“I still get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best killing people.”

Webster Residents were still asleep when they heard gunshots and saw their houses in flame. Spengler had killed his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer in 1980 for which he had served 17 years in prison. He was paroled in 1998.
Close on heels of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre of 20 innocent children and six women on December 14, 2012, the shooting death of two firefighters in line of their duty in Webster, New York one day before Christmas has shocked the whole community. The gunman fired at four firefighters for their efforts to save his burning house and rescue him from a dangerous fire. He used three firearms, one of them exactly of the same make that was used in shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school. It was a .223 Caliber Semiautomatic Bushmaster Rifle with flash suppression.

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre calls on Congress to pass a law putting armed police officers in every school in America during a news conference at the Willard Hotel December 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. Photo credit:
Getty images.

He shot himself in the head after the police arrived. His sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, is understood to have been charred in the blazing fire

How easily a convicted felon could get three deadly weapons will figure in Obama administration’s attempts to ban all military style weapons. National Rifle Association in its press conference after Newtown shootout, had entirely ruled out supporting any ban on guns, and instead proposed more guns in hands of Americans to honor the Second Amendment. Mass shootings have spread to churches, movie theaters, soccer tournaments, spas, courthouses, schools, and now residential neighborhoods.

Webster Police chief Gerald L. Pickering said, “Spengler was equipped to go to war to kill innocent people.” The typewritten note is said to have indicated no apparent motive. The police chief declined to release the whole text since the case was still under investigation.

Two volunteer firefighters, Michael Chiapperini, 43, a lieutenant with the Webster police, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19 lost their lives simply because Spengler had easy access to three deadliest weapons which as a felon he was never supposed to have them. Semiautomatic Bushmaster Rifle was used to exterminate life of 20 children who were looked upon as future of America. Webster shooting of firefighters and killing of six staff members of Sandy Hook Elementary, in the similar vein, could be interpreted as an invasion on the very fabric of the nation.
Posted on www.ambedkartimes.com , December 26, 2012

RESTRICTING GUNS: NOW IT IS BETWEEN LAWMAKERS AND NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION

Adam Lanza, clad in ‘black battle fatigues and a military vest’ picked up the deadliest arms as if to wage a battle against his enemies and thus become a ‘martyr’ to the memory of his countrymen. The monstrosity and evil attached to his crime didn’t deter him the least from raising one of the fiercest guns on the weakest, meekest, and the most defenseless offspring of our society.
He killed the very womb that engendered him and destroyed the very school that taught him to live his life. He inflicted unbearable pain on parents of twenty first graders, and family members of six adult women. The hurt that refuses to heal prompted American citizens to indulge in dilly-dallying debate over banning guns which many believe should not have been in hands of the civilians at all. The momentum of discussion fizzled out within a week after the tragedy. The menacing gun enthusiasts and their National Rifle Association lobbied for more guns both in hands of the bad guy and in hands of the good guy.
The sheer apathy and cruelty of Lanza’s action stirred the emotions of the nation and choked the president who so far remained very careful and restrained in exhibiting his feelings in public. ‘The Slaughter of Innocence,’ however, has hardly prompted the lawmakers to stand for the weak and defenseless citizens.
When the National Rifle Association commented on massacre of children, it appeared a reasonable solution could be found to the gross abuse of ‘the right to bear Arms,’ as provided in the American constitution. But the much awaited press conference of the NRA, proved a damp squib as nothing afresh could come out of its perception of the tragedy in Newtown. . Their well-known recipe, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” is nothing less than a sadistic understanding of the rising violence in public life.

