I landed in Islamabad, Pakistan at 4 am today (Fri 29th may) and was greeted with a very warm and loud “Sat Sri Akal Sardar Ji" by one of the Pakistani officials at the airport. The official at the passport control asked me about my visit to Pakistan and I told him that I was from Khalsa Aid and had come to assess the situation of the refugees at Panja Sahib; he wished me the best of luck and stamped my passport. After clearing immigration checks I was out in the arrivals area of the airport where again I was greeted very warmly by the Pakistani members of the public.

I had about 4 hours of sleep and was feeling very tired from the long flight (18 hours travelling) and headed straight to Panja Sahib Gurdwara to meet the Sikh refugees. There were 4 of us in a tiny old car which had a windscreen that was about to shatter anytime. The car had no AC and the temperature outside was 45C degrees, if I opened the windows I felt the intense heat hitting me (and plenty of dust too) and if I kept the window shut it felt like as if I was in an oven. After seeing a guy who had just been killed in an accident on the main road we reached Panja Sahib Gurdwara.

There was a lot of security at the door to the Gurdwara Sahib and we all got searched.I was met by Sardar Sarung Singh who is the representative of the refugees in the Gurdwara Sahib. We went to the Darbar Sahib to pay our respects to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji and noticed that there were at least 30-40 people sleeping on the floor and few people reading from the Gutkas.I was told by Sarung Singh that there were approx 3000 people taking refuge in the Gurdwara Sahib. I walked around and spoke to a few of the people there and heard the same heart breaking tales of sadness and how they all missed their homes.

I was also told that the Sangat was very disillusioned by the lack of any support from the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). The Dehli Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee ( DSGMC ) has so far given RS32000 for the health clinic which is at the Gurdwara Sahib.The DSGMC also met the Senior Pakistani Officials to seek permission to send relief worth RS 2 CRORE , I asked Sarung Singh what this relief consisted of or when it was coming, he told me that he has no idea and Mr Sarna of DSGMC has not contacted him since their visit on the 23rd of May. The refugees are feeling very let down by the mainstream Sikh organisations and they are hoping the global Sikh Sangat will not just forget about them and leave them to "rot ". The Pakistani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee is providing the daily Langar for the refugees at the cost of RS25000 a day.

I have arranged a meeting with Sardar Sarung Singh for tomorrow (30th May) to see how Khalsa Aid can assist them. I have already been informed that the clinic needs to stock up on medicines and I will follow this up with the clinic doctor. I was mobbed by a lot of people on the way out who were worried that we will forget about their plight but when I told them I was returning the next day they were shaking hands and smiling On the way back from the Panja Sahib I was totally knocked out and I slept on the shoulder of my local contact Tahir, I felt embarrassed but he was ok about it. I woke up at a police checkpoint with a policeman all excited and reaching into my window. He kept saying how the Sikhs are a great people and invited me for a cup of tea at the checkpoint. I shook the policeman's hand and thanked him for his kind words.

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I walked into a village in the Indian state of Madya Pardes and I saw a woman using a sieve to remove Insects, Stones, Soil and Leaves from a pot of water which she has just filled from the well next to her. I asked her what the water was for, she looked bemused and said it was for her family. She became very angry when I stated that the water will make her family sick if they drank it. She said they had no choice due to the village water pump regularly breaking down, so this was the only option. She has seen many people including young children become sick from drinking the polluted water but being born into dire poverty leaves the individual shackled to a life without choice.

I was invited to this region of India by the Gurmat Gian College Ludhiana who have recently built a Sikh Temple/Educational Centre near the town of Barhvah (60 KM from the city of Indore) They wanted Khalsa Aid to offer some assistance to these very poor people who have been identified as living below the poverty line by the regional minorities commission. This Temple/Centre has been built to offer education and spiritual guidance to the children in the surrounding villages.

