Screenshots from The Daily Show:

Dear Wyatt,

In the August 10th Episode of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, you did an outstanding report satirizing the uproar about the proposed mosque near the ground zero site. Yes, America is about freedom of religion, and yes, we should promote understanding and respect for all.

In your report, you included shots of Sikh Americans — folks who practice a distinct faith that originated in the 15th century in North India. But you never mentioned they were Sikhs. Your report strongly implied that they were Muslims, which is factually incorrect. Though this is a common error (I’m often mistaken for a Muslim American, but they’re cool too) you should be aware of this, because your media influences millions of people.

The turban is a religiously-mandated article of faith for Sikhs. It’s not the case for Muslims. Which is why 99% of people wearing turbans in the United States are Sikhs — I mean, who’d be crazy enough to wear a turban in America if it weren’t a strict requirement of their faith?

I’m not making this up, here’s a video produced by the US DOJ on just this topic. Yes that’s right, it’s produced by the United States Department of Justice, and all TSA agents are required to watch it every six months. It basically explains to TSA agents who Sikhs are and how they are different, unique, and shouldn’t be profiled so obviously!

As a Sikh from central New Jersey (went to high school in Lawrenceville) that religiously watches the Daily Show, I just wanted to make you aware of this. I was traveling for work last week and was catching up today, so I saw your report. Again, it’s excellent. I love your work and I will also point out that Jason Jones has correctly characterized Sikhs as a distinct faith on the Daily Show, so I figured I’d write to you directly.

I hope you are well and I’d love to see The Daily Show Live someday! You can read more about Sikhs here at sikhswim.com, or at saldef.org and sikhcoalition.org.

Thanks for reading!
Savraj Singh

EDIT FYI: Mailed this to thedailyshow@comedycentral.com, feel free to write your own and link in comments

Friend of Sikhswim, and now founder and COO of bullioninternational.com, Savneet Singh was recently noted as a mover and shaker:

Savneet Singh is a founder and chief operating officer of GBI. He was an investment analyst at Chilton Investment Co., covering technology, alternative energy and infrastructure investments. Prior to that, Singh was at Morgan Stanley in the investment banking division, working on financial sponsor and strategic company transactions. The advisory board includes retired U.S. Army general Wesley Clark, former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, Tocqueville Gold Fund portfolio manager John Hathaway and former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt.

The full story is here: http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/pipeline/movers-shakers-baz-hiralal-062810.php

Congrats Savneet!

We haven’t heard anything terribly new or exciting from good old pal of Sikhswim, Waris Singh, but it looks like he’s still repping the Sikhs on the street in NYC while he builds the house of waris jewelry empire. Here’s a nice photo of him from the Sartorialist:

On the Street….At VPL, NYC

Thanks Karaminder Singh for the tip! I would also like to note that Waris is my celebrity Doppelganger.

See this PDF! lawrence-gazette-sikhs-faith-schools The title sounds all demanding, but it just means that Sikhs would like their faith mentioned alongside all the other faiths, that’s all.

So I had the opportunity to present this poem at Lahir 2009. I’ve included the full text of it below. Please let me know if you reprint it anywhere. Thanks!

Time Machine
By Savraj Singh. November 2009.

Let’s get in the time machine and rewind
to a time just after 1469.

We find ourselves in Punjab before it existed,
A time and place where darkness and drudgery persisted,

But in this environment two men traveled, sang, and brought light,
Guru Nanak and Mardana were here to fight the good fight,

People thought they were crazy to question the social norms,
But their message of equality meant monumental reforms,

With divine poetry and music, they cracked into closed minds,
They pounded at the social structure, and began to unify humankind.

Now the followers of Nanak, let’s call them Sikhs,
Quickly filled with ideas that put the ruling class in a fix.

They snapped the once-unbreakable bonds of caste,
They understood equality and that the cruel social system wouldn’t last,

They began to read, write, and be all they could be,
All the while remembering God, sharing and living honestly.

The feeling of empowerment, the passion, the energy grew,
Sikhi began to swell as more and more adopted Nanak’s world view.

Fast forward about 100 years, where we meet the Fifth Guru,
Arjan Dev Ji compiled the scripture, lived the message and stayed True.

Then came the oppressors, to them faith didn’t matter,
They just wanted to stop people from climbing the social ladder.

They liked their control of the masses, and saw Sikhi as a threat,
So they tortured and killed Guru Arjan, may we never forget.

The oppressors knew that they were testing our mettle,
What ensued over the coming century leaves many peaceniks unsettled.

The rulers held the power, they wanted to keep the people down,
The Sikhs would have none of it, and we took this message to town.

They attacked us with blunt tools and big threats, you know, things like money and death,
Of course they found that Sikhs fought to the last breath.

They kept trying to cut down the tree of Sikhi, but they could never cut the root,
With each cut it grew back, faster, bigger, and stronger to boot.

Now we find ourselves on Vaisakhi Day in 1699,
Flags are waving, the crowd is gathering, people are enjoying the sunshine.

The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh caught his followers by surprise,
And decided to make this the day that the Khalsa would rise.

