THE CONTROVERSIAL IMAGE: Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh
religion. Miniature portrait on ivory. Lahore, late 19th
CE.
SACRAMENTO: The force of conviction and a campaign run in a
sober and intelligent way has finally borne fruit. Guru Nanak
Dev's misleading, indefensible image in the seventh grade school
text books in California will appear no more.
"The image itself was offensive to the Sikh
community," Thomas Adams, director of the Curriculum Frameworks
and Instructional Resources Division of the State Education
Department, was quoted by the New York Times. "And it wasn't
defensible on the issue of accuracy, because it is from a later
period" than the one in which Guru Nanak
lived.
The WSN, in its February 28 edition, had
raised the issue prominently with a lead article on the op-ed
page by Onkar S. Bindra wherein he had focussed on the picture
on Page 95 of "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600," the book used
since last fall. Guru Nanak in this image was shown with a
trimmed beard holding a few beads and wearing a crown. Sikhs
complained about the image, saying the portrait makes Nanak look
like a Muslim chieftain. The picture, which hangs in a museum in
London, was originally painted in the 19th century, after
Muslims ruled India.
Guru Nanak and a crown? The image of
Sikhism's founder is anathema to everything they believe about
the Guru. After months of lobbying by Sikhs, the California
Board of Education voted unanimously on Thursday asking
publisher Oxford University Press to remove the portrait from
future printings, and to provide a sticker with another image or
text to place over the portrait in existing copies.
Onkar Singh Bindra
Onkar S Bindra, who sits on the board of the gurdwara in West
Sacramento, had an argument devastating in its simplicity: "It
says he's the founder of the Sikh religion. The founder of the
Sikh religion should look like a Sikh." Bindra, a Sacramento
Sikh, has spent his retirement educating the public about his
religion. He had also objected to the alternative image offered
by the publishers which was from an 18th century painting that
showed the Guru wearing a red hat and trim beard. That image
made their founder look like a Hindu. The red mark on his
forehead and the janeyu (sacred Hindu thread) are both strong
symbols from Hinduism. Casper Grathwohl, publisher of Oxford
University Press, refused to print the Sikh style image and
insisted that the older images are more accurate.
Sikhs number about 24 million, comprise one
of the world's youngest religions, and nearly 500,000 of them
are in the United States. More than a lakh live in California
and it was here that they pushed to have the picture removed
from the text. The efforts began immediately when the book first
arrived in schools at the start of the academic year.
Twenty-one Sikhs had come from San Jose in
the South to Placerville in the North, representing
congregations of Gurdwaras in El Sobrante, Fremont, Sacramento
and San Jose in Northern California to attend the Public Hearing
of the State Board of Education (SBE) in the California
Department of Education (CDE) building in Sacramento on March 8.
Guru Nanak and Mardana with King Shivanabh, after 1500.
Baba Nanak (Guru Nanak) sits in the centre, holding
prayer beads. His companion Mardana holds a mandolin.
King Shivanabh kneels with hands together in a gesture
of devotion, his attendant standing behind him with a
fly-whisk.
"I provided relevant material to the SBE members on March 7.
These included copies of letters of Dr Narinder
Singh Kapany, Noel Q. King, Professor Emeritus (U.C. Santa Cruz)
and the SGPC, written by them to CDE/SBE officers," Bindra told
the WSN.
The development was just another example of
a textbook change prompted by concerns about giving offense to
any racial, ethnic or religious groups.
During his public comment, Bindra
circulated to SBE Members two presentation portfolios, one
depicting how Sikh Calendars, five Punjabi weeklies and one
Hindi weekly circulated in California use only Sikh style
pictures of Guru Nanak. The other showed pictures of Guru Nanak
in ten books on World Religions, written by non-Sikhs and
published in USA or UK and one authored by non-Sikhs and
published in India, all with only Sikh style pictures.
