Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI)

Plight of Political Prisoners in India Inspires May 22 Rally at California State Capitol

South Asian diaspora will unite with community organizers and state legislators in California to rally at 3:30pm on May 22 outside the State Capitol Building in honor of Surat Singh Khalsa, a permanent resident of the United States who lives near Stockton, CA but has been on hunger-strike in Punjab, India since January 16 to demand release of political prisoners.

Texan Sikhs Appeal to Congress to Speak for Maverick Activist on Hunger-Strike in India

The cause of a determined Californian on the 123rd day — as of Monday — of a hunger-strike in India for release of political prisoners is galvanizing South Asian diaspora throughout the United States to approach their congressional representatives to ask they speak in honor of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa.

Family of Hunger-Striker Surat Singh Khalsa to Rally in His Honor at California State Capitol

Mandeep Kaur Dhillon, one of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa’s five daughters, will speak at the rally. Dhillon says, “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. I support my father every step of the way. He is a trooper. I have great, great, great respect for him.”

Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa’s daughter visits California Congressional Offices

A delegation joined Devinderdeep Kaur Sran on Wednesday to appeal to four U.S. congressional representatives to speak in honor of her father, Surat Singh Khalsa, a permanent resident of the United States who lives in California but has been on hunger-strike in Punjab, India since January 16 in demand for release of political prisoners.

USA: Bahujans and Christians Link Arms With Sikhs to Warn Congressman About Persecution in India

Community leaders from Sikh, Christian, and Bahujan communities in Northern California met privately with Congressman Tom McClintock (R-Roseville) last week to discuss ongoing issues of state-sponsored persecution of their comrades in India.

Do you have thirty seconds to honor the life of Bapuji Surat Singh Khalsa? OFMI

A permanent resident of the United States, Surat Singh Khalsa has been on hunger-strike in Punjab, India since January 16, 2015 to demand the release of Indian political prisoners who have completed their sentences but remain imprisoned.

Plight of India’s Minorities a Focus at Town Hall for California Congressman McClintock

Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) earned appreciation from perhaps a broader audience than he expected when he held a community town hall at the Roseville Sikh Gurdwara on Tuesday, May 5 to discuss federal issues with local constituents.

“My Life is in Danger,” Pleads American Citizen in India After Release From Jail Without Charges

A week after his April 27 release from a two-month imprisonment in Ludhiana Jail, U.S. citizen Ravinderjit Singh Gogi is speaking out in a formal statement delivered on Monday to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Badal, pleading that his life is in danger and warning: “I want to let you know that in case something like this happens or I face the above situation again, you all will be fully responsible for such actions.”

US Congressman who raised concerns for Ravinder Singh Gogi to address Town Hall meeting at Roseville Sikh Gurdwara

Congressman Tom McClintock will hold a town hall meeting at Gurdwara Sahib Roseville, 1090 Main Street, at 6pm on Tuesday, May 5th. The meeting is open to the public. Congressman McClintock will report on his legislative efforts on behalf of his district in the U.S. House of Representatives. McClintock will also field questions and concerns from those in attendance.

After two months detention in India, U.S. Citizen released without charges

Ludhiana, Punjab: After two months in an Indian jail, charged under a preventive law for visiting his father in the hospital, U.S. citizen Ravinderjit Singh Gogi ...

“Hinduism is nothing but a tool for propagation of caste,” says Mulnivasi Sangh vice-president

Over 75 people gathered in Lathrop, a small town in Central California, on Sunday to hear Dr. Manisha Bangar discuss what she termed the “contradiction between what is the ideal and what is the existing reality” in India today.

South Asian Communities Link Arms for Vancouver “Path to Begampura” Conference

In 15th-century India, spiritual teacher Guru Ravidas spoke about his vision of a place called Begampura, a land without sorrow. Begampura represented the ideal society, where suffering was a thing of the past. In this place, Ravidas said, “There is no second or third status; all are equal there.”

[Video] City of Stockton Proclamation Recognizes “Ongoing Impact” of 1984 Sikh Genocide on Indian Minorities

A 30-year-old massacre of Sikhs by the government of India gained fresh attention in California on Tuesday when the City of Stockton, home to the oldest community of Sikhs in the United States, passed a proclamation recognizing the 1984 Sikh Genocide and praising religious liberty.

Proclamation: 1984 Sikh Genocide and Praising the Values of Religious Liberty

Whereas, The United States is home to over 500,000 Sikhs and San Joaquin County is the location of the oldest Sikh-American community, Stockton Gurdwara, which was founded in 1912 and, one year later, the Ghadar Party formed, the first organized and sustained campaign of resistance to the British Empire’s occupation of the Indian subcontinent [...]

City of Stockton Proclamation Recognizes “Ongoing Impact” of 1984 Sikh Genocide on Indian Minorities

A 30-year-old massacre of Sikhs by the government of India gained fresh attention in California on Tuesday when the City of Stockton, home to the oldest community of Sikhs in the United States, passed a proclamation recognizing the 1984 Sikh Genocide and praising religious liberty.

U.S. citizen Ravinder Singh jailed in India as Californians call for his freedom

An American citizen has been taken as a political prisoner in Punjab, India. His family in America is now speaking out, asking the American government to intervene: “The freedom and the liberties that we have here aren’t exactly the same in other countries. That’s kind of what we’re worried about. Going to sleep every day. You know, I have to stay up at night time for extra, till a long period of time, trying to talk to the embassy, trying to get them to free my dad.”

Jaswant Singh Khalra Was Martyred for Exposing State-Sponsored Genocide in India

The Indian State admits it killed Jaswant Singh Khalra in the exact same manner as the sufferers of the genocide. Khalra was killed in 1995. It only took the State sixteen years before its Supreme Court finally upheld the convictions and sentences of six low-level police officers involved in Khalra’s abduction, torture, and murder.

Indian PM Modi Wears Suit Embroidered With His Own Name to Greet U.S. President Obama

In his first public appearance alongside Barack Obama after the U.S. president’s arrival in New Delhi, Indian PM Narendra Modi wore a suit embroidered with his own name, prompting some to identify the fashion choice as evidence of self-promotion.

Republic Day, Obama, and the Illusion of Religious Freedom in India — A panel discussion by OFMI

This 36-minute panel discussion features OFMI moderator Steve Macías, who leads panelists Dr. Amrik Singh (OFMI Advisory Board) and Jada Bernard (human rights activist) in a conversation about India's Republic Day.

India concludes 66th Republic Day celebrating a constitution Its compiler disowned: OFMI

When U.S. President Barack Obama joined Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday to celebrate India’s 66th Republic Day, commemorating the January 26, 1950 adoption of the country’s constitution, neither politician mentioned that, just three years after he chaired the drafting committee that wrote the document, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar publicly rejected it.

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