Nanak’s original message, so simple and profound,
Was now carried forth by soldier-saints known the world round.

The Khalsa marched forward with both serving bowl and sword,
On a mission to help the oppressed, without an expectation of reward.

The Singhs and Kaurs, the lions and princesses, kept Nanak’s message alive,
Even if it meant that they themselves would never survive.

They did it for their children, and for future generations, like us,
They made the ultimate sacrifice, in Waheguru they placed their trust.

Fast forward to now, and here we find ourselves today,
A noble and gallant people, wait, what did I just say?

Let’s be honest with ourselves, I think we’ve slipped a bit,
Instead of holding fast to Nanak’s pure ideals, we’ve sized them down to fit.

A once principled and proud people ready to die to preserve the Guru’s blessed vision,
Now we struggle with our identity and seem to suffer from indecision and division.

We’re good at turning words and justifying our own self-centered positions,
Drawing targets where we shoot our wayward arrows, we lack True purpose or mission.

You see, at some point the oppressors got smart,
The events of 1984, well, they were just the start.

Instead of coming after us openly and threatening our lives,
The oppressors come in new forms that help us eliminate our own drive.

“Give them bread and circuses, let the masses be entertained,”
And so we spend our time watching movies and playing video games.

When we look at the world we find that our community is not so unique,
Languages are rapidly disappearing and the future for many looks bleak.

As many of us try to approach Sikhi, we’re like kids in the cockpit of a 747,
Forget about flying, we don’t even know how to start an engine.

In fact, it seems like we might be accelerating our own oppression.

Is there hope, you ask? It all starts with your own mind.
If you want the message to survive, start to seek Truth and you shall find.

This effort requires little resources or time,
Merely a commitment to the pursuit of the Divine.

The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the message, is in a room in your house somewhere,
Realize that a lot of blood was spilled to get it there.

Open the pages and sit behind it,
If you have a question, the answer you’ll find it.

You’ll discover a poetic manual to cross the deep world-ocean,
Effectively a guide to swimming through Simran, dedication, and devotion.

Awaken your inner warrior-saint, that Singh or Kaur is within you,
You’ll find that the world comes into focus and into clear view.

But nothing’s going to happen without your mind onboard,
So it is this, I implore, and nothing more.

Lahir 2009 was a smashing success. There was an incredible turnout — a great show of support for the cause in this day and age. There must have been at least 500 people there. I am proud to be part of such a talented and diverse sangat. I just got a bunch of media from the Lahir press office, I’ve attached some of it below. Here’s the post-Lahir press release:

lahir-2009-press-release PDF

Satjeet Kaur informed us of the following cool event. Check out the professionally made promo-video.

LAHIR NY: Move the Movement 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 7-11pm
at NJIT Campus Center – Ballroom (2nd Floor)
150 Bleeker Street, Newark, NJ 07102

The Sikh youth of the New York tri-state area would like to invite you to Lahir NY: Move the Movement 2009 The purpose of Lahir 2009 is to commemorate the Sikh Holocaust of 1984 and the violations of human rights that follow. We aim to inspire, educate, and awaken the masses through our community’s talent-encouraging Sikh artists to express themselves through music, art, poetry and other non-conventional ways. We hope to move the movement through the solidarity of our youth and the support of our people. Lahir is a free event and is open to everyone.

For more information, please visit the Lahir 2009 Facebook Page

Sikh Spotting! Russia Today just posted a neat piece on Sikhs, featuring the SALDEF leadership. Go Jasjit and Rajdeep!

I will say that news pieces like this have been produced repeatedly post-9/11. The one about Sikhs at a Brown’s game comes to mind. So on one hand, you can say that things aren’t changing 8 years later, that things are pretty much the same — perhaps Sikhs will always face this issue.

But, in the last week, I’ve been at 2 different, major business meetings, and at both meetings someone approached me and said, “Hey, are you a Sikh?” Both times, I said, “Well yes I am, thanks for noticing.” So I think all the tireless efforts of people that work at organizations like SALDEF and Sikh Coalition, the parents who want to educate schools instead of cut their kids’ hair, the movies, videos, blog posts, tweets, and interfaith gatherings are making a difference.

Sikh Spotting! Here’s an excellent video by whitehouse.gov of the President’s Diwali functions, marking the re-engagement of Asian and Pacific Islanders. You’ll notice friend of Sikh Swim Jasjit Singh, the new executive director (I think) of SALDEF, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, sitting in the front row. You see him clearly when Obama walks in, just forward past the Penn Masala performance (random!) to about 5:09. Go Jasjit! I do see another blue turban in the audience — and I think that may the ever present and active Rajwant Singh of SCORE. Congrats to both of them, way to represent at this event!

So President Obama, in his ‘Diwali Message’ spoke about the significance of Diwali for different faiths, and noted, “let us make a habit of empathy and reach out to those most in need.” With regard to Guru Hargobind, he says, at 0:56, “In Sikhism, Diwali is a celebration of freedom for Guru Hargobind, the religion’s sixth Guru.”

Thanks for the shoutout President Obama! So Obama knows about Sikhs — and he even knows why we celebrate Bandi Chor Diwas. Do you?