Sikhism

UW dental students find ways to follow COVID-19 regulations while maintaining religious values

September 18, 2020

Rules and regulations around coronavirus and its impact on school and work have been challenging to accommodate ever-changing data and cases.

Some have said that these rules and regulations have interfered with their religious freedoms.

Dr. Karan Singh and Dr. Omri Margalit are University of Washington School of Dentistry students who have had to find alternative ways to finish up their degrees while staying true to their faith.

Singh practices the Sikh faith and Margalit practices Judaism. Both faiths require men to have...

Sikh family balances faith, military service

September 14, 2020

Sikhism is the fifth largest world religion, according to the Sikh Coalition, with 500,000 Sikhs living within the U.S. Among the core beliefs is service to humanity, a principle the Singh family hopes to be fulfilling through their military commitment across generations.

Air Force Reserve 2nd Lt. Naureen Singh, 26, grew up watching her father, retired Col. G.B. Singh,serve as an officer in the U.S. Army. Though he was stationed overseas...

Glen Cove High School, Sikh community join to feed LI families

August 20, 2020

Jasleen Sabharwal has always been inspired by her faith to help those in need — one of the essential values of Sikhism is selfless service.

“The biggest summation of Sikhism is brotherhood and to love everyone equally,” she said.

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Sabharwal started off by buying hand sanitizer, face masks and gowns to deliver to rehabilitation centers. Then, she and some friends started delivering home-cooked meals to hospitals.

After doing this for some time, she felt like a need had been met, but...

'Selfless service': Sikh community feeds Jacksonville's homeless, poor during pandemic

August 14, 2020

Like most other gathering places in Northeast Florida, the local Sikh house of worship closed as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

But the Sikh religion, which is the fifth-largest in the world, calls on its members to regularly perform Seva, or selfless service. So in May, Gurudwara Jacksonville, home of the Sikh Society of North East Florida, launched the Share a Meal project.

Every Saturday masked and socially distanced members prepare and deliver meals to the homeless and other needy people....

Air Force Special Operations Approves First Beard, Turban Waiver for Sikh Airman

July 30, 2020

In a first for the command, Air Force Special Operations Command has granted a religious accommodation waiver to a Sikh airman.

Senior Airman Dominic Varriale was granted the waiver last month, according to an Air Force release. He serves as a geospatial intelligence analyst with the 11th Special Operations Intelligence Squadron.

With the help of his command leadership and the Sikh American Veterans Alliance (SAVA), an advocacy organization, Varriale was able to expedite the approval process...

Central Florida doctor who helped many says he was targeted for religion

July 28, 2020

A Central Florida doctor who has helped many during the pandemic with everything from food drives to book bags for students has been targeted for his religion.

"You know, my initial reaction, was it for real?" Dr. Amit Pal Singh said.

Singh has lived in Central Florida for the past 15 years. He has lived in Oviedo for six years and never felt any animosity towards his Sikh religion until the weekend.

The words Sikh followed by an expletive were written on the driver's side front and back doors on his gray BMW that was parked in the front...

From changing lives to preaching at iPads: How clergy are coping with the new normal

July 27, 2020

They can’t shake hands. They can’t sing robustly. And, in most cases, they can’t worship in person with people they’ve seen on a weekly basis for years.

Clergy have been forced to adjust to a “new normal” of leadership in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, a crisis that was unexpected both at its start and in its continuing duration.

“We moved from snow day mentality to marathon mentality now,” said the Rev. Rob Dyer, senior pastor of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation...

Prosecutors add hate crime charge for man accused of attacking Sikh store owner in Lakewood

July 22, 2020

Prosecutors have added a hate crime charge to 16 other counts a man faces after he allegedly ran over a Sikh store owner in Lakewood In late April.

Eric Breemen, 36, faces 17 counts, including a felony bias-motivated crime charge and attempted murder, in connection with the alleged attack on Lakhwant Singh on April 29.The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said that its investigators,...

Fresno State Sikh Student Association lends hand in time of crisis

July 10, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered colleges in early March, student organizations like the Sikh Student Association (SSA) at Fresno State had to move their meetings to a virtual format.

When the new board members were elected, they saw an opportunity to give back to their community in a time of need.

According to data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 17 million people were unemployed in June, and the unemployment rate fell from 13.3 percent in May to 11.1 percent. The...

A Sikh business owner was told to “go back your country” before being run over by a car. Now the community is demanding justice.

July 1, 2020

Sikh community members in Colorado and around the country are calling for hate crime charges in Jefferson County, two months after a Lakewood store owner was run over by a driver and told to “go back to your country” during a brutal assault that left the man hospitalized for months.

On Tuesday, 29 civil rights organizations and interfaith groups signed a letter, urging First Judicial District Attorney Pete Weir investigate the April 29 assault on...