In New Mexico, a Sikh group discovers success in security

The compound is also home to Akal Security, wholly owned by the Sikh Dharma and one of the nation8217;s fastest-growing security companies, benefitting from a surge in post-9/11 government contracts. With 12,000 employees and over one billion in federal contracts, Akal specialises in protecting vital and sensitive government sites, from military installations to federal courts to airports and water supply systems.

Despite Akal8217;s unusual lineage, Sikh Dharma members say they are following an ancient Sikh tradition of the warrior-saint8212;as well as showing deftness at the more modern skill of landing federal contracts.

8216;8216;Our customers look at who we are and filter it all out,8217;8217; Daya Singh Khalsa, Akal8217;s co-founder and senior vice president, said in an interview in his office here. 8216;8216;They couldn8217;t be less interested in our religion and what we look like.8217;8217;

Among Sikhs, 8216;8216;there is no stigma in being financially successful,8217;8217; Khalsa added. 8216;8216;Prosperity does not take away from spiritual net worth. You can have both.8217;8217;

Akal certainly bears that out. It is the nation8217;s largest provider of security officers for federal courthouses, with contracts for 400 buildings in 44 states, including the federal courthouse in Manhattan.

The company just won a major contract to guard Army bases and munitions dumps in eight states, and also provides guards to the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, blocks away from the White House. It handles security at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, as well as at four new homeland-security detention centres where foreigners await deportation.

In the straight-laced world of the security business, where most people have a police or military background, Akal stands out.

It is the only security company that anyone in the business, including Akal8217;s own executives, can think of that is owned by a non-profit religious organisation.

8216;8216;If we are in a room with 50 other contractors, you won8217;t remember the other guy, but you will remember us,8217;8217; said Khalsa, who wears a white turban, has a long beard and refrains from cutting his hair.

It has also not hurt that Akal has been a generous campaign contributor to both Democratic and Republican candidates at the federal level, and that Khalsa has met with President Bush both in the White House and in New Mexico. Local New Mexico politicians have also benefitted from this largesse8212;and responded with friendship and support.

Four former New Mexico governors stopped by Bhajan8217;s recent 75th birthday party; Gov Bill Richardson was last year8217;s keynote speaker at the group8217;s International Peace Prayer Day.

8216;8216;We play in the political arena like everyone else,8217;8217; Khalsa said. He and his wife, Sat Nirmal Kaur Khalsa, who is Akal8217;s chief executive, have given over 30,000 to both Democratic and Republican federal candidates since 2000.

Khalsa, who was once known as Daniel Cohn, was given his name by Bhajan after he moved here in 1971, soon after graduating from Amherst College. Like ther members of the 300-family Sikh Dharma community, he has adopted the name Khalsa, which refers to a group of orthodox Sikhs.

The Sikh Dharma community here blends New Age values and orthodox Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region in the 15th Century.

Unlike their counterparts in India, women in Sikh Dharma wear turbans, as do some of the children. Most members of the Sikh Dharma live in modest houses near the compound and Bhajan8217;s ranch in Espanola, the Hacienda de Guru Ram Das Gurdwara. Bhajan has also arranged many marriages within the community.

Under Akal8217;s biggest security contract, worth 854 million, it provides protection for federal courthouses and judges. While federal courthouse guards wear US Marshals8217; uniforms in nine districts, their employer is Akal, which hires mainly former police and military officers, almost none of them Sikhs. Akal8217;s contract with the guards prohibits them from wearing turbans or having facial hair, unlike the company8217;s Sikh officials, who are required to do so by their religion.

For all the group8217;s unusual ways, government officials have few complaints about Akal. 8216;8216;Our people have done checks on them years ago and we have no issues with them,8217;8217; said John Kraus, a contracting officer for the Department of Justice.

8216;8216;Last I8217;ve checked, we8217;ve had freedom of religion.8217;8217;

The New York Times