North America.
(3) We will be discussing equality of Sikh women and how they are denied certain rights within our generation and community, such as at Gurdwaras located within North America, and how the Akal Takhat perhaps plays a major role.