One of the UK's largest Sikh temples has reinvented itself as an emergency food operation.

A historian says he hopes to educate youngsters about Sikh soldiers who have fought for the UK.

Nagar Kirtan will make its way through Leicester on Sunday, with rolling road closures planned.

Interview: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya The World Today mhiggins.drupal 25 May 2022

Belarus’s exiled democratic opposition leader tells Roxanne Escobales about her unexpected political career and President Lukashenka’s wavering support for Putin

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the face of the Belarusian democratic movement. In 2020, she stood as a presidential candidate against Aliaksandr Lukashenka after her husband, an anti-corruption campaigner and the main opposition candidate, was arrested on the campaign trail and imprisoned. Lukashenka, autocratic ruler of Belarus for more than 30 years, was re-elected. Since then, Sviatlana has lived in exile in Lithuania meeting with western leaders and calling for regime change in her native land. Her husband Sergey remains in prison serving an 18-year sentence.

You have said in the past that there will be no free Belarus without a free Ukraine. How is the fate of the two countries connected?

The Kremlin wants to drag our countries into the past, and we are looking into a future which we want to choose for ourselves. The Kremlin doesn’t recognize Ukraine or Belarus as independent countries – it sees them as part of Russia. While the current regime is in our country, there will be a constant threat of aggression from Russia. But we are absolutely independent countries with our own languages, cultures and so on.

The fate of Belarus depends a lot on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, it is evident. When Ukraine wins – and they definitely will win – it will mean the Kremlin is weak and that Lukashenka is weak. Every day we create multiple points of pressure on the regime from within the country, from outside the country. For countries like Ukraine and Belarus the support of strong democracies is very important.

It is very important for European society to understand that it is not just a war between Russia and Ukraine. It is a war between democratic values and dictatorship on the territory of Ukraine. It is very important for democracy to have a strong voice at the moment.

Recently Lukashenka said the war was taking too long. Do you think he understood what he was getting into when he supported Vladimir Putin by allowing his illegal invasion to be launched from Belarus?

The support between the Kremlin and Lukashenka has always been situational – it is not a real friendship. Lukashenka got huge political and economic support in 2020 after the protests, and now he owes a debt to the Kremlin and had to show his loyalty.

And we see how his rhetoric is changing because the situation in Ukraine is changing. At the beginning Lukashenka always said that, ‘Me and Putin will take Ukraine in three days’, and when this blitzkrieg failed, now he wants to get out of the situation. Now he wants to say, ‘Look, we are for peace. We didn’t have any intention to invade Ukraine.’ He wants to act like he is a peacemaker.

He only cares about his own interest, not his country or its people. He just wants to keep his power.

You have been living in exile in Lithuania for two years, and a lot has happened in that time. What is the state of the Belarusian democratic movement now?

We have been a grassroots movement since the first day. There is no leader who says you have to do this or that. My role is to work on the political level. My task is to go to the European Union, to the United States, and ask for packages to assist civil society. With this technical assistance from our democratic partners, we have managed to build structures in exile, and people in Belarus have managed to build structures inside the country.

Another task of mine is to inspire people, and to explain to the international community what is going on and to show them that Belarus is not just Lukashenka’s regime – it is people who want change.

I communicate with Belarusian people almost every day, especially those who are in the country. We have to keep close ties. It is important to understand how dangerous it is in Belarus to communicate on different channels like Telegram or even to subscribe to some media sources. But people do this. They understand the threats and the consequences, but their energy is still so alive.

We have to keep this energy strong and to give this assurance to people that in case something happens to them, or their families, they will get help from outside. This is how it works.

This struggle has come at a very personal cost to you and your husband, Sergey, who is in prison for his political activities. How is he doing?

I communicate with my husband through his lawyer, who visits him once a week. It has to be short messages because there is no privacy. Our children can send him letters and they receive letters back from him.

There are thousands of people like Sergey, and we have to take care of all of them. The treatment of political prisoners is much worse than criminals because they are like Lukashenka’s personal enemies. That is why it is so important to support human rights organizations who provide lawyers to political prisoners. It is important to fund support for them and for families of political prisoners.

You were a teacher when you took over your husband’s presidential campaign. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?

I would wish I could have had more confidence. I didn’t have any political experience – I was an ordinary woman and wife, the same as millions of other Belarusians. At the beginning, I didn’t feel confident because I didn’t know about politics. I didn’t know how to communicate with the political leaders of different countries. I was scared.

What motivated you to step into your husband’s shoes?

It was an accidental choice. It was terrible for my husband. But I saw millions of people on the streets, and when you see people standing shoulder to shoulder it inspires you. Every day thousands of people call me who want to help, and I understand that we are not alone. This motivates me.

Also, the fact that thousands of children want to see their mothers and fathers who are in jail gives me strength. When sometimes you think you can’t do this any more because it is so difficult, you think about those who haven’t seen their children for two years. It is awful.

So, every day, you find something that gives you a small energy and it doesn’t let you give up.

Sgt. Harman Dhaliwal, who is from Calgary, says he's proud to be a part of the growing exhibit that highlights the relationship between the Sikh faith and military service.

