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This is an archive article published on October 2, 2017

Langar for Rohingya refugees : Ludhiana mosque, gurudwara donate money to Sikh volunteers, call it ‘service for humanity’

"We were trolled on social media for serving Muslims and people questioned us that why Hindus are never fed. But Sikhism means serving humanity not  any religion. Guru ka langar is always open for all," Gursahib Singh, Khalsa Aid volunteer said.

rohingyas, rohingya crisis, rohingya help, rohingya langar, rohingya khalsa aid, khalsa aid, rohingya refugees, myanmar, bangladesh  Interestingly, the sum also includes Rs 1 lakh contributed by Gurudwara Dukhnivaran Sahib of Ludhiana, one of the largest Sikh temples in Punjab.

Presenting yet another example of communal harmony, the Jama Masjid of Ludhiana and a gurudwara came forward to donate money to Sikh organization Khalsa Aid on Monday, so that the langar (community kitchen) service being run by Sikh volunteers for Rohingya refugees is continued at Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Shahi Imam Punjab Maulana Habib ur Rahman presented a cheque of Rs 9.32 lakh to the volunteers of Khalsa Aid at Jama Masjid premises in Field Ganj of Ludhiana. Interestingly, the sum also includes Rs 1 lakh contributed by Gurudwara Dukhnivaran Sahib of Ludhiana, one of the largest Sikh temples in Punjab. Their head priest Pritpal Singh said Sikhism is not about differentiating among people on basis of religion. “We have donated the amount for the service of humanity,” he said.

Sikh volunteers from Khalsa Aid were also honored at Jama Masjid for running langar for Rohingya refugees. “Sikh volunteers have shown the true spirit of humanity by filling the empty stomachs of Rohingya refugees. I also thank all those people who came forward to donate for this noble cause and we were able to collect Rs 9.32 lakh for it. Even when Hindu pilgrims were killed by terrorists during Amarnath yatra, we had protested against it. No one can be targeted on basis of religion. We thank Sikh community for running langar for Rohingya refugees,” said Rahman.

Meanwhile, Gursahib Singh, Khalsa Aid volunteer informed that the langar service at the border for Rohingya refugees is running unabated since September 14 and thousands being fed on daily basis. “We were trolled on social media for serving Muslims and people questioned us that why Hindus are never fed. But Sikhism means serving humanity not any religion. Also, at the border there are not only Muslim refugees but also Hindus who have fled Myanmar. We are serving everyone without any differentiation on the basis of religion. If we will do that, it is not Sikhism. Guru ka langar is always open for all,” he said.

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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