Publisher’s claim that the present picture
was selected as being the oldest one available is not tenable,
because Art Books have much older images. However, those too do
not depict Guru Nanak as a Sikh. Just because it is old, does
not mean it is right. Gurtej Singh Cheema, M.D., circulated to
the Board Members, six large transparencies of old murals in the
old and historic Baba Atal Rai Gurdwara in the Golden Temple
Complex, Amritsar, Punjab. Apparently, these murals are older
than the offensive picture chosen by OUP. Besides, these are in
the Sikh style. The painting which the SGPC recommended to the
CDE/SBE bears strong resemblance with Guru Nanak in these old
murals, especially regarding turban and unshorn facial hair.
Gurprit S, Hansra, an engineer,
high-lighted the fact that Sikhs have suffered
disproportionately high percentage of hate crimes because of
their mistaken identity. Dr JP Singh, an earthquake engineer &
President of the El Sobrante Gurdwara, also stressed the same
problem, and said, “A Sikh style picture of Guru Nanak will help
correct the erroneous perception.” Further, he recommended that
the SBE should include the USDOJ poster, Common Sikh American
Head Coverings, in the social sciences educational materials.
Col. Paramjit Singh Gahra, a lawyer, said,
“I had an occasion to see a monument dedicated to Nanak Lama in
Sikkim, India.” Although such statues in Tibet, Sikkim and
Arunachal are perhaps older than all the Hindu style and Mughal
style paintings of Guru Nanak, yet all non-Sikhs (Hindus,
Muslims and Buddhists) in South Asia use his Sikh style
pictures, in recognition of his being the Founder of the Sikh
faith.
The image Sikhs would like in the California Textbooks.
Painting by Sobha Singh
Surjit Singh Dhillon, Development Director of Sikh Temple
Sacramento, Darshan Singh Mundy, Vice-President Sikh Temple
Sacramento, Ram Singh, an engineer, and now Chief of Fremont
Gurdwara, Jitender Singh Hundal, a Computer Engineer, Nirmal
Singh Cheema, an engineer and now Director of the Seniors’ Club
of Fremont Gurdwara, Judge Mewa Singh of Elk Grove, Balbir Singh
Dhillon, Vice-President of San Jose Gurdwara, Mrs Sarabjit Kaur
Cheema, an engineer and Vice-President of Fremont Gurdwara, Mrs.
Amarjeet Kaur, a high school teacher, Gurcharan Singh Mann,
Jatinder Pal Singh, a businessman, all supported the deletion of
the wrong image.
The way Guru Nanak's image was depicted
could have confused students about the appearance of the Sikhs
or Sikhs with other ethnic groups. After 9/11, many Sikhs were
assaulted and some non-Sikh students treated them with suspicion
thinking they were Muslims or had some link with Osama bin
Laden.
Curtis Washington, an African American
teacher became very emotional. Choking back
his tears, he supported the Sikhs saying, "I can attest to the
pain of what a bad picture in a history book can do to a child."
Yvonne Chan, a Board Member praised the
performance of the Sikhs and sympathised with them.
"Sikhs have no plan to rewrite history.
They wanted only to correct a mistake in the textbook. They are
happy with the outcome and are expecting early implementation of
the decision," Bindra said.
Onkar S. Bindra, Ph.D.(U.C. Berkeley)
Trustee, Sikh Temple Sacramento,
Member The Renaissance Society, Sac State;
Retired Professor of Entomology & Project Manager of FAO(UNO)
Tel.
(916) 858-2650
| HISTORIC
PORTRAITS OF SIKH GURUS |
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Written by Onkar S. Bindra
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007 |
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The oldest pictures of Guru Nanak were painted by
Alam Chand, a bricklayer of Kapurthala, around 1733 CE,
i.e. about 200 years after Guru Nanak’s life-time
(1469-1539). The painter visualized Guru Nanak as a
Hindu and painted him as such. Please see Guru Nanak Dev
University’s publication B-40 Janamsakhi Paintings
(ISBN 81-7770-011-1) which has 57 plates. Plate 27 in
Susan Stronge’s The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms,
1999 (ISBN 08348-0471-9) is from the said Janamsakhi.
