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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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Sikh Youth Slate Wins Majority At Guru Nanak Temple
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<blockquote data-quote="Archived_Member16" data-source="post: 115581" data-attributes="member: 884"><p><strong><span style="color: #000080"><span style="font-size: 18px">The new face of Canada's Sikhs</span> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">By Robert Matas</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080">From Tuesday's Globe and Mail </span></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #000080"><em>The election of 19-year-old to lead one of the country's largest temples marks an important shift toward blending tradition with progressive ideas and recasting the Sikh image in B.C.</em> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">Nineteen-year-old Gursimran Kaur puts gender equality and fighting domestic violence at the top of her agenda as a new member of the management committee at one of the largest Sikh temples in North America. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">But she is no liberal in religious matters. She and two other women won a decisive victory in their election to the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, B.C., promising to reintroduce traditional customs. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The slate defeated community leaders who have run the institution since the mid-1990s. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Born in the neighbourhood of The Golden Temple in India, Sikh's holiest shrine, Gursimran Kaur said Monday her stand on behalf of women's rights is grounded in the centuries-old traditions. "In our religion, the first guru told us equality for women is very important because she is the one who creates the whole world, she is the creator," she said. </span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">Throughout the campaign, Gursimran Kaur, a Simon Fraser University student majoring in mathematics, received phone calls from women saying the temple needed advocates for women's rights. She quickly realized this would be her role. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Other women "would raise their voice through me," she said. </span></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The victory of religious Sikh youth with progressive ideas reflects a significant shift in the community, holding out the promise of recasting the image of the turbaned Sikh in B.C. The official returns, signed by independent chief returning officer Ron Laufer, show that the 18 youth slate members each received support of around two-thirds of the 21,188 ballots cast in the election. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The newly elected management </span><span style="color: #000080">committee members are mostly too young to have played any role in confrontations within the Sikh community in recent years. Most were born and grew up in religious families in Canada, although Gursimran Kaur, who lives with her parents, came to Canada when she was four. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">"This is a movement to address the needs of Canadian-born youth," Sukhminder Singh Virk, another member of the youth slate, said in an interview. The temple needs "a better connect with this demographic," said Mr. Virk, a 26-year old who just received his bachelor of law. </span></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Temple politics in B.C. have been dominated by sharp religious differences for more than a decade. The disputes erupted in violence in 1997 over whether they could use table and chairs in the temple dining hall. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The community has also been under a shadow since the Air India disaster in 1985, the deadliest act of terrorism in Canadian history. Bombs planted on airplanes in Vancouver in protest over political issues in India killed 331 people. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The youth slate, who are mostly in their 30s, ran on a two-pronged platform. They advocate a return to traditional religious observance, and an expansion of temple programs mostly to respond to the needs of young families and youth. They promise better maintenance of the buildings and tighter management of finances. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">They plan to develop programs to combat drug use and gang violence, and hold workshops on Sikh scripture and rituals in English to appeal to the younger generation. Their platform also includes new community services programs at the temple. Long range plans call for a safe-house for women. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The youth slate's campaign looked like a page torn from mainstream politics, with a Facebook site and Twitter messaging. They organized phone banks to contact voters in the days leading up to the election; they had 10 buses bringing temple members to the poll to vote. Despite pouring rain, some members waited more than 90 minutes to cast their ballots. The lineup stretched close to a kilometre at one point.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">The incumbent slate of moderates were, on average, about 20 years older. Paul Gill, an active supporter of the moderate slate's candidate for president, Harjinder Singh Cheema, said their slate also brought voters to the poll. However their supporters "changed their mind" in the ballot booth and voted for the youth slate, he said. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">"Many people have [joined] the temple in the past five to seven years," he added. "They do not realize what has happened in the past."</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">The moderate slate was undermined by this open approach to the membership. "Those that support the moderate philosophy are not that committed. They are like floating on the edge and do not have strong allegiance to either side," he said. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">"Some people say, we can change now and we can change again in three years. . . we have to regroup and wait for another day."