Speaker offers insight to ancient Sikh religion

Speaker offers insight
to ancient Sikh religion
Incident at Marlboro
Middle School prompts
lesson for student leaders
By jeanette M. eng
Staff Writer

MARLBORO — When students were asked to guess the origin of the bearded man wearing a turban, they never fathomed that he was from London.

For the next two hours, the man proceeded to shatter more misconceptions and stereotypes as he enlightened them on the Sikh religion.

On April 30, Savraj Singh Dhanjal, a Princeton University senior and lifelong Sikh, gave student leaders at the Marlboro Memorial Middle School, Nolan Road, a crash course on the 500-year-old religion.

He was asked to speak at the Marlboro Middle School and at the Marlboro Memorial Middle School because of two incidents of verbal and physical harassment that were directed toward a Marlboro Middle School student in November and February.

A Local Incident

A Sikh family, after residing in Marlboro for four years, is now grieving in the aftermath of recent incidents. The woman of the family addressed the middle school students that day.

"My boy enjoyed your friendship and loved going to school here. Recently, however, he was subjected to verbal abuse and was physically injured because of his appearance and religious beliefs," she said.

The mother said the incident has cost her family psychologically, financially and has left them very insecure. Her son’s grandfather, who lives in England, rushed to the United States to see his grandchild. Fearing for the boy’s safety, the grandfather, with the parents’ permission, took the boy back to England.

"We miss him and his sisters miss him every day of our lives that our family is divided," the boy’s mother said.

Their lives have been "turned upside-down," according to the boy’s father. Nevertheless, the family has chosen not to press charges against those who committed the acts and have decided to focus instead on the positive possibilities of their boy’s misfortune.

The father said he does not believe in punishment, but believes that education is the right way to go.

"I don’t think punishment solves anything, and [I think] that it builds more hatred," he said. "I think these boys need to be spoken to and asked why they did what they did. School is a place of education, not just for math and English, but about diversity."

Knowing there are Sikh children in Marlboro’s younger grades and that more Sikh families are moving into town, the father believes that "the children have to be educated now."Making Things Right

Borne out of this incident are the combined efforts of the Marlboro K-8 school district and the Sikh family to educate students and their parents about Sikhism.

"I want to tell parents to please talk to your children and please educate them to not prejudge a person based on looks or dress," the father said.

According to the parents, administrators have been very positive and have worked with them to implement positive changes including: the presentation by Dhanjal; a review of the student handbook to clarify the "no hats" issue and to clearly prohibit behaviors such as harassment and discrimination; a request to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office to offer a program to students and faculty on bias and related issues; presentation of the issues to the Administrative Council; Assistant Superintendent Dr. Marc Gaswirth assuring that at regular faculty meetings at each school this issue is addressed by the principal; and the creation of scripted tolerance discussions to be led by teachers through the social studies classes.

"The demographics of Marlboro have changed dramatically since I’ve been here," said Superintendent of Schools David C. Abbott, noting that the district’s Asian enrollment has jumped from 7 percent to 20 percent of the enrollment. "That’s a very multicultural and diverse population and we try to teach people to celebrate that."

Abbott said youngsters sometimes do things that are inappropriate, but that is why the district is now extending its outreach efforts.

Although the district has made these efforts, the parents of the boy who was harassed said one of the most hurtful things is the fact that they have not received an apology from the school district, from the students who harassed their son or from the parents of those students.

"I don’t understand. Why is it so hard to say sorry in the United States?" the father said. "It means a lot."

"We try to accommodate as best as we can, listen to people and look to see how we can help, but our responses are the same to everyone," Abbott said, noting that the bottom line for the K-8 school district is always academic achievement.

The father has been contacting politicians in the hope of implementing educational programs at a higher level.

He said that especially in today’s society, which is marked with terrorism and war, the schools should take measures to protect Sikh children.

"They are visible targets if other children relate them to terrorists. We should look after these children and make the schools safe for them," he said. "Otherwise, we’re allowing another form of terrorism."

Sikhism

Sikhism is a distinct religion, founded in 1469 by Guru Nanak, Dhanjal said. A line of 10 Gurus compiled their teachings into the Guru Granth Sahib, a collection of divine scriptures, which Sikhs follow today. With the word "Sikh" meaning disciple or student and "Guru" meaning teacher, Sikhs are considered the students of their 10 prophet-teachers.

Worshipping the same God as other mainstream world religions, Sikhism’s ultimate goal is to get as close to God as possible. Values of this faith include defense of the innocent, community service and equality of gender, race, caste and creed.

The Turban

Much of the discussion at the Marlboro Memorial Middle School centered around the turban, one of the most identifying characteristics of Sikhs.

Sikhs intentionally remain easily identifiable by their five articles of faith, or the "five Ks," Dhanjal said. These are Kesh (uncut hair), which is often kept covered by a distinctive turban and serves as a symbol of strength and God’s creation; Kara (metal bracelet), symbolizing equality and eternity; Kirpan (ceremonial sword), symbolizing freedom, liberty and the defense of the oppressed; Kanga (comb), meant to promote a neat and respectful appearance; and Kaccha (under-shorts), symbolizing modesty and fidelity.

"I always have to remember God in all of my actions," Dhanjal said, explaining why he wears his turban. "I will always stand out and will always be held accountable [for my actions]."