Stronge’s book contains two other Hindu style images of
Guru Nanak, besides Mughal style images of Guru Nanak
(of c 1770-1830), Guru Har Rai (of 1815) and Guru Gobind
Singh (of 1850-60).
The question arises, how about Sikh style
portraits of the Sikh Gurus? Perhaps the first
Sikh style depictions of Guru Nanak appeared in
frescoes on walls of historic religious buildings. These
include Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai in the Golden Temple
Complex in Amritsar. First three floors of this Gurdwara
were completed by 1784. The ground floor has frescoes
showing Guru Nanak with uncut grey beard and a turban.
Sobha Singh painted Guru Nanak in a meditation pose (Naam
Khumari Nanaka Charhi rahey din raat) in 1937.
Later he painted him in other poses, like “The
harbinger of monotheism” and the “Blessing pose”. In
1968, the SGPC commissioned him to paint a picture for
Guru Nanak’s 500th Birth Anniversary
celebrations. The SGPC distributed
its 100,000 copies in 1969. Since then, several other
painters have produced Sikh style paintings of Guru
Nanak, the Founder of the Sikh religion.
The belief that the Sikh Gurus did not permit artists
to paint their portraits, and that authentic
contemporary portraits of Sikh Gurus do not exist,
appears to be baseless in view of the following based on
a report of
Singh (1):
1.
Mohan Singh, a noted art scholar, found an
historic reference in “Gurbilas Patshahi 6” to a
painting of Guru Hargobind (6th Guru)
on horse back, to be in the possession of descendants of
Bidhi Chand at Sur Singh village in Amritsar.
2. Mohan Singh saw a painting of Guru Har Rai (7th
Guru) in the collection of Sodhi’s of Kartarpur.
The painting shows a beautifully-carved ivory stick with
a knob at its top, which is now in the possession of a
Brahman family residing in Thakurdwara street in
Amritsar.
3
Singh (1) quotes Mohan Singh, “There
is a contemporary painting of Guru Gobind Singh
(10th Guru) at Harmandar Sahib,
Patna”, in which he is adorned with pearl necklaces,
armlets and a bejeweled ‘aigrette’ on his turban.
4. Further, Khalsa (2) states that
historic publications Mahima
Parkash and Gur Partap Surya and famous
scholar Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha and modern
writers (Harbans Singh , IAS and Kalraj Singh) tell the
story of a portrait of Guru Tegh Bahadur (9th
Guru) painted during his
visit to Bengal. The Guru is reported to have
given the final strokes of the paint brush to help the
painter complete it. The painting is reported to be in
the Victoria Memorial Museum, Calcutta.
5. Art historian Mohan Singh said, “No visual account of
the paintings, nor any literary evidence has come to
light as far as the first five Sikh gurus are
concerned”, (Singh, 1). However, recently, Khalsa (2)
has reported that Guru Nanak permitted the Caliph of
Baghdad to commission his portrait, as per Tawarikh
guru Khalsa. He adds that a European reported
seeing this portrait in the Baghdad museum in 1797. He
later published it in his book,” Oriental Collection.”
There are claims about the existence of photographs of
this painting in Punjab and California.
6. Further, I learn that
descendents of the founder of village Bhai Roopa,
District Bathinda have historical artifacts of the Guru
period, including a photo of Guru Nanak’s contemporary
painting made during his stay in Baghdad, Iraq (Personal
communication, Gurprit S. Hansra, April 5, 2007).
Conclusion.
The
portraits referred to above, if authentic, are valuable
pieces of Punjabi and Sikh heritage and need to be
properly conserved. The Punjab government and SGPC
should consider prompt action to authenticate the
reports and to save the items or their photos in the
Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh and later
place them on the internet for the information of the
Sikh Diasporas.
References.
1.
Singh. Jangveer. “Mohan Singh discovers
paintings of Sikh gurus”,
Tribune News Service,
Patiala, January 11, 2004.
2.
