Vedanti Visits NY
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Sikhs
Welcome Their Leader
Area
Sikhs joyously welcomed their supreme leader, who arrived in Queens yesterday
during his first U.S. tour since he became head of the world's fifth-largest
religion 10 months ago.
Singh Sahib Bhai Joginder Singh Vedanti was greeted by about 20 Sikh men at
LaGuardia Airport yesterday afternoon and taken to the Richmond Hill Sikh
Cultural Center, where more gathered to welcome him.
"His words stand as religion," said Jagir Singh Bains, a member and
former vice president of the Sikh Cultural Society, who was among those who
greeted the jathedar, or supreme leader.
"He's like the pope," said Bakhshish Singh Sandhu of the
Philadelphia Sikh Society. "He's head of the highest." Sikhism,
founded in the 15th Century, has 20 million adherents worldwide, including
70,000 in the New York metropolitan area.
Sikhism teaches there is only one god and emphasizes universal equality,
sharing and community service.
The jathedar first listened to a list of issues Sikhs wished him to address.
They included establishing a Sikh calendar, having a marriage certificate that
indicates a Sikh couple got married according to Sikh rituals and working for
the release of Sikh political prisoners in Indian jails.
About a hundred people, mostly men, attended the session, and more were
expected to attend the service later in the evening, in which the jathedar spoke
directly to the congregation.
The jathedar has been in the country for 10 days, arriving first in
California, officials said yesterday. He visited Sikh communities in Los
Angeles, San Jose, Santa Fe, N.M., and then Chicago. He flew back to Chicago
last night and is expected to return to India from San Francisco.
When aware of his visit to California, officials at the Richmond Hill Sikh
Cultural Society asked him to come to their temple, said Bains.
"When he came [to the United States], everyone said, 'please, please
come here,'" said Balbir Singh, general secretary at the Singh Sabha of New
York Inc., a temple in Flushing.
But since officials only knew that he was coming two days before his arrival,
many people in the area were unaware of his visit, Bains said.
He plans to return to the United States, officials said.
The jathedar is appointed by a council of Sikh organizations in Amritsar, in
the Punjab state of India, where the religion's holiest shrine-the Golden
Temple-is located. Formerly the head priest of the Golden Temple, the leader's
official title is Akal Takhat Jathedar-Akal Takhat meaning "timeless
throne." Singh Sahib Bhai is the salutation by which he is addressed.
The previous jathedar visited New York in 1990. |