It is testing time for American legislature, the executive and the judiciary to frame suitable laws so that Americans never live under the reign of fear unleashed by some deranged lot of the society. At this time there are very few options. Mental health, guns, culture of violence in entertainment, and the media representation are some of the factors that have been blamed for the rising violence. The correlation of all these factors in so many tragedies can’t be wholly denied. But what are the possible solutions?
It is true that had Adam Lanza not had access to the most dangerous weapons, he could not have killed 20 children and six adults. The case of a deranged man attacking 22 children with a knife on the same day in China provides a clear contrast. Had he access to AR-15, he would have killed hundreds of them. But fortunately, no children died in the attack.
There is no doubt that worsening mental health of Americans is at an alarming point, but so is of many other industrialized countries. What can government do in the personal relations of husband and wife, their alleged paramours, children, step-children? Mental problems are most difficult to diagnose when 70% of the patients and their families remain in the denial mode. Many of the mentally unhealthy people show no signs of concern and even don’t have anything objectionable in their backgrounds. The point that mental situation can take U-turn in a flash of seconds is hard to tackle in the given circumstances. But what can be done during such a mental situation? Let’s keep guns like AR-15 out of the way of people who suffer occasionally from hallucinations and panic attacks.
Culture of violence in entertainment industry and the media representation of it in actual life are said to cause tragic incidences of violence. But there are no immediate and foreseeable solutions to these problems. Even if we try to work on reducing violence in the entertainment industry, its real effect won’t be seen for years to come. The problem of gun violence in the meanwhile may become more intractable and cause more hurt on our psyche as a nation.
Media representation of violence, indeed, is one of the problems that make gun violence representative in most news briefings, psychodramas, documentaries, and movies. But that alone isn’t the cause of rising gun violence. The problem of violence in media is undoubtedly worldwide, but why are Americans alone more affected than anybody else in the world? According to Washington Post columnist, Fareed Zakaria, the solution to gun violence isn’t complex at all, if there is a political will to solve it. The problem that stares in our faces is that we are 5 percent of world population, but we own 50 percent of world’s guns. Gun violence in America is thirty times that of Australia and France and twelve times higher that of other countries.
The interesting thing is that American Bill of Rights by which second amendment ‘right to bear Arms’ was provided, is based on British Bill of Rights of 1689. In order to fully understand the intent of Second Amendment in our constitution, we should go back to all debates and views of the founding fathers. Their main concern was safety, security and freedom of speech so that organized government may not trample individual rights provided in the Bill of Rights. But such privileges were never unrestricted if some antisocial, instead of government, start threatening the very safety, security and freedom of speech.
The Second Amendment should have occasioned some laws that would have checked any transgression to safety, security and freedom of speech. But in the absence of declared laws for more than two hundred years, frequent mass shootings are considered unrelated and isolated incidences. How can they be unrelated when access to the very automatic guns used in the crime has been made possible due to the Second Amendment? It is pertinent to dwell here on the British Bill of Rights, 1689 which founding fathers consulted to draft American Bill of Rights. John Lilburne (1614-1657), who was the background inspiration for philosopher John Locke, the key influence in ensuring individual liberties of common people states:
For where there is no law declared, there can be no transgression. Therefore it is very requisite that the parliament would declare their privileges to the whole commons of England, that so no man may through ignorance (by the parliament’s default) run causelessly into the hazard of the loss of their lives, liberties, or estates. For here it is acknowledged by themselves that their power is limited by those that betrust them, and that they are not to do what they list but what they ought, namely, to provide for the people’s weal and not for their woe: so that unknown privileges are as dangerous as unlimited prerogatives being both of them secret snares, especially for the best-affected people.
– John Lilburne, The 150th Page [1645]
In the above statement made 367 years ago, Lilburne warns that Parliament’s failure to declare law and privileges to the whole commons of England may lead some men ‘through ignorance run ceaselessly into the hazard of the loss of their lives, liberties or estates. The English Bill of Rights that was adopted in 1689 reflects Lilburne’s viewpoints. In England, the Catholic King was replaced with a Protestant one. The rights of all Protestants were preserved in the Bill of Rights adopted in 1689. The following text of clauses 7, 9, and 13 throws sufficient light on the intents and purposes of American Bill of Rights:

7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.

9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament.

13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently.

It is right time for Congress and the Senate to take up defining the Bill of Rights so that it becomes quite evident that the Second Amendment was designed for ‘people’s weal not for their woe.’
Posted on www.ambedkartimes.com , December 24, 2012

STOCKTON, SEPT. 25, 2012 - (Ambedkar Times Bureau) : This weekend, the Sikh American community launched its centennial celebration in Stockton, CA with a conference about “The Sikh Journey in America” and inauguration of a Ghadri Baba Museum.