Khalsa, Balbir Singh “Is it appropriate to hang pictures
of Gurus?” Amritsar Times Punjabi Weekly, 28 March –
April 3, 2007, page 32. In Punjabi.
| Imaging
The Guru – A Textbook Case |
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Editor’s Comment:
The question has been asked, ‘What did
Guru Nanak look like?’ The author, who put
up a spirited campaign to get removed an
objectionable depiction of Sikhism’s founder
from
US
school textbooks, now makes out a case for
more sensitized use of the Guru’s image. In
this piece he deduces: ‘Let us hope…that
future printings of the book shall contain a
suitable picture representing the Sikhs’.(
Editor of World Sikh News)
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Published in World Sikh News of May -2, 2007
under Special Reports
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Sikh friends have
been asking me, “Why did the publisher choose a
late19th century image with a crown, and make
Guru Nanak look like a Muslim chieftain? What
made the publisher so sure that the late 19th
century image is more accurate than all other
commonly used pictures of Nanak?” Many say,
“This image belongs to a museum, not to a school
textbook, because it is historically incorrect.”
Others say, “No historian has recorded that Guru
Nanak ever wore a crown.”
Indeed, this is
perhaps the first time for this piece of museum
art to get into a book, and that too a school
textbook. It misinforms the non-Sikhs and would
confuse and offend the Sikh students.
Accordingly, it is good that California’s State
Board of Education (SBE) decided against
continued use of this image in the current
and future prints of the book. A
picture is equal to thousand words.
It is, hence, very desirable to have
a replacement picture.
That is why the publisher had the image.
So the question has been asked,
“What did Guru Nanak look like?”
Bhai Gurdas is
helpful in this connection. He was born in 1557,
within 20 years of Guru Nanak’s passing away in
1539. Guru Arjan employed him as a scribe
and he has been called the “Key to Guru
Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Book. He wrote
39 Vars (Poems). In
Var I, he wrote:”Baba Nanak then
proceeded to Kartarpur and put aside all the
garments of renunciation. He clad himself in
ordinary clothes, ascended the gaddi
(throne) and thus preached dharma
to his people.”
Based on this, many writers
have concluded that at the end of his travels,
during the last 18 years of his life, Guru Nanak
adopted the ordinary dress of a "householder,"
and dressed indistinguishably from the people
around him. {C.f.“The Sikhs” by Cole and Sambhi,
1978 and “The Book of Nanak” by Sarna}.
.
Commenting on an
article entitled, “What did Guru Nanak look
like?” by Amardeep Singh, a Professor of Lehigh
University, Ms. Ruchira Paul of Houston, TX,
stated, “Absent any historical "proof", the most
popular becomes the most "accurate”. Images of
gods and godly men are not about historical
accuracy but have more to do with the comfort
level of the adherents of a faith.” She added,
“When a historical figure is elevated to the
stature of a spiritual figure in the minds of
followers, it matters little what he or she
"really" looked like in life. The pictorial
depictions of holy men and women assume an
allegorical value which has not much to do with
historical accuracy. The same goes with
religious relics. Whether a footprint belonged
to Ram, the hair is from Prophet Mohammed’s
beard or the Shroud of Turin indeed covered
Jesus' dead body is not of essence. That
millions believe they did, is what matters.”
Referring to the image published in the
newspapers recently, she concluded, “Guru
Nanak's picture with the simple turban and tunic
is the most widely recognizable image to
millions of Sikhs and non-Sikhs. If it
is good enough for the devotees, it should be
good enough for the publisher."
Sobha Singh first
painted Guru Nanak’s imaginary portrait in 1937.
He painted the blessing pose for the Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar
in 1969 for the quincentenary birthday
celebrations of Guru Nanak. The SGPC distributed
100,000 copies of this painting and now similar
paintings decorate most Sikh homes.
Although painted
about 430 years after Guru Nanak’s life-time,
it is the most popular
image of Guru Nanak, accepted worldwide by Sikhs
and non-Sikhs. Accordingly, the SGPC recommended
it to California’s Department of Education (CDE)
and State Board of Education (SBE), and
the Sikhs have been requesting that it be
used to replace the current Muslim style image
at the next printing.
