Community Relations

The Community Relations Program, with representatives across the nation, binds the Coalition to local Sikh communities, interfaith organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Community Relations also spearheads the creation of issue based coalitions that bring together the attention of hundreds of Sikh organizations on matters crticial to the community. In 2003, Human Rights and Women’s Empowerment were brought into Community Affairs as campaigns in order to leverage this infrastructure.

This year Community Relations continued to ensure Sikhs remained connected to their local government. Partnering with Legal and Government Affairs, the Community Relations program helped create the New Jersey Civil Rights Agenda (p. 5). This initiative brought together eight different gurdwaras within New Jersey on a common civil rights platform. By collaborating closely with one another, the New Jersey gurdwaras were able to raise awareness of their issues and concerns to the highest levels of state government. The Governor’s Office, the State Attorney General, NJ Department of Education and state legislators across NJ quickly rallied to express their support for their Sikh constituents. With this success in hand, the Community Relations program area hopes to build new bridges and facilitate gurdwaras working together for initiatives beyond civil rights. These may include voter registration, increased focus on education, and other programs that connect Sikhs to the society around them.

Community Relations also helps Sikhs connect to the broader community beyond government on a regular basis through a diverse set of events. These include gurdwara programs, interfaith activities, candle light vigils, local panels on particular issues such as hate crimes, town hall meetings, and student workshops. Coalition activities on a national level, like participating in the annual prayer session to open the United Nations General assembly, complimented these grassroots efforts. In August of 2003 the Coalition received the Interfaith Center of New York’s prestigious “James Park Morton Interfaith Tribute” for outstanding community service. Other recipients of the award included Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nina and Daniel Libeskind, Uma Mysoreakar, Ratan Barua and Ayisha Al-Adawiya. To communicate these and other Coalition activities, Community Relations publishes ‘Justice for All’, the monthly e-Newsletter of the Sikh Coalition. In each communication, the Coalition attempts describe activities that highlight Sikh issues and accomplishments.

Community Campaigns – Human Rights and Sikh Women’s Empowerment
2003 marked historic years for both the Human Rights and Sikh Women’s Empowerment campaigns. Related to the Human Rights Campaign, the Coalition had filed amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief supporting the legal basis for the release of Harpal Singh (p. 7). Finally in 2003, the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered his release. This historic decision was the result of years of hard work from Harpal Singh’s lawyers and countless volunteers and community activists.

The Women’s campaign organized a historic Sikh Women’s Empowerment conference (p. 6), which drew over 100 attendees from across the country. to detail issues effecting Sikh women today, and how to address these issues using the Sikh perspective. The conference used several workshops to increase understanding and help lessen the gap between the vision of the Sikh gurus and practices today (all conference materials can be downloaded from the Coalition’s web site).

Looking Ahead to 2004-2005
In 2004 the Community Relations Program will continue to make inroads into the Sikh community and help connect the Coalition to a broader set of community-focused organizations inside and outside of the Sikh community. Community Relations will also continue to promote and link the work of the Education and the Legal and Government Affairs Programs to grassroots initiatives. For example, in 2004 Community Relations will help deliver Education projects involving 1984, the 400th anniversary of the Guru Granth Sahib, the States Civil Rights Agendas (p. 5) ,and a diversity essay competition to gurdwaras and Sikh Student Associations across the U.S. Finally, Community Relations will continue to help build relationships with non-government organizations ranging from local grassroots efforts to national and international efforts. These relationships will be leveraged to help create instant coalitions around issues that become important to the Sikh community.