New York; N.Y: The Prakash Gurpurb of Guru Gobind Singh Ji ‘was celebrated by a large sangat of New York and its neighboring ‘areas participated in a Kirtan Darbar on Sunday January 15 at the Sikh Cultural Society in Richmond Hill here.

Thousands of Sikhs gathered at Richmond Hill where they spent the day of quiet devotion and piety at the Gurdwara Sahib. The Jatha of Bhai Daya Singh rendered the Kirtan, and singing the holy hymans from the Guru Granth Sahib, Giani Gurdeep Singh the Granthi of the Gurdwara Sahib did Katha, the interpretation and explanation of the Bani in the Guru Granth Sahib, and Sant Makhan Singh gave a discourse on the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

S.Jagjit Singh Mangat, the President of Sikh Cultural Society announced that they had finalized a deal to buya neighboring house for $175,000 which was necessary to accommodate the growing needs of the sangat of the Gurdwara Sahib.

S.Sat Jivan Singh Khalsa, while addressing the sangat, spoke about how the Sikhs have been discriminated against by not being allowed to serve in the United States armed forces because of their Turbans and Jong uncut hair.

He gave the background and said that President Ronald Reagan had in 1981 cancelled the Executive Order of President Eishonover thereby effectively barring the Sikhs in this country from serving in the Armed Forces while maintaining their bana.

He urged the Sangat to send the following telegrams to President Ronald Reagan, the White House, 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. before he steps down on January 20th.

“Dear Mr. President: You are leaving with a black mark on your record. Under your administration the Sikhs have been prevented from serving in the American armed forces. By taking away our right to fight for our country, a great injustice has been done. Please rectify this injustice before you leave office.”

Among those who addressed the Sangat included S. Gurcharan Singh Babbar of Montreal who stressed the need to have unity in these trying times when the Sikhs were being hounded in their homeland by the tyrannical Indian government.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 20, 1989