Sikh crusader against forced marriages is Pride of Britain

September 22nd, 2009 LAHORE - A group of 379 Sikh devotees from India have arrived here for ceremonies to mark the 470th death anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the world's youngest religion. The 'jatha', under the aegis of Sikh apex body Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), will visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib situated in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, Geo TV reported.

August 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A survey conducted in Pakistan on the issue of forced marriages among male dual nationals, reveals that only 3.4 per cent children are consulted before marriage whereas 96.6 per cent marriages take place mainly to attain foreign nationality or helping hand abroad. The findings make part of the research report of baseline survey on the issue of forced marriages launched by SACH on Friday.

August 13th, 2009 IPOH - Malaysia's Sikh community may be small in number, but its contributions to the development of Perak and the nation as a whole have been invaluable. Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the community should continue with its contributions and remain united to face local and global challenges, as well as work with the government to improve its lot.

August 1st, 2009 American-Dutch gay couples to wed in AmsterdamAMSTERDAM — The mayor of Amsterdam is officiating at the weddings of five American-Dutch homosexual couples on a boat during the city's Gay Pride festival, in part to challenge the United States to legalize gay marriage. Mayor Job Cohen also performed the first Dutch ceremonies after the Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage in 2001.

July 2nd, 2009 LONDON - British schools were Thursday urged to look out for signs of forced marriages ahead of school holidays. "All children have the right to grow up safe from harm, Baroness Delyth Morgan, minister for young people, said.

July 2nd, 2009 LONDON - As many as 8,000 cases of forced marriage were reported in England last year, according to a Government report. According to The Telegraph, the study published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families claims that the overwhelming majority of victims are teenage girls from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

May 26th, 2009 LONDON - The Europe-wide head of a Sikh sect whose deputy leader was assassinated in Vienna said Tuesday he was determined to calm down followers in Britain - home to one of the largest chapters of the sect outside India. Sant Rama Anand, deputy head of Guru Ravi Dass Singh Sabha, was shot while delivering a sermon on a visit to the Austrian capital Sunday by men described by police as fundamentalist members of a rival Sikh sect.

May 26th, 2009 LONDON - A Sikh group from Slough has written to Queen Elizabeth requesting her to return property and items belonging to the family of Punjab's last king Ranjit Singh. The Telegraph quoted Jagdeesh Singh, from the Sikh Community Action Network, as saying: "We have written to the Queen asking for access rights and the eventual return of items such as historic copies of the Sikh national sacred writings, together with swords and weapons of the Sikh gurus." According to Singh, letters, diaries and writings of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the Sikh ruler exiled to Britain in the 19th century, are also part of the collection, some of which is housed at Windsor Castle.

May 8th, 2009 LONDON - Sikh police officers in Britain want special bulletproof turbans to be developed so they can serve in firearm units, a media report said. The Sikh religion requires its male followers to wear the turban, but existing police safety helmets do not fit on top of them, the Guardian reported Thursday.

May 5th, 2009 DC Council votes to recognize gay marriagesWASHINGTON — After an emotional debate, the D.C. Council has given final approval to legislation that recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - Gurkha ex-servicemen seeking to settle down in Britain after serving in the British Army Thursday celebrated the defeat of government attempts to curtail their residency rights. Some 27 rebel MPs from the ruling Labour party joined opposition ranks to vote for a motion calling upon the government to give all Gurkhas who have served in the British armed forces equal rights to settle in Britain.

April 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has forcibly captured three houses and ten shops belonging to people of the Sikh community in the Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after they failed to fulfill their demands of huge protection money. According to the sources, armed Taliban gunmen forced all the 24 family members of one Kalyan Singh out of their houses and shops.

April 3rd, 2009 LONDON - World's 1st turbaned Sikh supermodel Sonny Caberwal has been featured in the renowned GQ magazine. Caberwal looks dazzling in a black dinner jacket, black silk scarf, and a pink turban in the GQ pic, shot by Gregor Hohenberg.

February 21st, 2009 LONDON - A leading female Muslim politician in Britain said Friday she wants the government to make it compulsory to register all religious marriages so Muslim men stop taking more than one wife. Baroness Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, who belongs to the opposition Conservative Party, said the Labour government had ignored tackling polygamy because of the 'cultural sensitivity' surrounding the issue.

January 19th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - 'Guru Manyo Granth', a British play based on the history of the Sikh religion and highlighting its ideologies, was performed here to a packed house. The play produced by the London-based Punjabi Theatre Academy and Guru Nanak Sikh School was enacted at the Tagore Theatre here Monday evening by five British and 10 Indian artistes.