Guru Nanak (1469 to
1539) founded the Sikh religion during the
period covered by the book under question (An
Age of Voyages:1350-1600). According to
March 8, 2007 decision of California’s
State Board of Education, the future printings
of the book will have no picture relating to the
Sikh religion. However, the book will continue
to have pictures of leaders of Confucism
and Jainism, even though they belong to ancient
period and not to the medieval period covered by
the book.
It may be pointed out
that in North America, the population of Sikhs
(583,000) far exceeds that of Confucists (0) and
Jains (7,500). Worldwide also the
Sikhs (24,989,000) far outnumber the Confucists
(6,447,000) and Jains (4,519,000 {Figures are
from The World Almanac and Book of Facts
2006}. In view of these figures, the
recommendation of the CDE to eliminate Guru
Nanak’s image (instead of its replacement with
one acceptable to the Sikhs) and its approval by
the SBE constitute actions contrary to the
spirit and requirements of the Education
Code 60044(a) and (b): “Portrayal of
contemporary U.S. society should reflect its
religious diversity,” and “legal compliance of
proportion of portrayal”.
Let us hope
that the authorities consider the
situation right away and decide that future
printings of the book shall contain a suitable
picture representing the Sikhs and that it
will be selected in consultation with a
representative of the Sikh community.
(The writer is a
retired Professor).
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State Board of Ed declines to act on Sikh complaints.
News Source:
http://www.mercurynews.com
07/12/2007
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SACRAMENTO—The
state Board of Education declined to act Thursday on new
complaints from the Sikh community about a seventh-grade
textbook the Sikhs say is offensive.
The board voted in March to ask a textbook publisher to remove a
picture of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, that many
followers said was offensive and inaccurate.
The controversial image in "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600" shows
Guru Nanak wearing a crown and with a closely cropped beard. The
depiction runs contrary to Sikh faith, which requires observant
men to wear a turban and not to shave their facial hair.
Many of the same people who argued at the March meeting were
back before the board Thursday, unsatisfied with publisher
Oxford University Press' plan to reprint the textbooks and
replace the approximately 520 copies that have been distributed
so far to 16
California
school districts.
The Sikhs argued that the inaccurate picture should have been
replaced with a more accurate one, not removed entirely. The
revised textbook will have no picture at all accompanying its
description of the Sikh faith, further worsening the problem
Sikhs said they face when people confuse them with members of
other religions, such as Islam.
The book is "wonderfully, lavishly illustrated," so the absence
of an accurate picture of Guru Nanak is even more glaring, said
Jeff Brodd, a religious studies professor at Sacramento State
University who testified at Thursday's hearing.
Those who spoke at the meeting also objected to the title
accompanying Guru Nanak's name in several places in the book, in
which the word 'devi' is used. Devi is a feminine title, not for
men, they said.
"It's like calling a king a queen, a Mr. a Mrs.," said speaker
Prubhjot Parhar.
The board didn't take a vote on the Sikhs' request, but Tom
Adams, director of curriculum for the state Department of
Education, said he would contact the publisher immediately and
try to have the title corrected if the new texts have not yet
been printed.
Oxford plans to distribute the new books to the
school districts this summer, he said.
In other action, the board voted to oppose AB1177, a bill by
Assemblyman Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana, that would set up a
three-year pilot project to create alternative instructional
materials for about 25,000 English learners.
Board members were concerned the program would undermine their
authority to approve all instructional materials used in
California
classrooms.
By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer
Sikhs object further to image of guru
Schoolbook publisher won't use the picture the religion prefers.
By Laurel Rosenhall - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am
PDT Friday, July 13, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3. Sacramento
Bee.
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| California school books won't have any image of Guru Nanak now, Sikhs want one |
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| Written by Harjot Singh |
| Friday, July 13, 2007 |
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 SACRAMENTO: Months after the California Sikhs had successfully got the State Board of Education to get removed from a Grade VII book an objectionable picture of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, which virtually showed him as a Muslim and was grossly offensive to all Sikhs, the publishers have now got printed new books omitting the picture altogether instead of replacing it with acceptable image of the Guru.