I expected these people to be poor but not heartbreakingly poor; I was deeply moved by their hospitality and kindness in every village. I managed to visit about 10 villages in 2 days and every village had almost total lack of clean drinking water. I was also informed that during the summer months almost all the water pumps stop functioning and if it didn’t rain the wells dry up too. Its late November now and the temperature is still very warm but in the summer months it becomes unbearable and i dread the thought of these families going further and further in the searing heat to fill their water containers.

Khalsa Aid will be looking at the possible solutions to provide clean drinking water in the villages with a view to probably boring deeper down into the rock hard earth to reach good quality drinking water. This will be a costly project but a very rewarding and satisfying one for the donors who wish to offer their help to provide the most basic of needs for a human being, clean drinking water. Please please help Khalsa Aid to help these most downtrodden poor people to have clean water!

Khalsa Aid will also be looking into using a room in the new Temple as a medical facility to provide basic medical care to the poverty stricken villages. There is very little access to medical treatment in these villages so hopefully we will be able to change this. It’s a tough world for most of us but for these poor people it’s been a world of discrimination and suffering. Please donate.

The situation in Panjab flood affected areas is one of heartbreak and disappointment. It’s heartbreaking to see so many families left economically destitute by the floods and very disappointing because of the lack of reaction from the international Sikh community. The Districts of Ferozpur, Kapurthla and Moga are areas that already struggle economically, the floods have now ripped the heart of the farming community.

Khalsa Aid has been delivering emergency aid to some of the affected villages but much more needs to be done. I have been to many disasters since the launch of Khalsa Aid in 1999 but I am astounded by the lack of support from the Sikhs in the west for their community in the flooded areas of Panjab! Why is it that the Gurdwaras in the west have not treated the Panjab floods like the other recent disasters and raised money to assist the Panjabi community in their hour of need?

While on an aid distribution mission; whenever, we drove up to the villages, we were mobbed by large numbers of desperate people, most of them asking if we will return to their area again. The destruction caused by the floods was apparent as we drove through the farmlands. We could see whole fields destroyed by the floodwaters; it was very distressing to see the farmers holding their heads in their hands and visibly upset.

I wondered if the Sikhs in the west really knew the plight of these forgotten farmers. I spoke to our contacts in Panjab concerning the grants etc available to the floods affected people. I have been informed that most people have very limited knowledge of their rights, the local officials failed to educate these people, perhaps for self gain.

We spent 7 hours in one village distributing aid, the goods we were providing ran out however the tide of people kept pouring in from the surrounding villages. I still found it very surreal that I was in Panjab delivering aid and not in some poor African country.

We drove off with our empty trucks; all the volunteers were very tired and silent. I could see the sun setting and the darkness rapidly descending fast over the fields. I was going back to the city of Ludhiana and then to London, the thoughts of the farmers trying to gather strength to face another day dawned upon me. I felt so drained and helpless that I broke down, hiding my tears from the others.

I appeal to the Sikh community to assist their brethren either through Khalsa Aid or directly visiting the floods affected areas themselves.

Panjab needs you!!

Ravinder Singh Sidhu
www.khalsaaid.org

Ravinder Singh of Khalsa Aid is presently in Panjab to see the damage caused by the floods in the Ferozpur, Moga and Kapurthla Districts.

This is his Report:

Khalsa Aid has been providing aid to the victims of the floods since the beginning of September and has now moved the relief work to long term rehabilitation of the affected people. Please visit our website www.khalsaaid.org for further information.

The damage caused by the floods to the local farming community is devastating and in places it is extremely distressing to witness the hopelessness of the farmers and their families.

In some places the water has remained in the fields and the farmhouses appear to be floating. I could not believe that there was a boat being used as a means of transport in the place where once stood crops!! It was a big shock and seemed like a scene from the Tsunami hit islands. The people are living with the ever present danger of the river embankments breaking again and their lands becoming flooded again.

