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Sikhs exhibit clout on Capitol Hill as 20 Congressmen
attend event
WSN Network
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The event was aimed
at highlighting the contributions of Sikhs towards building and
strengthening America, and the presence of so many Congressmen
and the who's who of the Sikh community underlined the growing
clout of the Sikh nation |
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 Washington:
The hearing room of the Dirksen Senate Building of the U.S. Capitol
was spilling over with people and enthusiasm as over 20 elected
representatives of the U.S. Congress addressed the gathering largely
of the Sikhs at the Sikh American Heritage Dinner event organized by
the Sikh Council on Religion and Education.
The event was aimed
at highlighting "the contributions of Sikhs towards building and
strengthening America."
"This is the largest
gathering of the Sikhs ever to assemble at the Capitol Hill to make
their case" said Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of SCORE. Over 300
guests from many different states came during a working day to reach
out to their elected representatives in U.S. Congress.
Congressman Mike
Honda and Congressman Joe Wilson were honored for their
contributions to America and for their support of Sikh issues in
U.S. Honda had played role in speaking against prejudices against
Sikhs arising out of the 9/11 tragedy and against the TSA rules to
check turbans at the airport. Wilson moved a resolution in the U.S.
Congress to have an official portrait of Dalip Singh Saund in the U.
S. Capitol Hill building and that portrait is prominently displayed.
Saund was the first Asian, Indian and Sikh to be elected in the U.S.
Dr. Rajwant Singh,
Chairman of SCORE, said, "Sikh American Heritage Dinner event
enables Sikh-Americans to gather in Washington DC to celebrate and
honor those who have promoted a positive Sikh presence as part of
the American cultural fabric. We have never earlier showed our
political clout. This is just a beginning because we can easily
bring over 40 Congressmen under one roof to support the Sikh cause
and Sikh issues in America."
Among other key men
from SCORE present were Kanwarpal Singh, the media coordinator and
Sartaj Singh Dhami. Executive director of the Interfaith Conference,
Clark Lobenstine, opened the event. Among those honored were Sandeep
Singh Caberwal, a Sikh entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and a model,
who was chosen by designer Kenneth Cole in its recent fashion
campaign (see separate story on page 23), Ms. Tami Yeager and Mr.
Preetmohan Singh for their film documentary "A Dream in Doubt, "
which explores the real life story of Rana Singh Sodhi's family
whose brother was murdered as the first hate crime victim in AZ in
the 9/11 aftermath; Darshpreet Singh, a recent graduate of Trinity
University in San Antonio, Texas. who was co-captain of the Men's
Basketball team and fan favorite, and believed to be the only
turbaned Sikh to play in an National college basketball game; Dr.
Jagjit Singh Khalsa, the Chief of Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse
at the US National Institutes of Health; Gurvendra Singh Suri
founder & CEO Optimal Solutions Integration, Inc., a successful
technology consulting Company in Dallas, TX.
In addition, Raghbir
Singh Subhanpur, Sikh business owner from NY and President of New
York Shromani Akali Dal was honored with Commnity Service award and
Surinder Singh Chawla, Nassau County Human Rights Commissioner, was
honored for Social Activism and Service.
Gwen Hubbardof the
FBI, Congressman Wally Herger, Congressman Frank Pallone,
Congressman Costa, Congressman Radonovich, Congresswomen Hilda
Solis, Congressman Ed Royce, Congressman Ted Poe, and Congressman
Andre Carson were also among those who spoke. Senator Hillary
Clinton also sent her staff to attend and in addition her office
helped in arranging the event.
Other prominent
Sikhs who were present at the gathering were Inderjit Kaur, wife of
Late Yogi Bhajan from New Mexico, Manjit Singh Dasuha, Himmat Singh,
Jarnail Singh Gilzian, Phuman Singh, Mohinder Singh Gilzian and
Baldev Singh Grewal from NY; G.P. Singh from Texas; Dr. Narinder
Singh Gahunia from Delaware; Sampooran Singh and Hira Singh Chamdal
from Houston; Harry Gill from Sacramento; Sukhminder Singh Sandhu ,
Sarabjit Singh, Harveer Anand and Mohinder Singh, editor of India
Journal from Los Angeles; Dr. Darshan Singh Sehbi from Dayton and
Dr. Surinder Singh Chauhan from Clevelandand Avtar Kaur Reehal from
Columbus, OH; Jasbir Singh Bhatia and Dr. Bhupinder Singh Sodhi from
Florida; Dr. Tejpal Singh and Parminder Kaur Dhillon from North
Carolina; Bhai Mohinder Singh from Chicago and Amarjit Kaur Athwal;
Rajbhinder Singh Badesha from NJ; Dr. Darshan Singh Saluja and Dr.
Daljit Singh Sawhney from Baltimore and Chattar Singh Saini, Amrit
Kaur, Ranjit Singh, Gursharan Singh Sidhu, Gurcharan Singh, Sirmukh
Singh Manku, Devinder Singh, Puranjit Singh Bhinder, Dalbir Singh
Bhuller from Washington Area; and Raghbir Singh Khangura from
Richmond, VA.
18
June,
2008
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