The museum is located at Gurdwara Sahib Stockton, the first Sikh settlement in the USA. To celebrate this settlement, 16 scholars prepared 19 academic papers on the history and culture of the Sikh American community. Traveling from as far as India and Canada, the scholars gathered at the home of Dr. Sohan Singh Mahil on Friday night to plan for “The Sikh Journey in America” conference.

The conference began on a sunny Saturday morning at University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. An audience of 700, hailing from Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Canada, and all regions of California, filled the university’s Faye Spanos Concert Hall. From all walks of life, they included many young students, as well as lawyers, engineers, doctors, educators, and all sorts of professionals. Some prominent attendees were the Dean of Merced University and the head of UCLA’s Asian Studies Department.

Manjit Singh Uppal, chairman of the organizing centennial committee, said, “This first of its kind conference introduces the academic world to the ground-breaking field of study of Sikh American history. One discovery we have made is that Stockton Gurdwara is ground zero for India’s independence struggle.”

The audience listened intently to speeches about how early Sikh pioneers founded Stockton Gurdwara in 1912 and formed the Ghadar Party in 1913. The party’s goal was a Ghadar, meaning “revolution,” against British occupation of the Indian subcontinent. Speeches also addressed the racial bias suffered by many Sikh immigrants to the USA and their struggles to secure the rights to land-ownership and citizenship. Between lecture sessions, the audience enjoyed an exhibition hall featuring posters depicting the history of Sikh Americans, the Ghadar Party, India’s independence movement, and Sikhs in both world wars.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Amrik Singh (California State University, Sacramento) declared: “This conference is about the truth that escapes our grasp.” Citing the first Sikh immigrants as an inspiration, he noted, “The pioneers invested their lives, time, and money.” One of their major investments was the Ghadar Party. This movement was described by Michael O’Dwyer, the infamous Governor of Punjab under the British Raj, as “by far the most serious attempt to subvert British rule in India.”

Dr. Bruce La Brack, a faculty member at University of the Pacific, welcomed the audience to the campus. Dr. La Brack pioneered the field of Sikh American history over 40 years ago with his book, “The Sikhs of Northern California: 1904-1975.” Mayor Ann Johnston of Stockton also greeted the conference, praising the Sikhs for their democracy and defense of equal rights, saying they have”continually contributed to the good in the city of Stockton.”

Session I commenced with Inder Singh, Chairman of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. He spoke about “Dalip Singh Saund: From Stockton Gurdwara to the U.S. Congress.” Saund, a Sikh, was the first Asian in Congress. Inder Singh said: “His victory was a landmark of epic proportions for the United States. He was born of uneducated parents, from a small village in Punjab, and identified with middle-class values of the people. Saund has become an iconic figure.”

Dr. Jasbir Singh Mann spoke next on the origin of the Ghadar movement and three of its leaders — Har Dayal, Savarkar, and Bhardwaj. Dr. Nirmal Singh Mann (University of California, Davis) delighted the audience with his account of Pakher Singh Gill, a precursor of civil rights hero Cesar Chavez. Because Asians were denied the right to own land, Gill made a verbal agreement with white owners to lease and cultivate their farmland. In 1925, after they cheated him out his profit from the crops, he killed two of them. Upon his release after 14 years in San Quentin Prison, he lectured on equal rights for all in the USA, England, and India. Dr. Mann’s fresh perspective on Gill’s story was positively received by the audience, who embraced his legacy in remarks made during the question and answer sessions. Dr. Paul Englesberg (Walden University) concluded the first session with a speech on the 1907 Bellingham riot in the State of Washington, when a mob drove nearly 200 hard-working Sikh immigrants out of the town.

Dr. La Brack began Session II with an analysis of the lives of the first Sikh settlers in the USA. The first immigrants from India, Sikh Americans first found work as farmers or as laborers in lumber mills and on railroads. With a reputation as reliable and disciplined workers, Sikh employees were in high demand among business owners. Speaking about the first Sikh American settlement, Dr. La Brack said: “The Stockton gurdwara gave a focal point to Punjabi life on the West Coast; it served as a combination church, dining hall, rest home, employment information center, meeting place, political forum, and sanctuary where Punjabi culture and language were understood. The Stockton facility was a hub of social, religious, and political life for all Sikhs and many other Punjabis in California between 1915 and the late 1970s.”

