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Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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In Defence Of The Rights Of Others
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<blockquote data-quote="Archived_Member16" data-source="post: 170885" data-attributes="member: 884"><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">In defence of the rights of others</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong><span style="color: Red">Harjit Sajjan found military service to be the best way to fulfil the requirements of his religion</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong>By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun - September 8, 2012</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"> </span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1On7r4Zbdi2Gk_CBRK3tkcVehnDon9eK9ejg0SFDS82dPO6-NGw" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><span style="color: Red"><strong>Lt.-Col. Harjit Sajjan is the first Sikh to command </strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><span style="color: Red"><strong>a Canadian Army regiment. He has served in Afghanistan</strong></span></span></p><p> <span style="color: Navy"><span style="color: Red"><strong>and Bosnia with the Canadian Forces.</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><span style="color: Red"><strong></strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><span style="color: Red"><strong>Photograph by: Ward Perrin, PNG, Vancouver Sun</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">It was during his first deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 that Harjit Sajjan distinguished himself.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">A major in the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), Sajjan took time off from his full-time job in the Vancouver police department's gang squad to join the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Kandahar.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">His job was as liaison officer to the Afghan police. Although he'd been in dangerous situations before in Bosnia and had even been wounded there, Saj-jan was assured Kandahar was safe and far from the fighting.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">It was anything but. "People were turning to the Taliban because of the corruption, and we couldn't defend that," he says. "That stirred the hornets' nest. There were about 40 of us and we were getting hit every day."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">He and his team not only learned of the Taliban insurgency, they discovered every single enemy defensive position.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"I didn't know what counter-insurgency was until I got there. But when soldiers' lives are on the line, you learn very quickly."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Speaking to village elders, Sajjan drew on his childhood experiences in Punjab and used his first language of Punjabi, which is similar enough to be understood by Urdu-speaking Afghans.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Village elders began to tell him how the young men and boys were turning to the Taliban, who promised to end widespread corruption.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It was kind of like when I was working on the gang squad. People were telling me, 'My son won't listen to me. But I know he's working for the Taliban.'"</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan went to Canadian Maj.-Gen. David Fraser, who was heading NATO's regional command, and told him what they'd found. Fraser was so impressed with the major that he asked for his help in planning a major offensive west of Kandahar.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Operation Medusa began on Sept. 2, 2006, went on for 15 days and involved more than 5,000 NATO troops.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Four soldiers under Sajjan's command died. Eight other Canadians were killed during the operation, along with 14 British troops who were killed in a plane crash.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"We knew it would be a very tough fight," said Sajjan, who is reluctant to talk about his contribution because he feels responsible for the Canadian deaths.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">(In fact, Sajjan was reluctant to be interviewed at all. "I'm just one of many. You should see my soldiers. They're the real rock stars.") But Fraser saw it differently. In his written evaluation of Sajjan's performance, Fraser described him as "nothing short of brilliant." He went on to use words like "fearless, smart and personable" with "outstanding and rare potential."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">In another evaluation, Sajjan was described as having shown "remarkable personal courage - often working in the face of the enemy to collect data and confirm his suspicions and placing himself almost daily in situations of grave personal risk."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong>CAREER CHANGE</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan admits now that he didn't decompress properly after that first of three deployments in Afghanistan. Operation Medusa had barely ended and he was on the flight home. He'd promised his wife, Kuljit, that after two extensions of what was to have been a six-month deployment, he'd be home on that day.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Soon after returning from Afghanistan, Sajjan quit the VPD. Since then, he's continued as a reservist and started a consulting business. He teaches military personnel in Canada and the United States about how to gather information in difficult places like Afghanistan.