|
UNITED SIKHS’ 2009 Global
Sikh Civil Rights Report is a report where a community across borders
voices their opinions on the current practices, future policies and the
overall state of human and civil rights of Sikhs in their respective
countries. The report combines insights from human rights reports with
original survey data collected from Sikhs worldwide, and is put
together by a team of lawyers, activists, academics and civil rights
experts.
The 2008 Global Civil Rights
Report had provided a first-of-its-kind insight into the needs and
challenges of the global Sikh community. In addition to country essays,
the 2009 report incorporates data from the Global Sikh Civil Rights
Survey administered in 17 countries with over 300 respondents. Sikhs
around the world weighed in on issues of hate crimes, xenophobia,
current policies and practices toward minority communities, and the
particular challenges of the Sikh community.
The compilation consists of
reports from twenty-two countries with small and large Sikh
populations, representing a myriad of life experiences of Sikhs
worldwide. In addition, the report also contains a special research
article on Sikligar Sikhs, a forgotten community of Sikhs who were
traditionally weapon-makers, and a discussion on the challenges of the
21st century for the Sikh community.
Staff Attorney Jaspreet Singh,
Editor-in-Chief of the report says, “When UNITED SIKHS created
the 2008 Global Sikh Civil Rights Report, the idea was to fill a void
in literature because no such resources existed. Over the past year,
we've learnt that the impact of the report has been far greater, and
we've received feedback from litigators, non-profit organizations as
well as the Sikh and non-Sikh community about its use in informing
their own work. Keeping these ideas in mind, we've included informative
essays, statistics and survey data to increase the report's
utility.”
Excerpt from the 2009 Global Sikh Civil Rights Report:
This year has seen an unprecedented rise of
reporting and discussion in the Sikh community about their rights. From
Australia to Pakistan, the United States to India, and Kenya to Canada,
Sikhs are experiencing a new awakening in relation to globalization.
Recent events, such as the unrest in Panjab, India, combined with the
deterioration of the situation in Pakistan is raising concerns for
Sikhs around the world, and as a community that is without borders, so
to speak, the Sikh community is abuzz with news and discussions of
addressing major concerns. The concerns of globalization are profound
for the Sikh community; as a minority community in every country and
one that is so easily identifiable, Sikhs face varying levels of civil
and human rights problems around the world, and often find themselves
in a position of advocating for their rights and the rights of others.
One can argue that the best way to measure a country’s freedom or
commitment to the rule of law is to observe the way minorities are
treated in that country. Generally, and the country reports herein
support this claim, one can see that Sikhs are a good community to
observe as a litmus test in this regard. Click here to read more...
To read the 2009 Global Sikh Civil Rights report, please click here.
To read the 2008 Global Sikh Civil Rights report, please visit: https://www.unitedsikhs.org/rtt/sikhconf/FirstGlobalSikhCivilRightsReport.pdf
Issued by:
Rucha Kavathe
Media and Communications Coordinator
UNITED SIKHS 646-315-3909
|
