Dr Omnia Marzouk, International President, Initiatives of Change

On Friday 4th December, Dr Omnia Marzouk, International President of Initiatives of Change (IofC) accompanied by Elsa Vogal and Bill Ozanne visited the Nishkam Group of Organisations. This auspicious visit has paved the way for fruitful collaboration opportunities that will benefit humanity for generations to come.

On arrival to the Gurudwara Sahib and campus Dr Marzouk and the distinguished guests were welcomed and greeted by the Nishkam Centre Director, Amrick Singh. An overview of the activities that took place at the Gurudwara and the other four centres was given. At this point a linkage back to Kericho (Kenya) and the work of the founder Saint, Sant Baba Puran Singh Ji and his successor Bhai Sahib Norang Singh Ji was also highlighted. The guests were intrigued to hear the journey and development of the Jatha and the contribution being made to humanity.

Amrick Singh then explained the fact that prayers had been ongoing

Dr Omnia Marzouk takes a bouquet for Guru Granth Sahib Ji

at the Gurudwara since 1974 and over 25,000 meals a week were served in the langar (blessed vegetarian food prepared by volunteers in the Guru’s kitchen and served to all). It became clear and evident to the guests that whilst structurally there were much larger Gurudwaras in the UK, GNNSJ was one having a big impact and involvement. The guests then made their way into the main Darbar Sahib to pay respects to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the eternal and revered Guru of the Sikhs. Dr Marzouk was invited to present a bouquet of flowers to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Dr Marzouk listens as prayers are recited from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in the Gumbad Darbar (Dome Prayer Room)

After visiting the Darbar Sahib the group made its way to the Gumbad Darbar or referred to as the Dome Prayer hall. The guests were clearly in ore when they got to the rooftop and took in the amazing views and unique presence of the dome. The history of the construction, decoration and completion of the dome was shared with the guests.

The guests were then taken for a brief walk on Soho Road to see the other enterprises. They visited the outside of MSS, spoke about the pharmacy, looked at and discussed the Nishkam School Trust where Ranjit Singh provided an overview for the guests so they could appreciate the amount of work, in particular, the volunteer hours, the unique vision and the leadership that had been invested for the benefit of future generations. Once they reached the Nishkam Centre they all visited the current exhibition and the Harmandir Sahib model – or referred to as the Golden Temple in the western world. The group were overwhelmed by the beautiful model and the work that had been done on the 24 Spiritual and Moral Dispositions that was also exhibited.

Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, Chairman of GNNSJ and the Nishkam Civic Association, joined the delegation in the seminar room. After brief introductions Bhai Sahib Ji asked Dr Marzouk about the meaning of her name and her ancestral background. There then ensued a series of discussions around similarities between to two institutions. Bill was keen to draw parallels between what the Nishkam Group was involved in and what the IofC was doing.

Dr Marzouk said, “I am really impressed with what the Sikh

A memorable image outside the Gurudwara Sahib

community is doing here; our values and ethos, we have so much in common. The philosophy of what you are doing is very similar to what Initiatives of Change is about. It is about how we enable people to be effective change makers. The three key areas we work are; trust building, ethical leadership – empowering the next generation, to take a values-based approach to the workplace, the third area is sustainable living i.e how do we promote an economy that is value-based and businesses are value-based and not just to make profit. There is also a focus on working with partners on sustainable environmental projects.”

“If we were to map the areas of the world where there is conflict and then also map the areas of the world where greenery is being destroyed and becoming desert the maps will show a relationship. Where there is conflict there is also desertification [land becomes desert like]. We have to look at our dialogue tools to help communities to work on the land to improve the productivity of the land.

The conversation around Kenya was of particular interest. The work GNNSJ was doing with education, healthcare provision, women’s prison work, sports facilities, orphanage work, HIV work, and general empowerment with ethics and values was something Dr Marzouk could relate to and she gave examples of projects they too were involved in. This involved faith communities coming together following trust building workshops over a period of time. This led nicely into a conversation around the Charter of Forgiveness and Reconciliation that Bhai Sahib Ji was leading on.

Bhai Sahib Ji spoke about ensuring our moral compasses were aligned right, “That should be our priority. Our different identities, mother, father, brother, sister etc need to be fulfilled and should not detract us from our purpose here on earth. We should be compassionate as being revengeful is double poison.” He then recalled the story of Guru Arjan Dev Ji. “The 5^th Guru who was made to sit on a hot plate and had hot sand poured over his head, he gave us an example of how we should live in God’s will. The Guru’s friend and soul mate, Sai Mia Mir, a Muslim, wanted to help him but was told that this was God’s will. We can and should nurture good human beings with good values. We must bring out the best in people not the worst”.

“Our challenges are global they require global solutions which in turn will need global infrastructure. The United Nations (UN) is one such structure”. He recalled something Chiara Lubich said to him about the UN, “If the UN fails to deliver there will be no United Nations we will have a ‘United People’.” Bhai Sahib Ji continued, ”The power is within the ordinary people we need to empower them. The mind is like a mustang – a wild horse – it is uncontrollable; it is very shrewd. I am happy, we are on the same wavelength – we all want to see positive change.”

Bhai Sahib Ji thanked Dr Marzouk and said, ”We are all truly inspired by everything you have shared with us and are honoured that you are here with us today.”

The group then shared a blessed meal together at the Gurudwara where further heartfelt conversation took place. There was a general sense of anticipation and hope of what was possible by collaboration and partnership working. It was inspiring to see the inspirational and visionary leaders of two organisations in such harmony and agreement of what was required to make the world a better place for all who inhabit it and for mother Earth per se.