After the Sikhs tried to take the matter back to the Board, the latter has declined to act, thus leaving the students to miss the picture of Guru Nanak in "An Age of Voyages: 1350-1600", a book which is otherwise lavishly illustrated.
The publisher Oxford University Press had earlier offered to replace the Islamic style picture of Guru Nanak with a Hindu style image, an offer which was spurned by the Sikhs.
"(They had offered) to replace it with an image which portrayed Guru Nanak as a Hindu (with cap, tikka -vertical mark on the forehead, Janeyu - Hindu sacred thread and Dhoti –Hindu clothing). Naturally, I did not approve of the same. A letter signed by large numbers of Sikhs was sent to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and CDE for banning the book and replacement of offensive picture. Finally, the SBE scheduled a consideration of the matter at its meeting of March 7-8. I provided relevant material to the SBE members on March 7. These included copies of letters of Dr Narinder Singh Kapany, Noel Q. King, Professor Emeritus ( U.C. Santa Cruz) and the SGPC, written by them to CDE/SBE officers," Onkar S Bindra had explained.
It is not clear on what grounds a reputed publisher is digging in by refusing to publish an acceptable image which most Sikhs identify with.
.
Bindra had made a presentation, showing pictures of Guru Nanak in ten books on World Religions, written by non-Sikhs and published in USA or UK and one authored by non-Sikhs and published in India. All these had only Sikh style pictures of Guru Nanak. The board had finally voted in March ordering removal of the objectionable image of Guru Nanak which showed Guru Nanak wearing a crown and with a closely cropped beard on page 95.
Sikhism requires observant devouts not to shave their facial hair or any hair.
So far, some 520 copies have been distributed to 16 California school districts but are without any picture of the Guru. Sikh activists wanted that the offensive picture should have been replaced with a more accurate one, not removed entirely.
A media report quoted Jeff Brodd, a religious studies professor at Sacramento State University, as testifying at Thursday's hearing before the Board by saying that the book is "wonderfully, lavishly illustrated," so the absence of an accurate picture of Guru Nanak is even more glaring.
Sikhs have also reported the problem with the titling of the Guru's name as the book uses the term "devi", clearly a feminine form of address not used for men. The mistake somehow also points to rather shoddy handling of the affair by the publishers.
Surely, the Sikhs think, it wasn't difficult for scholars at the Oxford to realise that the prophet, a simple man who preached to the poor and certainly, couldnot worn a crown. The Oxford claimed they used the ealiest possible picture available, but the Sikhs proved even that fact to be inaccurate. Thomas Adams, director of the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division of the State Education Department, was quoted on this score in the media as saying that "it wasn't defensible on the issue of accuracy, because it is from a later period" than the one in which Guru Nanak lived.
Now efforts are on to correct the title. The publisher is likely to make available the new books to the school districts this summer.
California's school board has a public — and often lengthy — process of reviewing textbooks before they are made available for purchase by individual school districts. But it seems with the rise in cultural sensitivity, the cost and time consumed in making schoolbooks have also increased.
Publishers do usually make changes, though it is only because of California's size and buying power. The schoolbook market in the United States is roughly $4.2 billion and California schools are the nation's top purchaser. The state government allocated $403 million for schoolbooks in 2006, and that excludes federal money or lottery revenue.
Last time the row hit media headlines, the Sikhs had even presented six large transparencies of old murals in the old and historic Baba Atal Rai Gurdwara in the Golden Temple Complex, Amritsar, Punjab. Apparently, these murals are older than the offensive picture chosen by OUP. Besides, these are in the Sikh style. The painting which the SGPC recommended to the CDE/SBE bears strong resemblance with Guru Nanak in these old murals, especially regarding turban and unshorn facial hair.
A Sikh style picture of Guru Nanak would have most certainly helped correct the erroneous perception about Sikhs being Arabs, prevalent among large sections in the US.