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">In 2011, Sajjan went back to Afghanistan as a special adviser to U.S. Lt.-Gen. James Terry, who is now commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force joint command in Afghanistan.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It's ironic," he says. "There I was advising the top generals, and the U.S. army doesn't allow Sikhs (in turbans) to join."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan came back to Canada in April 2011 and, last September, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the B.C. Regiment, a reserve unit.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">He is the first Sikh to head a Canadian regiment as commanding officer.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong>HUMBLE BEGINNINGS</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Harjit Sajjan was born in Bombeli, a small village in India's Punjab. There were no proper toilets in the village. His pet was a black ox that once used its massive horn to pick Sajjan's sister up and toss her out of the way when she was teasing her brother.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan was only two when his father, a police officer with a promising career, left for Canada in search of better opportunities.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">It was four years before his father returned. But in 1976, he collected his wife, daughter and son and brought them to Vancouver.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan remembers "the total sadness" he felt when he arrived. Not only had he lost the freedom to roam the family's small farm, and the warmth of a village where everybody knew everyone else, but Sajjan only spoke Punjabi.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"My sister and I were constantly crying and I remember my Mom finally slapping me and saying, 'You're not going back'."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">He remembers the racism, going to the mall with his family and people swearing at them.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It was just a part of life. But at school, I didn't have that issue. I played sports."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">By 16, Sajjan knew he was travelling in the wrong circles. Among his classmates was Bindi Johal, the notorious drug lord and gangster murdered in 1998, and others who Sajjan later helped arrest.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan chose another path. He decided to become a baptized Sikh. Among other things, it meant no alcohol, no cutting his hair, wearing a turban, a silver bracelet and carrying a kirpan, the small ceremonial knife.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It wasn't really a religious thing. It was an identity thing. I needed the commitment because I knew it would keep me on the right path. I found the true meaning of Sikhism and I loved the warrior aspect of it.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"When I was fighting to understand who I am, that (warrior) aspect was some-thing that I really identified with."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sikhs became warriors because of persecution. But Sajjan says the main religious principle is that a Sikh must be a positive and contributing member of society.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It's important to defend your own rights. But there is a requirement that you must defend the rights of others.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"When I was in Afghanistan, a man came up to me and said, 'You are a Sikh and I know you must help me'."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong>MILITARY WELCOMES SIKHS</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sikhism is what pushed him toward the military. Yet, ironically, it was what almost kept him out of the Canadian Forces.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">At the time Sajjan applied, the RCMP had just refused to accept a turbaned Sikh's application. The Canadian Forces had no such qualms; Sikhs first served in the Canadian Army in the First World War.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">But the forces has a rule about gas masks and helmets: Every-body has to be able to wear them. But, at the time, there were no gas masks that worked over beards. Even the Indian and British armies didn't have any.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">So, Sajjan invented an apparatus to make it work. He's since patented it.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">As for the helmet, Saj-jan learned to tie his turban differently.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"I have never caved in to taking the turban off. I have integrated the principles of Sikhism in a very respectful way."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Not only has it been an enormous benefit to Sajjan, but to Canada.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">While Canadian and Afghan forces were getting ready for Operation Medusa, an Afghan soldier was surprised Sajjan was with the Canadian Army, not the Indian.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">He was more surprised to learn Sajjan was a major.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"He told me that if Canada lets you come to the country and be an officer, if they let you do that, then maybe Canada is here to help us.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"He said if they respect you and treat you the same, then maybe what Canada says here is genuine."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan says diversity is an essential part of the Canadian Forces.