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This is an archive article published on November 15, 2015

Paris carnage: Gurdwaras in France keep doors open; Sikhs step up through #PorteOuverte

They publicised their move over social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter with the #PorteOuverte (Doors open).

paris, paris attacks, paris terror attack, paris shooting, french attack, paris attack live, paris terrorists, paris gunmen, paris shooting live, paris death toll, paris injured names The Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Paris is among those that have been kept open. (Express Photo)

The Sikh community in France and UK stepped up to help people in the French capital Paris, where multiple terror strikes left more than 120 people dead, by arranging for safe shelter, providing free cab service and blood donation camps.

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Gurdwaras in Paris decided to keep their doors open night and day for those stranded after the attacks. They publicised their move over social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter with the #PorteOuverte (Doors open). Leading the charge was Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Paris along with Conseil Representatif Des Sikhs De France (Representative Council of Sikhs of France), Sikh Helping Hand, Mairie De Bobigny (office of Mayor Of Bobigny) and Prefecture De Seine Saint Denis.

Speaking to The Sunday Express over phone, Ranjit G Singh, director public affairs, Representative Council of Sikhs France, said, “It was a horrifying scene as endless gunshots were fired. We were in district 5 and it happened in district 10, few kilometres from here. We were busy watching the football match and suddenly we heard loud noises. Soon, we came out and saw the military take over the streets. We were sure that something had gone seriously wrong.” He added that eight gurdwaras in Paris would be open throughout night and day to welcome the needy.

“We have already started with blood donation at Hospital Avincennes, 93000 Bobigny and people have started lining up to give blood,” he said. He added that Sikh cab drivers were also ferrying people to their homes for free.

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab.       ... Read More

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