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Written
by Onkar
S Bindra
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Wednesday,
October
03, 2007
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CALIFORNIA:
A
well
known
Sikh
intellectual
activist
has
argued
for
inclusion
of
Sikhism
in a
book (History-Social
Science
Framework) for
California
schools
which
does
include
other
major
religions.
He
has
also
pleaded
with
fellow
Sikhs
and
community
organizations
to
plead
with
the
local
schools
in
Sikh-population
rich
areas
to
include
the
study
of
Sikhism
in
school
curriculum.
Dr.
Onkar S
Bindra's
exertions
are in
view of
the fact
that the
History-Social
Science
(HSS)
Framework
for
California's
Public
Schools
published
in 2001
by the
California
Department
of
Education
(CDE),
is to be
updated
by the
year
2010.The
revised
document
will contain
the
course
descriptions
and
content
standards
that
provide
guidance
to
teachers
on what
to cover
in each
Grade
Level
(K-12)
and
provide
guidelines
to
publishers
on what
to
include
in the
textbooks
that
they
will
submit
in
2010-11, to
the
State
Board of
Education
(SBE)
for
adoption for
California's
public
schools
for the
following
six
years..
"Most
books
adopted
in
California are
adopted
in many
other
States.
Thus, the
Framework
is an
extremely
important
document.
It is,
therefore,
essential
to be
vigilant
and
guard community
and
public interest
during
its
updating
process,"
Dr
Bindra
said in
a
statement.
The HSS
Subject
Matter
Committee
of the
Curriculum
Development
and
Supplemental
Materials
Commission
held its
first
meeting
at
Sacramento
on
September
27, to
plan for
the
updating
of the
Framework. Dr.
Onkar S.
Bindra
spoke
during the
Public
Comments
session.
He
requested
for
inclusion
of
Sikhism
in the
course
description
of the
elective,
Survey
of World
Religions,
on page
121 of
the
current
Framework.
Presently,
it
includes
Judaism,
Christianity,
Islam,
Buddhism
and
Hinduism.
A couple
of
School
Districts
have
decided
to teach
Sikhism
in this
course.
School
District
with
dense
Sikh
population
may
agree to
do the
same,
should
the Sikh
community
plead
for the
same.
Further,
Dr
Bindra
requested inclusion
of India
in
the 7th
grade -
history of
medieval
and
early
modern
period.
He added
that if
this was
not
possible,
Growth
of Islam
in
India,
already
a part
of the
course
description
and
content
standards
should cover
the
following:
founding
of Sikh
religion
by Guru
Nanak
(1469-1539),
imprisonment
of Guru
Nanak by
Babar
and of
the 6th
Guru by
Aurangzeb,
Guru
Arjan's
torture
to
death in
keeping
with Jehangir's
desire
and
beheading
of the
9th Guru
under
Aurangzeb's
orders,
institution
of the
Khalsa
and of
the
Guru
Granth
Sahib
as the
eternal
"Guru
by" the
10th
Guru,
rise of
the Sikh
power
under
Maharaja
Ranjit
Singh
and
decline
of the
Mughal
Empire.
(Readers
desirous
of
contacting
Dr Onkar
S Bindra
may
reach
him at
osbindra@yahoo.com
This
e-mail
address
is being
protected
from
spam
bots,
you need
JavaScript
enabled
to view
it
)
|
|
www.advancedcentrepunjabi.org/intro1.asp
It will run better if you download and install Fonts first according
to Dr. Amrik Singh suggestions. Dr. Amrik Singh teaches punjabi
at Sacramento State university and City College at sacramento.
|
Since
2005, California Sikhs have pointed
out to the State Board of Education
that Sikh culture and Sikh
contributions to California history
are under-represented in the school
textbooks, leading many to mistake
Sikhs for what they are not. They
have suggested how to better
incorporate Sikhs into the
history-social science curriculum,
pointed out inaccuracies, and
submitted "The Sikh Next Door"
program and "Meet the Sikhs" DVD for
inclusion in the approved
Supplemental Instructional
Materials.