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"Diversity is an operational necessity. It's more than language skills. It's a way of thinking. - How we are raised in Canada is very important to the fibre of the Canadian Forces."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">In Bosnia, Sajjan's turban caused a minor issue in some Serb neighbourhoods. He defused concerns by telling them that as a Sikh, he was likely the only neutral per-son in the Muslim/Christian conflict.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">He eventually established such close rapport that an elderly woman knit him a pair of socks. Sajjan still has them.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan has been wounded in battle and had so many close calls he gave up counting after 40. So I asked him about fear.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">"It doesn't matter whether it's Cyprus, the Sinai, Bosnia, Croatia or wherever, the fear is always there. - Fear is the healthy way to do the right thing to come home alive."</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">And Sajjan has a lot to live for. He's got two children, aged one and four. His wife, Kuljit, is a family physician.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">Sajjan attributes to Kuljit the hard-won wisdom that it's not what you look like, but what you do that matters.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">And, for the lieutenant-colonel, that means serving others.</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><a href="mailto:dbramham@{censored}">dbramham@{censored}</a></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy">© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun</span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"></span></p><p><span style="color: Navy"><strong>source:</strong> <a href="http://www.{censored}/news/defence+rights+others/7211614/story.html" target="_blank">http://www.{censored}/news/defence+rights+others/7211614/story.html</a></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Archived_Member16, post: 170885, member: 884"] [COLOR="Navy"][B][SIZE="5"]In defence of the rights of others[/SIZE] [COLOR="Red"]Harjit Sajjan found military service to be the best way to fulfil the requirements of his religion[/COLOR] By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun - September 8, 2012[/B] [IMG]http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1On7r4Zbdi2Gk_CBRK3tkcVehnDon9eK9ejg0SFDS82dPO6-NGw[/IMG] [COLOR="Red"][B]Lt.-Col. Harjit Sajjan is the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army regiment. He has served in Afghanistan and Bosnia with the Canadian Forces. Photograph by: Ward Perrin, PNG, Vancouver Sun[/B][/COLOR] It was during his first deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 that Harjit Sajjan distinguished himself. A major in the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), Sajjan took time off from his full-time job in the Vancouver police department's gang squad to join the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Kandahar. His job was as liaison officer to the Afghan police. Although he'd been in dangerous situations before in Bosnia and had even been wounded there, Saj-jan was assured Kandahar was safe and far from the fighting. It was anything but. "People were turning to the Taliban because of the corruption, and we couldn't defend that," he says. "That stirred the hornets' nest. There were about 40 of us and we were getting hit every day." He and his team not only learned of the Taliban insurgency, they discovered every single enemy defensive position. "I didn't know what counter-insurgency was until I got there. But when soldiers' lives are on the line, you learn very quickly." Speaking to village elders, Sajjan drew on his childhood experiences in Punjab and used his first language of Punjabi, which is similar enough to be understood by Urdu-speaking Afghans. Village elders began to tell him how the young men and boys were turning to the Taliban, who promised to end widespread corruption. "It was kind of like when I was working on the gang squad. People were telling me, 'My son won't listen to me. But I know he's working for the Taliban.'" Sajjan went to Canadian Maj.-Gen. David Fraser, who was heading NATO's regional command, and told him what they'd found. Fraser was so impressed with the major that he asked for his help in planning a major offensive west of Kandahar. Operation Medusa began on Sept. 2, 2006, went on for 15 days and involved more than 5,000 NATO troops. Four soldiers under Sajjan's command died. Eight other Canadians were killed during the operation, along with 14 British troops who were killed in a plane crash. "We knew it would be a very tough fight," said Sajjan, who is reluctant to talk about his contribution because he feels responsible for the Canadian deaths. (In fact, Sajjan was reluctant to be interviewed at all. "I'm just one of many. You should see my soldiers. They're the real rock stars.") But Fraser saw it differently. In his written evaluation of Sajjan's performance, Fraser described him as "nothing short of brilliant." He went on to use words like "fearless, smart and personable" with "outstanding and rare potential." In another evaluation, Sajjan was described as having shown "remarkable personal courage - often working in the face of the enemy to collect data and confirm his suspicions and placing himself almost daily in situations of grave personal risk." [B]CAREER CHANGE[/B] Sajjan admits now that he didn't decompress properly after that first of three deployments in Afghanistan. Operation Medusa had barely ended and he was on the flight home. He'd promised his wife, Kuljit, that after two extensions of what was to have been a six-month deployment, he'd be home on that day. Soon after returning from Afghanistan, Sajjan quit the VPD. Since then, he's continued as a reservist and started a consulting business. He teaches military personnel in Canada and the United States about how to gather information in difficult places like Afghanistan. In 2011, Sajjan went back to Afghanistan as a special adviser to U.S. Lt.