Panthic Weekly: Disappointing Sikh Student Camp 2008

I came across an old article on the Internet called ‘Disappointing Sikh Student Camp’. I wish to share this information with you. This year my friend sent his son to the Sikh Student Camp held in Chigwell at Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College. His father sent him with good faith that he would learn about Sikhism and become a better Sikh. His friend recommended this camp to him and showed me the poster for the camp. They are a religious family with God’s blessings and their son is religious as well. He came back from this camp with a deranged view of Sikhism. It took a while to make him understand the real way of a Sikh. It took the whole of the family a while to convince him to the Guru’s way. His grandfather has great knowledge of Sikhism and Gurbani and spent a lot of time with him to unteach what he was taught at that camp. I wish to share this so that other parents are aware of this in future when considering sending their children to camps.

I was shocked by what my friend told me about this Sikh Student Camp 2008 and I am utterly disappointed.

1) There was yoga in the Darbar Hall in the mornings whilst the Guru Granth Sahib’s parkash. For girls and boys to do funny postures together in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib is not right. Such activities should be conducted in a separate classroom or hall.

2) There was an informative talk on Guru Arjun Dev and Shabad Hazaray story. He enjoyed the talk and information given. An American Sikh was the speaker. The speaker got the campers to make lines in the Darbar Hall. The girls were asked to face the boys in lines. The speaker got the boys to sing one line of Shabad Hazaray to the girls and the girls were made to sing the next line of Shabad hazaray to the boys. This is totally wrong and unacceptable. Shabad Hazary are for God’s praise and should not be used for singing to girls and this nonsense. This is worse than fake sant Babas who do nonsensical parchar.

3) We been taught from day one that there is One God. This is how the Guru Granth Sahib starts with Ek Onkar. He says that in one of the camp talks by someone called Mr. Panesar, he said that there is ‘no God’. People send their children to learn about God and they at this camp say there is no God and that God is human beings. This Mr. Panesar taught them a concentration technique, focusing on a dot and that there is no benefit in repeating Waheguru. This is a lie. Since my childhood I have been told and learnt that a Sikh repeats Satnam Waheguru Simran and concentration should be on the sound of Sirman. Where does this technique of focusing on dots in your mind come from? Sounds like a cult Baba technique.

4) I was shocked to hear that day one was a Bhangra day. He said that a DJ was invited to the camp who was swearing and saying rude things. Is this a Sikh camp or a Bhangra camp?

5) In a Q&A class, the American Sikh, Mr. Panesar and others were answering questions to campers. I am disgusted to know that the speakers told campers that homosexual relationships are allowed in Sikhism, that same-sex marriages should be permitted in Gurdwaras, that Sikhs can find their own partners and marry outside Sikhism. These views are totally inappropriate and are preaching totally wrong things. We bring up children and teach them to be respectable and marry a Sikh girl and not to get into relationships with others.

6) It was disheartening to hear that a camp leader who was wearing a nihung turban and big beard told campers that there is no need to keep Kesh to be a Sikh. How can someone keep turban and beard and say such a thing? The same camp leader said that the discipline a baptized Sikh has to follow is wearing the 5 Ks and no other rules need to be followed. Sikhism is a way of life and by wearing 5 Ks alone is not religion. This misguiding youngsters that it is okay to do anything you feel like.

7) I was shocked to know that a Mona (clean shaven) was given lead sewa in the Darbar. Being a Sikh camp I would have thought that if they could not find any Amrithdari Sikh to do sewa of the Guru Granth Sahib and do bhog of Sahaj Path then at least they could have asked Gurdwara Gianis to come.

8) My friend has always taught his children that keeping Kesh is important. But this camp has left negative impression on his son. He was sent to learn more about Sikhism because of the bad things you hear about happening in universities. But instead of bringing closer to Sikhism they have encouraged him that it is okay for a Sikh to go clubbing and parties. He no longer wears turban and instead ties a patka. This is shameful for his family.

I hope Panthic Weekly and Panjab Radio will both act on this matter. As I find it very serious matter and need action taking as soon as possible.

Nirgun Raakhliya @ 04. December 2008

I just read the 'letters to the editor' for this article. It is totally shocking.......