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">For Gursimran Kaur, the introduction of workshops on violence against women and on women's rights is now her top priority. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">"Domestic violence is one of the biggest issues in our community," she said. "No matter if they are older or younger or kids, they will ... learn how to live their life and what rights they have. We're going for women's rights first."</span> </p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">source: <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/the-new-face-of-canadas-sikhs/article1365825/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29" target="_blank">The new face of Canada's Sikhs - The Globe and Mail</a></span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">*************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="color: #000080">VANCOUVER SUN <a href="mailto:dward@{censored}">dward@{censored}</a> - November 17, 2009</span></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #000080"><span style="font-size: 18px">Sikh youth slate wins majority at Guru Nanak temple</span> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #000080"><em>Social networking sites help young traditionalists win overwhelming victory over ‘old guard’ at powerful institution</em></span></strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">A traditionalist youth slate has won an overwhelming victory in elections at Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh temple over an incumbent moderate group that had run the temple for more than a decade. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The mostly Canadian-born Sikh Youth Slate, which used Internet-based social networking sites, won 13,458 votes to the incumbent faction’s 7,257 votes. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“We all expected in the last few days that the youth slate would win. But we never really thought they would win in such a big fashion,” said Harjinder Thind, a talk show host on Red FM, which serves the Punjabi community. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“People wanted a change because they were not satisfied with the previous administration.” </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Thind said the youth slate</span><span style="color: #000080">headed by insurance broker Bikramjit Singh Sandhar, ran a “very smooth Barack Obamastyle campaign” while the incumbent group alienated many temple members with negative fear-mongering. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">A big issue in the election was the same one that sparked fights at the temple in 1996 and 1997: an edict from India to remove tables and chairs in the dining rooms. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The youth slate wanted members to eat on mats but agreed to a compromise so that the elderly and disabled would be able to use tables and chairs. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“That compromise was a key factor in winning the moderate vote,” Thind said. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Many temple members also believed that the old guard had not been “up to snuff” and had allowed the temple’s cleanliness to deteriorate, he added. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">The rejection of the old-guard slate also represents a desire for more democracy in temple politics, said Satwinder Bains, director at the Centre for IndoCanadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“The old guard was a very small, closeknit group. Very few people held power,” Bains said. </span></p><p></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #000080">“Hopefully, under the youth slate the temple will be more open, more egalitarian and more transparent.” </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Bains said the youth-slate victory signals a shift in the Sikh community in which “young people who are educated are trying to interpret what the Sikh faith should be in today’s world.” </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Bains said the youth slate members were very liberal despite their push for more traditional practices. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“And they are doing what the Sikh faith says they should do: Give food to the needy, for example. And not just to Sikhs. Some of them go give food on the Downtown Eastside.” </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Sikh temples are as much political institutions as places of worship. They have control over substantial real estate holdings and millions of dollars in donations. They also have significant electoral clout with politicians. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">University of the Fraser Valley’s Bains said it is too early to say whether this new group will favour one party over the other. “But I can tell you that all political parties will be looking at this new group with interest.” </span></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Sukhminder Singh Virk, an official with the victorious youth slate, said the table-and-chairs issue, along with old categories of “moderate” and “fundamentalist,” no longer define Sikh temple politics. “We are young, progressive, Canadian-born Sikhs and our focus is on the community here.” </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Virk, 26, is a graduate of Simon Fraser University who recently completed a law degree in Britain. Virk said his group can reach out to young Sikhs, and promote Sikhism to counter gang and domestic violence. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Maninder Gill, managing director of Radio India, said the old-guard moderate faction was hurt by infighting. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">Gill also said the youth slate was not connected with groups which promoted a Sikh homeland in India called Khalistan. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“They are not associated with any previous groups such as Babbar Khalsa or the ISYF [International Sikh Youth Federation], and the old fundamentalist leaders,” Gill said. