TO ALL SIKH BRETHREN:

With all that is happening with Sikhs, it is time to organize, to improve our image, welfare and self-dignity. We should:

  1. Work to shatter the myth India has created that Sikhs are “terrorists”. Be an Ambassador Study Sikhism and Sikh history. Create an understanding among ourselves, our communities and citizens of the country we live in.
  2. Make our homes, communities and States of Punjab a safe place to be.
  3. Ensure Sikh children receive the best education and achieve high scholastic merits. Mothers teach your children our religion.
  4. Protect our economic base. Add quality to everything you do. Make each minute useful and profitable. Always have a program. ,
  5. Be participative in the world; say yes to the universe. Take total control of your life, acknowledge people, and be polite always.
  6. Find something to get excited about. Happiness comes through achievement. Wear a smile.
  7. Celebrate the following holidays in addition to national holidays:
  8. April 13th:

Our New Year and Birth of the Khalsa, “SINGH”. Ensure our Gurdwaras provide Sikh baptism (AMRIT) on that day.

  1. June 6th:

Martyrdom Day. Honor our dead victims of the massacre at Golden Temple, Delhi and India in 1984, and martyrdom of Guru Arjan by wearing black ties, turbans, arm bands, chunee. Buy cold soft drinks for strangers and explain why you are doing it.

  1. August 28th:

Sikh Independence Day. This is the date Sikhs denounced the Indian constitution and approved their own Magna Carta, the Sikh charter of demands. Hold picnics, outings, fly flags besides the National flag.

  1. November (Nanak’s Birth, check the Gurdwara):

Guru Nanak’s birthday. This is our Christmas. Celebrate like West celebrates Christmas. Adorn our homes with blue or golden strings of light. Exchange and give gifts. Affirm, your gifts are coming from abundance not scarcity. Give praises and best wishes to the ones you dislike.

  1. Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bhahadar (Date, check with Gurdwara):

Guru Tegh Bahudar gave His life to save Kashmiri Hindus from Moguls. Observe dignity of Faiths. Pledge no one shall be persecuted for one’s religious belief. Practice for givens. Celebrate as Jews celebrate Passover.

  1. Call on your community leaders to build community centers in addition to Gurdwaras. Make a place for intercommunity meetings, fashion shows, concerts, political rallies and private parties, tec.
  2. Call on our artists. Inspire them to write freedom/patriotic songs, paint pictures, write novels and translate our books to English.
  3. Call on intellectuals to guide our people in science, business and systematic economic development. Help Sikhs.
  4. Call mini conventions. Gather scholars to debate resolutions of our problem, i.e. trouble with Indians; role of Sikhs abroad; and how to maintain our standing and welfare in changing times. Sikhs are known as great warriors. The role of a warrior is just not survival but Victory. He must Communicate well and be ready to solve problems. He must pool all his resources and be a community leader, a true Sardar. It is not what can be done but what ought to be done.

Coming Together Is A Beginning Keeping Together Is Progress; Working Together Is Success,

Henry Ford

Courtesy of SIKH WELFARE FOUNDATION OF NORTH AMERICA

P.O. Box 783, Duarte, California 910104783

Article extracted from this publication >> January 15, 1988