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QUOTE

Disappointing Sikh Student Camp 2008
Posted: 2008-10-23 03:01:04
Author : G Kaur, UK

Wjkk Wjkf!

I attended this year's Sikh Student Camp 2008 and would like to clarify and add a couple of things written about the camp in your article.

The camp people were very nice and welcoming firstly! I do realise that there are some serious faults with the camp in general and these need to be addressed with the camp organizers.

1- Yes there was yoga in the Diwan hall everyday. From what I know of our religion we do not believe in yoga but the camp had a particular strong emphasis on yoga and it was portrayed that yoga was a part of Sikh religion itself which I personally disagree with.

2-I agree the talk by Guruka Singh was very good and presented in a unique perspective. I totally disagreed with the girl boy thing they did which seemed very hippy thing to do and nothing to do with Sikh religion! I assume that this is an influence of the 3HO because I seen photos of similar things happening at the Summer Solstice camps.

3- I agree that the Davinder Singh Panesar talks were not suitable at all for the camp. The camp organizers need to get speakers who relay the basics of the Sikh religion to campers before talking about things like amritdhari girls getting possessed and the paranormal. The talk on meditation where he mentioned there was no God was said in the perspective of that "God is merely the essence within human beings." He made it out like that there was no God and that humans are God. He sounded very much like a Buddhist rather than a Sikh. The Simran technique was good as a relaxation exercise but I totally disagree with him calling that "Saas Giraas Simran" and making it out that focusing on a circle in your mind and breathing in and out without the need of saying WaheGuru is the right thing to do.

4- To what I know there wasn't an official "Bhangrra Day". I wouldn't be surprised at all if the lads did Bhangra in their dorms or something as the camp leaders and campers seemed that way inclined. But it is true that a DJ was invited to the camp to do a class on the first day. I was shocked at the whole thing. The DJ was called if I remember correctly "MC Apple Juice". He was a guy from East London. It had nothing to do with Sikh religion or anything and a waste of everyone's time. I am dumb founded that the organizers can lack so little common sense that they invited this man and allowed him to swear and sing in front of campers. I really think the organizers lack judgment and basic knowledge of Sikh religion to allow such a thing at a Sikh camp.

5- The Q&A session seemed unproductive to me. The people on the panel lacked knowledge of Gurbani and looked as if they were offering more personal interpretation than actual Sikh answers. The panel were if I remember rightly Satpal Paji, Jasjit Paji, Guruka Singh and Davinder Singh. But I am glad that an uncle ji from India whose name I have forgotten responded back with Gurbani to one thing which one of the panellists said totally wrong. One of the panellists said something like "Boys should compliment girls on their looks when they see them" in relation to girls lacking confidence. Obviously chatting up girls or telling her she looks attractive or has nice eyes is not a Sikh thing to do and I personally would feel intimidated being at a Sikh camp and Singhs walking up to me and saying "you look really attractive." The homosexuality and interfaith comments by speakers were uncalled for and not needed for at all.

6- Wouldn't be surprised. I didn't interact really with the males but from what I found out from the girls side it seems that the camp people have a shallow interpretation of Sikh religion and reht. First day amritvaela there were less than 10 people in the diwan! Having been to other camps I was pretty shocked at this.

7-100% agree.

8-Very sad to hear! Hope his son recovers!

Hope all the issues get addressed and corrected for future camps.

QUOTE

Disappointing Sikh Student Camp 2008
Posted: 2008-10-25 08:30:39
Author : manjit, UK

Gurfateh ji

I too have heard some negative things about Sikh student camp, but I decided to go any way to see for my self.

1)The camp did briefly make it clear that yoga was not part of Sikhi, but that it is good exercise. It was done in the darbar sahib; I don't know what the rules are about this.

2) The girl/boy line up thing I don't remember. But as for the girls singing 1 line and the boys singing the next, this sounds like a very common learning technique used all over. It helps to get both sides involved and competing in a sense.

3) The comments on this talk by Mr Panesar are taken completely out of context. Admittedly the talk was aimed at an older audience or at least one that is more advanced at understanding and discussing bani. The comments made in the article do not reflect what was said at the camp correctly.