In honor of Kesh, Dhanjal does not cut his hair and motioned just above his backside in an indication of its length. He explained that every morning, he puts his hair into a bun and carefully ties 15 feet of cloth into his turban.

"There are many different turban styles and I wear whatever color matches," he explained.

Viewed as a crown by Sikhs, the turban is a symbolism of discipline, integrity, humility and spirituality that must be worn in public.Misconceptions

Nevertheless, the turban, a symbol of pride for the Sikhs, has recently become mistaken as a symbol of terrorism by some Americans.

"How many of the terrorists from 9/11 had turbans and beards?" Dhanjal asked the students.

When students realized that not one of the 19 terrorists looked this way, Dhanjal said the confusion stems from media saturation of Osama bin Laden wearing a turban and even well-meaning cartoons such as Aladdin.

"Bin Laden’s turban is not a mandate of his faith. It is a traditional Afghani headdress," Dhanjal explained.

People are taking these few turban-wearing figures, however, and assuming that everyone who wears a turban is from the Middle East, Dhanjal said. He said the fact is that 99 percent of the people wearing turbans in the United Sates are actually Sikhs, because it is specifically mandated by their faith.

After the events of 9/11, he said, the tragedy was exacerbated as some Americans focused their contempt toward Sikhs.

"After 9/11, I knew that everyone was staring at me," he said.

Dhanjal told a story of a Sikh doctor who treated patients at the World Trade Center until 2 a.m. on the day of the attack only to leave to a barrage of racial statements such as, "Go back to your own country."

Along the same lines was the story of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Mesa, Ariz., resident who was shot and killed while he was planting flowers in front of his shop shortly after the 9/11 attack.

Dhanjal said a movie starring comedian Eddie Griffin compounded the misconception when in the movie, Griffin points to a Sikh man and proclaims, "Osama bin Laden, I found him!"

"Everyone that sees that will be convinced that we are Arab," Dhanjal said. "And it’s a double-whammy because African-Americans [Griffin is black] themselves have fought so long for equality."

"Sikhs are victims of hate crimes, profiling and job discrimination," Dhanjal summed up. "It is being made much harder for us to wear our articles of faith, which is our basic constitutional right."

To further illustrate that Sikh values fall in line with American ideals, Dhanjal said that in the same way the United States is fighting oppression today, Sikhs have also fought oppression.

"During the time of the fifth Guru, the Mogul Emperors persecuted Sikhs, saying that we must ‘convert to Islam or die.’ " he said. "They offered a year’s salary to anyone who could produce a head of uncut hair. We have a non-violent view and believe that fighting is the last resort."

He said Sikhs grieve with America and condemn the terrorist attacks.

Sikhs were on the scene helping the victims, they have been giving blood and donating money, food and clothing as well as participating in candlelight vigils, national prayers and memorial services all over the country, according to the Internet Web site SikhEducation.com.

Students at the middle school were very curious about Sikhism and asked questions such as "How do Sikhs pray?" "When do you go to Gurdwara [the Sikh houses of worship]?" and "What do you do if you break one of the rules?"

Dhanjal explained that Sikhs pray whenever they want to, but that the ideal is to remember God at all times. He said Gurdwaras are open 24 hours a day, but that most Sikhs attend on Sundays. Special occasions such as the Gurus’ birthdays also call for a visit to Gurdwara.

"We are all human, so there are times that we may break a rule of our faith," Dhanjal said. "Then we apologize to the congregation of the Gurdwara and are assigned a service."

The students asked questions for as long as they could, satisfying curiosities even about how heavy Dhanjal’s turban was.

Middle school psychologist Dr. Nancy Asher-Schultz said it is hoped that these seventh- and eighth-grade conflict managers and student leadership corps members will go on to spread the knowledge they gained.

"I really didn’t understand the Sikh religion before except for little snippets," seventh-grader Paula Shulman said. "This has opened up a new door."

A Bigger Effort

For Dhanjal, an active volunteer for the Sikh community, the day’s presentation was just a small part of a bigger effort of himself, his university affiliations and the Sikh community across the country.

"The bottom line is awareness," he said. "Ignorance is what breeds hatred. People don’t know who I am, what Sikhs are and the events of 9/11 have shown that."

Dhanjal said he was pleased with the responsiveness of the students and impressed with their insightful questions.

"Unfortunately, as people get older they are afraid or embarrassed to ask questions [and] will just assume incorrect things," he said. "Kids, however, don’t have these inhibitions and it’s easy to see what needs to be explained or cleared up."

Nevertheless, the effort is far from over and Dhanjal pointed out that there is still

much more that can be done.

With images of terrorists appearing in the media regularly, the media, at the same time, has done very little, if anything to lessen the repercussions of this, he said.

Dhanjal’s resolve to correct this is evident in his involvement.

Dhanjal is an active member of Sikh Media Watch and Resource Task force and is a fellow of his campus’ Religious Life Coun­cil, a group that seeks to deepen the understanding of, and cultivate respect for all faiths.

"I am a proud American citizen practic­ing my faith, and for people to judge me or associate me with a terrorist from abroad because of my outward appearance is noth­­ing short of racism and ignorance. I seek to correct that," Dhanjal said.