A 19-year-old Sikh woman was found dead inside a walk-in oven of the Walmart store's bakery department in Canada's Halifax city, according to media reports.

May 31, 2023

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the current Belarusian opposition leader, speaks with Belfer Center Fellow Svenja Kirsch on Belarusian Freedom and the War in Ukraine.

November 8, 2022, is the 553rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru. A quiz on Guru Nanak and Sikhism on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri was hearing a plea filed by Mr. Tytler seeking a stay on the trial proceedings taking place against him in a Delhi court. The court would continue with the hearing on November 29

His comments came during Diwali celebrations at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill recently amid an ongoing diplomatic row with India over the killing of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Latest in 437 reports of racist slurs, hateful intimidation or harassment since Trump won the presidential poll.

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Saturday announced an insurance cover of ₹2 lakh for its employees who are involved in frontli

Birmingham celebrates 550th birth anniversary of founder of Sikh faith.

The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is celebrated worldwide and for the first time in Bendigo.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi’s secret service, a court said on Friday.Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign...

FRANKFURT: An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi’s spy agency, a court said on Friday.Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence...

Was wäre, wenn Kopfhörer Stimmungen erkennen und die Musikauswahl ihrer Nutzer automatisch individuell daran anpassen könnten? Wie wäre es mit einer App, die Lieblingsballaden auf Knopfdruck in einen Bass-lastigen EDM-Track für spontane Tanzeinlagen verwandeln kann? HARMAN International, eine hundertprozentige Tochtergesellschaft von Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., die sich auf vernetzte Technologien für Automobil-, Konsum- und Unternehmensmärkte konzentriert, hat zu diesen Fragen sowie zu aktuellen Hörgewohnheiten und der Zukunft des Hörens eine neue Verbraucherstudie1 veröffentlicht.

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

"This training could not be more timely. The tragic events in Oak Creek, Wisconsin just last month are a chilling reminder of the need to do all we can to foster tolerance, understanding, and respect among the diverse faiths, communities and peoples that make up America," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"We hope the training will inspire even broader collaborations in communities across the nation and forge lasting partnerships among law enforcement, elected officials, non-Sikh communities, and their Sikh neighbors," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

The Department of Justice today announced Jamie Larson, 49, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a federal hate crime relating to a racially-motivated assault of a 50-year-old Sikh man who works as a taxi cab driver.

In previous posts in this series we've focused on

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott attended the holiest site in Sikhism, the Golden Temple in Punjab, India, as part of celebrations for the 550th birthday of the religion's founder, Guru Nanak Dev.

A secure visa-free land corridor has been created for Indian Sikhs travelling to the shrine of the religion's founder Guru Nanak in Kartarpur, which lies just 2.5 miles inside Pakistan.

Phillip Dunne, who has been the MP for Ludlow in Shropshire since 2005, faced calls to be binned by the Tory party after making the 'extremely insulting' jibe to Kuldip Sahota last night.

Lord Singh said the BBC tried to block him from discussing a Sikh guru who fought against the forced conversion of some Hindus to Islam in 17th century India.

An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi's secret service, a court said Friday. Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing since 2015. "He allegedly provided information about figures in the Sikh opposition scene and the Kashmiri movement and their relatives in Germany, and passed this on to his handlers who were working at the Indian consulate general in Frankfurt," the higher regional court in the city said in a statement. The trial will open on August 25. The same Frankfurt court convicted an Indian couple for spying on the same communities last December.

The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Saturday announced an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh for its employees in the forefront of the coronavirus fight in case of death due to the disease. As the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic, the DSGMC has been providing free food to the lockdown-hit homeless people and shelter to health workers in its gurudwaras. It will now provide an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh each to its 2,500 frontline workers who are providing free community meals, and sanitation and transport-related services across the national capital, its president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said. Staff members of the DSGMC-managed gurudwaras have been distributing food and relief material in JJ colonies, labour camps, shelter homes, etc., as a result of which there is a risk of them contracting the novel coronavirus, Sirsa said. The life insurance scheme will include sanitation staff, cooks preparing langar, religious preachers, security staff and other frontline ...

The PM's popularity in Amritsar, where he arrived with his family as a refugee from Gah in the Chakwal district of Pakistan's West Punjab during partition in 1947, is high not only because he is a Sikh. He is also seen as a man of immense integrity who is devoted to the country, has given India a global reputation in several ways, including the nuclear deal, and has ensured significant and sustained economic growth.

Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing since 2015.

Guru Gobind Singh who is also spelt as Guru Govind Singh was the tenth Guru of the Sikh community. Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti marks his birth anniversary and is one of the most important occasions celebrated and observed by Sikh people.

Bagui, Sikha, 1964-

Bagui, Sikha, 1964-

Singapore has appointed Brigadier General Ravinder Singh as its next army chief, the first Sikh in nearly 30 years to be given the force's baton.

Two elderly Sikhs were shot at by unidentified assailants in Sacramento in US, leaving one dead and the other in critical condition, triggering panic in the neighbourhood having a sizeable Sikh population.

Police in Australia's Victoria state today inducted its first officer from Sikh community who will wear a newly designed police turban, a media report said today.