4) This again is reported completely out of context. It is completely untrue that their was a bhangra day. However their was an urban poetry/rapping class. This was taken by a teacher from east London. He was a guy chap who was very respectful. He was asked to recite some of his poems and their did include some rude words. But remember their words were part of his compositions written long before the camp, and he did warn everyone at the class that his poems included some rude words.

5) The points made were taken out of context and were every incorrectly reported. The panel said that sikhi has not directly mentioned the words homosexual, hence sikhi has not mentioned same sex marriages. They did not say you should marry out side of your religion. The comments about finding your own partner are reported incorrectly.

6) This point again was reported out of context and does not reflect what was truly said.

7) The lead seva in darbar sahib was done by a full kesh singh and singhania. But they encouraged campers to learn about darbar sahib and take part, (much like Khalsa camp). The campers were always supervised and corrected when mistakes were made. On 1 day a clean shaven camper volunteered to do ardaas, which he did very well. On another occasion her did chaur sahib seva. Hopefully with continuous encouragement guru sahib will one day bless him with amrit.

As I mentioned at the start of my reply I wasn't a fan of Sikh student camp before I went. I still don't agree with everything that went on at the camp but I thing it's important to report things truthfully not incorrectly, I don't know much but I don't think Guru Sahib would do that.

I'm sorry if your son cam back with a bad impression about sikhi (although if based on what was in this article, is incorrect), but like most camps in the UK there were more positives than negatives at the camp. It might be useful for parents to attend camps with their children.

I hope things get better for you and your children in the future.

I'me sorry if any offense is (unintentionally) caused.

Gurfateh ji

QUOTE

Disappointing Sikh Student Camp 2008
Posted: 2008-10-31 07:37:35
Author : mandeep singh (UK)

The first reply seems to be a genuine repsonse from a SS camper who also witnessed the same sorts of things and has just added her interpretations which more or less enforce and confirm what was already said in the original article. The second comments is a basic attempt to cover up all that was said in the original article with the common phrase 'taken completely out of context' throughout his comments. This is a very shallow way of defending the SS camp as no alternative explanation is given for many of the incidents which have been reported in the original article.

Well from the original article and the comments made about the article from a camper and one of the organisers it is true to say that the following DID actually occur at the 2008 SS camp:

1) Yoga was done in the main Darbar in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee. What these postures entailed is still unclear.

2) GuruKa singh led an activity involving girls being asked to face the boys in lines. The speaker got the boys to sing one line of Shabad Hazaray to the girls and the girls were made to sing the next line of Shabad hazaray to the boys. The girls were asked to face the boys in lines. The speaker got the boys to sing one line of Shabad Hazaray to the girls and the girls were made to sing the next line of Shabad hazaray to the boys.

3) Devinder Panesar did a talk and said that there is 'no God'. Mr. Panesar taught them a concentration technique, focusing on a dot and that there is no benefit in repeating Waheguru

4) A DJ was invited to the camp to do a class on the first day who was swearing and saying rude things.

5) In a Q&A class, Satpal Paji, Jasjit Paji, Guruka Singh and Davinder Singh were answering questions to campers. the speakers told campers that homosexual relationships are allowed in Sikhism (as it doesn't say anywhere in Gurbani that it isn't according to the speaker), and that same-sex marriages should be permitted in Gurdwaras, that Sikhs can find their own partners and marry outside Sikhism. Also that one of the panellists said something like "Boys should compliment girls on their looks when they see them" in relation to girls lacking confidence.

6) A camp leader said that the discipline a baptized Sikh has to follow is wearing the 5 Ks and no other rules need to be followed. (This has to be true because that is what alot of the SS camp organisers have said on numerous occasions in and outside of the camp. They also practise what they preach too!)

7) A Mona (clean shaven) was given lead sewa in the Darbar to do sewa of Guru Granth Sahib and do bhog of Sahaj Path Sahib.

8) Instead of bringing a young sikh impressionable boy closer to Sikhism they have encouraged him that it is okay for a Sikh to go clubbing and parties. He now no longer wears turban and instead ties a patka. (This is one of many cases that have been a direct result of young Sikh pajis and penjees attending SS camp over the past few years)!

So has you can see, even after the last two additional comments made from the original article and then doing a cross reference through each of the points raised above... not much has changed.