Dr. Hugh Johnston (Simon Fraser University) talked about the immigrant ship Komagata Maru. In 1914, immigration authorities turned the ship away from Vancouver. When it returned to India, British authorities accused its passengers of involvement with the Ghadar party and massacred 19 of them. Dr. Karen Leonard (University of California, Irvine) spoke about the origins of the Punjabi-Mexicans community. Because restrictive immigration laws prevented immigration by South Asian women, she said, many Sikhs married Mexicans. There were almost 400 of these couples; their children embraced both cultures.

Dr Amrik Singh concluded the second session with an examination of the Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society. It was formed in 1912 by Teja Singh, a Harvard alumni who studied at Columbia University and Cambridge University. Teja Singh was the first scholar to ever deliver a public lecture in the USA on the subject of Sikhi. He was soon invited to lecture on this topic in the USA, Canada, Europe, and then India. Championing the cause of Sikh immigrants, he founded gurdwaras in Vancouver, London, Stockton, and elsewhere.

Session III featured a series of lectures on the Ghadar Party. Dr. Jaspal Singh (Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh) spoke about the Sikh consciousness that formed the basis for the Ghadar movement. Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon (Punjab University) offered perspectives on the secular nationalist ideology and concern for liberty of the Sikh revolutionaries. Dr. Tejwant Singh Gill (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) discussed the British Empire’s opposition to the Sikh Ghadar movement. Dr. Gurmel Singh Sidhu (Fresno State University) spoke about the media and literature of the Ghadarites, who are known for their many newspapers and passionate poetry.

Session IV commenced with a lecture by Dr. Sukhminder Singh on the life of Teja Singh and his relationship with Baba Jawala Singh and Baba Wasakha Singh, the first granthis of Stockton Gurdwara. Dr. Baljeet Singh Sahi presented a paper by Prof. Gurcharan Singh Aulakh on the Babbar Akalis, who carried on the Ghadar Party’s legacy of armed resistance to the British Raj. U.C. Berkeley student Parwaz K. Sra presented a paper by Prof. Malwinderjit Singh Waraich about how the Ghadar Party’s war against the British crown was a revolt against the slavery of colonialism.

Saturday’s conference concluded with remarks by Dr. Amrik Singh and a prayer for the forgotten Ghadri Babas by Sukhjiwan Singh, granthi of Stockton Gurdwara. An evening banquet at University Plaza Waterfront Hotel in downtown Stockton followed. In the beautiful outdoor setting, the scholars were presented with presented honorariums and recognition plaques. Prominent guests also honored included Punjabi-Mexican Amelia Singh Netervala. Bhajan Singh Bhinder, centennial coordinator, said, “On this occasion of 100 years since settling in this country, we are joyfully passing the baton of leadership to the next generation of Sikh Americans.”

Sunday’s program was at Stockton Gurdwara, where the brand-new Ghadri Baba Museum was inaugurated. The museum houses an exhibition of historical panels depicting the Ghadar movement and other aspects of Sikh American history.

Its premier artifact is the printing press used by Kartar Singh Sarabha to print The Ghadar newspaper, the first Punjabi-language publication in the USA. In 1915, Sarabha was hanged by the British at the age of 19. A glass showcase features the gurdwara’s very first minute’s register with a signature by Teja Singh. The pioneers, who used their hard-earned money to fight a famine that plagued the undivided Indian subcontinent, also saved a stamp from the “India Famine Relief Fund.” This stamp and other historical artifacts and reliefs were displayed, such as a Southern Pacific Railroad pass issued to the first granthi, Bhola Singh, the original Articles of Incorporation, and a letter written to the Maharajah of Patiala.

The community’s excitement was palpable. They were somber and respectful during prayers performed by Sukhjiwan Singh. Harnek Singh Atwal, President of the Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society, briefly addressed the audience. Dr. H.S. Shergill and Baldev Singh, who assisted with creating the museum, did the honors of opening it to the public for the first time. Many of the scholars attended, including Dr. Mann and Dr. Englesberg.

Media Inquiries:
Bhajan Singh Bhinder, Coordinator, Stockton Gurdwara Centennial Committee
Email: centennial@sikhcentury.us, Phone: 855-SIKH-100, www.SikhCentury.us
Posted on www.ambedkartimes.com , October 25, 2012