I heard many tales of hardship and despair during my visit to the flooded areas. The economic outlook of these people looks grim and need of financial assistance to fight off the fast approaching onset of poverty is vital. It is a daunting task but with the generous assistance of the global Sikh Sangat I am sure we can stand by our fellow Panjabi brethren in their time of need.

I am disappointed that the most recent disasters have been treated with rapid reaction (which is fantastic!) by the Sikh community but the Panjab Floods have had hardly any Gurdwaras offer funds to assist the Panjabi farmers who were already suffering economically before the floods.

I firmly believe that if positive action is not taken by the GurSikh community to assist these people right now then these floods affected areas will fall into the hands of the anti- Sikh activities (drugs, alcohol abuse etc) in the very near future. The people who are suffering wont stand by and see their children starve or suffer, they will turn to anyone (non-Sikh groups etc) who will offer them a helping hand. If you love Panjab and care about the future of our next generation then its time to act NOW!!

If anybody wishes to come to Panjab and wants to offer financial assistance to the people due to not trusting Khalsa Aid or other groups, I will be very happy to assist them.

Ravinder Singh

www.khalsaaid.org

Jagroop Singh and Rushvinder Singh (Sri Lanka)

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

On Wednesday 26th January 05 (around 9.40am), we visited the Batticoloa disaster zones exactly one month to the hour since the tsunami came crashing in. After observing a minute's silence, we walked around and spoke to families, who had been erecting white flags marking the spots where their loved-ones had perished; these makeshift flags could be seen everywhere along the beachfront.

We visited three beaches (Navallady, Dutch Bar and Thru Chandol) in order to get in-depth accounts of current situations being faced by locals. We spoke to the victims themselves. Their accounts detailed governmental neglect, long-term loss of livelihood and extreme frustration and despair. These accounts were repeated by everyone we spoke to, time after time, along the beachfront.

The major problem facing these Tamil victims is their sense of double-standards being applied; they feel they are being ignored, victimised and totally overlooked because of political issues. Within Sri Lanka there are two main communities: the Singalese in the South and the North and Eastern-based Tamils, who feel ignored because of the tense relationship between the government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). As usual, it is the innocent civilian population that suffers; women and children especially. Although Khalsa Aid is non-political and has no bias, these are the views and facts presented to us by local victims and not of the team themselves.

After visiting the disaster zones, we visited three local colleges where families who had lost everything are being temporarily housed. Conditions are appalling; so much so that we were emotionally affected - especially by the plight of the women and children we met. Their courage and general resolve inspires us. The sight of all these people crammed together, yet smiling, playing and helping one another is truly amazing. This is despite the fact that they are living in filthy conditions, with poor sanitation and little privacy. These colleges, which have been turned into makeshift refugee shelters, are not only smelly but also fly-infested; this coupled with the heat makes them unbearable.

However these families are unaware that they will soon be moved to a 'transition camp'. We insisted that we see this location and when we arrived, we were totally shocked at the sorry state of this place. It is nothing more than a derelict and dilapidated warehouse. We now understand why the families are not being told about the move; it's even worse than the colleges. The toilet and washing facilities are very poor and the refugees will be expected to sleep on concrete floors; privacy will be non-existent. In fact, the conditions are not even fit for cattle.

This will be home until Khalsa Aid, in partnership with the local TRO (Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation), erects 500 of the 3,000 semi-permanent huts which may house them for up to a year. The materials needed for these huts are being purchased and supplied by Khalsa Aid. The only problem is that although the shipment has landed in Sri Lanka (Columbo Airport), these much-needed supplies are being held by customs that are being overly bureaucratic.

We are currently trying to apply pressure so that these materials can be released for delivery to Batticoloa, so that construction can begin immediately. Khalsa Aid will also be employing up to 1,000 local victims, including local fishermen who have lost their livelihood, in order to build these huts. This will give them a sense of self-worth and help them and their families financially.

Khalsa Aid will also be supplying desperately needed water-pumps so that bathing and sanitation facilities can be provided.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa,
Waheguru ji ki Fateh.