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000080">“They are a new vision.” </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Archived_Member16, post: 115581, member: 884"] [B][COLOR=#000080][SIZE=5]The new face of Canada's Sikhs[/SIZE] [/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=#000080]By Robert Matas[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]From Tuesday's Globe and Mail [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080][/COLOR] [B][COLOR=#000080][I]The election of 19-year-old to lead one of the country's largest temples marks an important shift toward blending tradition with progressive ideas and recasting the Sikh image in B.C.[/I] [/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=#000080]Nineteen-year-old Gursimran Kaur puts gender equality and fighting domestic violence at the top of her agenda as a new member of the management committee at one of the largest Sikh temples in North America. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]But she is no liberal in religious matters. She and two other women won a decisive victory in their election to the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, B.C., promising to reintroduce traditional customs. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The slate defeated community leaders who have run the institution since the mid-1990s. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Born in the neighbourhood of The Golden Temple in India, Sikh's holiest shrine, Gursimran Kaur said Monday her stand on behalf of women's rights is grounded in the centuries-old traditions. "In our religion, the first guru told us equality for women is very important because she is the one who creates the whole world, she is the creator," she said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Throughout the campaign, Gursimran Kaur, a Simon Fraser University student majoring in mathematics, received phone calls from women saying the temple needed advocates for women's rights. She quickly realized this would be her role. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Other women "would raise their voice through me," she said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The victory of religious Sikh youth with progressive ideas reflects a significant shift in the community, holding out the promise of recasting the image of the turbaned Sikh in B.C. The official returns, signed by independent chief returning officer Ron Laufer, show that the 18 youth slate members each received support of around two-thirds of the 21,188 ballots cast in the election. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The newly elected management [/COLOR][COLOR=#000080]committee members are mostly too young to have played any role in confrontations within the Sikh community in recent years. Most were born and grew up in religious families in Canada, although Gursimran Kaur, who lives with her parents, came to Canada when she was four. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]"This is a movement to address the needs of Canadian-born youth," Sukhminder Singh Virk, another member of the youth slate, said in an interview. The temple needs "a better connect with this demographic," said Mr. Virk, a 26-year old who just received his bachelor of law. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Temple politics in B.C. have been dominated by sharp religious differences for more than a decade. The disputes erupted in violence in 1997 over whether they could use table and chairs in the temple dining hall. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The community has also been under a shadow since the Air India disaster in 1985, the deadliest act of terrorism in Canadian history. Bombs planted on airplanes in Vancouver in protest over political issues in India killed 331 people. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The youth slate, who are mostly in their 30s, ran on a two-pronged platform. They advocate a return to traditional religious observance, and an expansion of temple programs mostly to respond to the needs of young families and youth. They promise better maintenance of the buildings and tighter management of finances. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]They plan to develop programs to combat drug use and gang violence, and hold workshops on Sikh scripture and rituals in English to appeal to the younger generation. Their platform also includes new community services programs at the temple. Long range plans call for a safe-house for women. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The youth slate's campaign looked like a page torn from mainstream politics, with a Facebook site and Twitter messaging. They organized phone banks to contact voters in the days leading up to the election; they had 10 buses bringing temple members to the poll to vote. Despite pouring rain, some members waited more than 90 minutes to cast their ballots. The lineup stretched close to a kilometre at one point.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The incumbent slate of moderates were, on average, about 20 years older. Paul Gill, an active supporter of the moderate slate's candidate for president, Harjinder Singh Cheema, said their slate also brought voters to the poll. However their supporters "changed their mind" in the ballot booth and voted for the youth slate, he said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]"Many people have [joined] the temple in the past five to seven years," he added. "They do not realize what has happened in the past."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The moderate slate was undermined by this open approach to the membership. "Those that support the moderate philosophy are not that committed. They are like floating on the edge and do not have strong allegiance to either side," he said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]"Some people say, we can change now and we can change again in three years. . . we have to regroup and wait for another day."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]For Gursimran Kaur, the introduction of workshops on violence against women and on women's rights is now her top priority. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]"Domestic violence is one of the biggest issues in our community," she said. "No matter if they are older or younger or kids, they will ... learn how to live their life and what rights they have. We're going for women's rights first."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]source: [url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/the-new-face-of-canadas-sikhs/article1365825/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29]The new face of Canada's Sikhs - The Globe and Mail[/url][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]*************************************************************[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]VANCOUVER SUN [EMAIL="dward@{censored}"]dward@{censored}[/EMAIL] - November 17, 2009[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080][/COLOR] [B][COLOR=#000080][SIZE=5]Sikh youth slate wins majority at Guru Nanak temple[/SIZE] [/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR=#000080][I]Social networking sites help young traditionalists win overwhelming victory over ‘old guard’ at powerful institution[/I][/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=#000080]A traditionalist youth slate has won an overwhelming victory in elections at Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh temple over an incumbent moderate group that had run the temple for more than a decade. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The mostly Canadian-born Sikh Youth Slate, which used Internet-based social networking sites, won 13,458 votes to the incumbent faction’s 7,257 votes. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“We all expected in the last few days that the youth slate would win. But we never really thought they would win in such a big fashion,” said Harjinder Thind, a talk show host on Red FM, which serves the Punjabi community. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“People wanted a change because they were not satisfied with the previous administration.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Thind said the youth slate[/COLOR][COLOR=#000080]headed by insurance broker Bikramjit Singh Sandhar, ran a “very smooth Barack Obamastyle campaign” while the incumbent group alienated many temple members with negative fear-mongering. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]A big issue in the election was the same one that sparked fights at the temple in 1996 and 1997: an edict from India to remove tables and chairs in the dining rooms. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The youth slate wanted members to eat on mats but agreed to a compromise so that the elderly and disabled would be able to use tables and chairs. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“That compromise was a key factor in winning the moderate vote,” Thind said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Many temple members also believed that the old guard had not been “up to snuff” and had allowed the temple’s cleanliness to deteriorate, he added. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]The rejection of the old-guard slate also represents a desire for more democracy in temple politics, said Satwinder Bains, director at the Centre for IndoCanadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“The old guard was a very small, closeknit group. Very few people held power,” Bains said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“Hopefully, under the youth slate the temple will be more open, more egalitarian and more transparent.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Bains said the youth-slate victory signals a shift in the Sikh community in which “young people who are educated are trying to interpret what the Sikh faith should be in today’s world.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Bains said the youth slate members were very liberal despite their push for more traditional practices. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“And they are doing what the Sikh faith says they should do: Give food to the needy, for example. And not just to Sikhs. Some of them go give food on the Downtown Eastside.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Sikh temples are as much political institutions as places of worship. They have control over substantial real estate holdings and millions of dollars in donations. They also have significant electoral clout with politicians. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]University of the Fraser Valley’s Bains said it is too early to say whether this new group will favour one party over the other. “But I can tell you that all political parties will be looking at this new group with interest.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Sukhminder Singh Virk, an official with the victorious youth slate, said the table-and-chairs issue, along with old categories of “moderate” and “fundamentalist,” no longer define Sikh temple politics. “We are young, progressive, Canadian-born Sikhs and our focus is on the community here.” [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Virk, 26, is a graduate of Simon Fraser University who recently completed a law degree in Britain. Virk said his group can reach out to young Sikhs, and promote Sikhism to counter gang and domestic violence. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Maninder Gill, managing director of Radio India, said the old-guard moderate faction was hurt by infighting. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]Gill also said the youth slate was not connected with groups which promoted a Sikh homeland in India called Khalistan. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“They are not associated with any previous groups such as Babbar Khalsa or the ISYF [International Sikh Youth Federation], and the old fundamentalist leaders,” Gill said. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000080]“They are a new vision.” [/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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Sikh Youth Slate Wins Majority At Guru Nanak Temple
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