Sikhs make presence felt on eve of London Olympics
Monday, 23/07/2012
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Patiala: The Sikh community made its presence felt before the start of the London Olympics. The first chapter was unfolded when 101-year-old Fauja Singh, London marathon runner, became the oldest person to carry the Olympic Torch on Saturday. This was the second time that this honour was bestowed on Fauja Singh, who had also carried the torch in Athens eight years ago.
The community also organised a ‘Guru Ka Langar’ - free kitchen. It was for the first time that any community organised such an event. In fact, it was a unique way to celebrate the achievements of Fauja Singh. Describing the event, scribe Manpreet Singh said, “When Fauja Singh clad in white sports suit and white turban, took the Olympic torch in his hands at Newham and started running the atmosphere reverberated with ‘Jaikaras’ of Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.” This coincided with the free community meal served by the Sikhs living there.
According to Mejindarpal Kaur, Project Director, Langar 2012 of United Sikhs: “There were 16 Langar service points along the 50 km torch route and at each point about 1000 ‘Roti Rolls’ were served to some 16,000 persons who turned up to cheer the torch bearers.
She disclosed that 16 gurdwaras across London participated in preparing the Langar and the people from other communities were also invited to serve the meal. Every volunteer wore the T-Shirt bearing the picture of Fauja Singh. People from Chicago and Toronto also came to participate in this event.”
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Jathedar Avtar Singh has lauded this effort of the community especially on the eve of the Olympics. Talking to the Daily Post, he said that it was a matter of pride that the Sikhs came together to serve others in the name of faith which believed in ‘Sarbat Da Bhalla’ (Welfare of all).
The SGPC president also congratulated Fauja Singh for his achievements in this old age and said that he was a role model not only for Sikhs but the entire world.