-Gen. James Terry, who is now commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force joint command in Afghanistan. "It's ironic," he says. "There I was advising the top generals, and the U.S. army doesn't allow Sikhs (in turbans) to join." Sajjan came back to Canada in April 2011 and, last September, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the B.C. Regiment, a reserve unit. He is the first Sikh to head a Canadian regiment as commanding officer. [B]HUMBLE BEGINNINGS[/B] Harjit Sajjan was born in Bombeli, a small village in India's Punjab. There were no proper toilets in the village. His pet was a black ox that once used its massive horn to pick Sajjan's sister up and toss her out of the way when she was teasing her brother. Sajjan was only two when his father, a police officer with a promising career, left for Canada in search of better opportunities. It was four years before his father returned. But in 1976, he collected his wife, daughter and son and brought them to Vancouver. Sajjan remembers "the total sadness" he felt when he arrived. Not only had he lost the freedom to roam the family's small farm, and the warmth of a village where everybody knew everyone else, but Sajjan only spoke Punjabi. "My sister and I were constantly crying and I remember my Mom finally slapping me and saying, 'You're not going back'." He remembers the racism, going to the mall with his family and people swearing at them. "It was just a part of life. But at school, I didn't have that issue. I played sports." By 16, Sajjan knew he was travelling in the wrong circles. Among his classmates was Bindi Johal, the notorious drug lord and gangster murdered in 1998, and others who Sajjan later helped arrest. Sajjan chose another path. He decided to become a baptized Sikh. Among other things, it meant no alcohol, no cutting his hair, wearing a turban, a silver bracelet and carrying a kirpan, the small ceremonial knife. "It wasn't really a religious thing. It was an identity thing. I needed the commitment because I knew it would keep me on the right path. I found the true meaning of Sikhism and I loved the warrior aspect of it. "When I was fighting to understand who I am, that (warrior) aspect was some-thing that I really identified with." Sikhs became warriors because of persecution. But Sajjan says the main religious principle is that a Sikh must be a positive and contributing member of society. "It's important to defend your own rights. But there is a requirement that you must defend the rights of others. "When I was in Afghanistan, a man came up to me and said, 'You are a Sikh and I know you must help me'." [B]MILITARY WELCOMES SIKHS[/B] Sikhism is what pushed him toward the military. Yet, ironically, it was what almost kept him out of the Canadian Forces. At the time Sajjan applied, the RCMP had just refused to accept a turbaned Sikh's application. The Canadian Forces had no such qualms; Sikhs first served in the Canadian Army in the First World War. But the forces has a rule about gas masks and helmets: Every-body has to be able to wear them. But, at the time, there were no gas masks that worked over beards. Even the Indian and British armies didn't have any. So, Sajjan invented an apparatus to make it work. He's since patented it. As for the helmet, Saj-jan learned to tie his turban differently. "I have never caved in to taking the turban off. I have integrated the principles of Sikhism in a very respectful way." Not only has it been an enormous benefit to Sajjan, but to Canada. While Canadian and Afghan forces were getting ready for Operation Medusa, an Afghan soldier was surprised Sajjan was with the Canadian Army, not the Indian. He was more surprised to learn Sajjan was a major. "He told me that if Canada lets you come to the country and be an officer, if they let you do that, then maybe Canada is here to help us. "He said if they respect you and treat you the same, then maybe what Canada says here is genuine." Sajjan says diversity is an essential part of the Canadian Forces. "Diversity is an operational necessity. It's more than language skills. It's a way of thinking. - How we are raised in Canada is very important to the fibre of the Canadian Forces." In Bosnia, Sajjan's turban caused a minor issue in some Serb neighbourhoods. He defused concerns by telling them that as a Sikh, he was likely the only neutral per-son in the Muslim/Christian conflict. He eventually established such close rapport that an elderly woman knit him a pair of socks. Sajjan still has them. Sajjan has been wounded in battle and had so many close calls he gave up counting after 40. So I asked him about fear. "It doesn't matter whether it's Cyprus, the Sinai, Bosnia, Croatia or wherever, the fear is always there. - Fear is the healthy way to do the right thing to come home alive." And Sajjan has a lot to live for. He's got two children, aged one and four. His wife, Kuljit, is a family physician. Sajjan attributes to Kuljit the hard-won wisdom that it's not what you look like, but what you do that matters. And, for the lieutenant-colonel, that means serving others. [email]dbramham@{censored}[/email] © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun [B]source:[/B] [url]http://www.{censored}/news/defence+rights+others/7211614/story.html[/url][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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