Celebrating ‘excellence among Sikhs’

On Sunday July 6th Chandigarh witnessed a galaxy of eminent Sikh men and women being honoured for their contribution to society in general and the Sikh community in particular. Seven chosen persons of excellence came together at the Taj to receive their awards that include the “Lifetime Service Award” for Saran Singh for publishing the “Sikh Review”. The effort behind all this is that of none other than the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE), a US based NGO for the promotion and preservation of Sikh culture that works closely with the White House.

Chairman of the Council Dr Rajwant Singh is currently in Chandigarh overseeing the event. Recollecting the time when the Council was founded, he says “during the Clinton administration a need was felt to start an interaction with the White House to create a mechanism for enhancing the presence of Sikhs in the political system. The first meeting of the Council was held in 1988 at the White House. About 35 Sikh personalities from different organisations came together to form SCORE. Since that time a nearness has been established between the local Sikh community and people like Hilary Clinton, Senator Edward Kennedy, Senator Richard Lugar”.

 According to Rajwant, the Council members are of the opinion that there is a general feeling of cynicism in the Sikh community due to the various challenges the community faces and lack of trust in their leadership. This general sense of negativity needs to be turned around. Honouring these eminent Sikhs will provide the Sikh youth with role models.

After 9/11 when Sikhs were being attacked, Rajwant was invited by President Bush to the White House along with other leaders to discuss the tragedy facing America. “We appealed to the President to issue a statement to protect the Sikhs. Subsequently, 14 leaders were invited on September 20, 2001, to make a statement against violence and prejudice against the Sikh community as their appearance was mistaken for supporters of Bin Ladin”.

Interestingly, it was at the residence of Rajwant where Senator Hilary made a comment that she was proud to be a Senator from New York as well as from Punjab. This comment was taken up during Presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign and made Hilary look more a representative of India rather than America by calling her “Senator Clinton D - Punjab”. It showed Hilary and Indians in poor light. But after Rajwant and many other Indians protested, Obama had to apologise. 

Those honoured at Sunday’s function include Rabbi Shergill, a well-known singer, an environmentalist and a social activist, Saran Singh, Editor of “Sikh Review” from Kolkata, Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal who cleaned the Bein River associated with Guru Nanak in Sultanpur Lodhi, Ranjodh Singh, head of Gurmukh Singh and Sons, from Ludhiana, Arpana Caur, an internationally renowned artist, Dr. Inderjit Kaur, head of the Pingalwara Institution in Amritsar, and the Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council, a Delhi-based NGO which has done humanitarian service since 1984. 
 

-By Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service