Bhai Sahib Ji then presented Dr Marzouk with an information pack and more importantly a copy of a book that both pictorially and narratively explained about Sikh heritage, faith, practices, places of worship and in general painted a picture of what is a Sikh.

During the day Dr Marzouk was asked about her role and she humbly said,” My predecessors were very important and influential statesmen, the former head of Red Cross Switzerland, Kofi Annan’s personal assistant, and Rajmohan Gandhi. I had turned down the role and told them to find someone more important and relevant. When other candidates refused the job on the grounds they could not it, they pressed me to take it on. After prayer and reflection, three questions came to me. ‘Do you believe ordinary people are used by God can do great things?’ I thought ‘yes’.  The next question was, ‘Do you think God is calling you to do this?’ Again I thought ‘yes’. Finally ‘Are you prepared to leave your comfort zone?’ to which again I answered ‘yes’. It was at this point that I took on the role in all honesty. After the event, Bill Ozanne said to Amrick Singh that, Omnia (Dr Marzouk) and Bhai Sahib Ji seemed to have a great meeting of hearts and minds and this was probably because of their shared journey’s and similarities of how they got their calling to serve and took on the challenges they are addressing.

After the visit, Amrick Singh said, “It was a pleasure and honour to welcome our distinguished guests to the campus and share with them what we are privileged to do. I am sure we will be identifying collaborative opportunities here and abroad to work more closely together. We will also be seeing more of Elsa Vogal, she was part of the French Resistance and recalls phenomenal episodes where she was face-to-face with the enemy and lived to tell the tale. More importantly, she used her experience to help shape the world we see today by becoming instrumental in what IofC was all about”.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For more information:

• • For further information and queries please contact Amrick Singh 01215154229
  • Initiatives of Change – http://uk.iofc.org/
  • Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation – http://www.charterforforgiveness.org/
  • Dr Omnia Marzouk – http://www.iofc.org/omnia-marzouk-called-to-heal-and-build-trust

Prof Upkar Pardesi OBE sets the scene by addressing the importance of active participation

On Saturday the 21st of November the Nishkam Centre hosted a “Parliament Week” event to raise the awareness amongst young children, students and adults from the Sikh community in Birmingham. The aim was to get people to engage with the democratic processes at local, national and European level whilst identifying the barriers holding them back.

The event began with a meet and greet over light refreshments in the conference room, this allowed conversations to flow and the guests to interact with one another in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

This was followed by a welcome and introduction to Democracy in the UK from Prof Upkar Pardesi OBE,

Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh OBE recalls the historical significance of ‘Sikhs and politics’ and the importance of good human beings

Vice Chair of the Nishkam Civic Association (NCA). Prof Pardesi, who is currently part of an international team helping to set up the first international Business School in Ethiopia at Addis Ababa University, was passionate about engaging the audience and the broader Sikh community in the democratic process. Under the banner of Parliament week, a series of events were organised which included the Saturday event and also an event at the Nishkam Primary School on the Friday.

This set the scene for the address by Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh OBE, Spiritual Leader of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) and Chairman of NCA. The address was inspirational and iterated the importance of being a good human and first and foremost, having good values. Bhai Sahib was passionate about ensuring everyone understood the importance of good values and ‘the gold standard of being a good human being’. He reminded everyone to embrace good values in everything we do. “It is important that our youth are empowered with good values so that whatever profession they go into they will be good workers, good leaders, and good ambassadors”. He also stressed that, “A good human being would always be a good citizen but a good citizen may not necessarily be a good human being”.

Cllr Hendrina Quinnen shares her journey with the participants

Bhai Sahib gave a challenging address to allow attendees to think deeper about the Sikh history and politics. “When Guru Nanak Dev Ji came on the scene in 1469, there was chaos – it was a time of political unrest. Throughout the 239 years that Ten Sikh Gurus were on this earth, their main goal was to teach us to be good human beings. Therefore, Sikh Dharam came up as a faith consisting entirely of values.

“From 1797-1840, under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji, Sikhs had their own kingdom. However, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was clever, and never involved Sikhs in politics. In politics, you find a double standard; it’s unfortunately a dirty game of numbers. Sikhs had values and therefore would not cheat and lie. When Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji passed away, Sikhs did not know how to govern as they had never been involved in politics.

“Democracy is about “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. But now we are in the

Neena Gill MEP invites the participants to get involved and do their bit for society

realms of a 49/51 equation – 49 people voting can be right, however 51 can overrule them. Does this seem right? This is what is occurring and this is what keeps good people away from engaging in politics.

“In 1997, politicians from many different countries came together to create a Universal Declaration of Rights. Within the Declaration, there are 19 clauses, one of which is called the Universal Declaration of Responsibilities. Examples of what this declaration states are as follows:

• all men and women have a responsibility to respect one another
• religious freedom must be granted
• no one should incite hatred, victimize groups or individuals
• freedom of media carries the responsibility to be correct and accurate
• every person has the responsibility to protect life

“This should have become a global declaration! Wars would have stopped! However it is frozen and unable to move forward. This is a prime example of the double standards involved in politics. When we are not properly practicing our dharam (faith) ie we are not dharmi – practicing and living our faith – we become jealous and malicious. If we were good human beings it follows we would be good politicians.”

Hendrina Quinnen, Councillor for Lozells and East Handsworth Ward gave an overview of her background and why she became a councillor. She also spoke very passionately about engaging with the local community and why she wanted to serve them.

Some of the speakers and attendees

Gurdail Singh Atwal and Narinder Kooner, Councillors for Handsworth Wood, inspired the youth to engage in local democracy and how it can affect their day to day lives.  They spoke about how you can make a change and gave examples of some of the current changes they are hoping to make. Gurdail Singh encouraged and motivated, in particular the young Sikh community, to be more involved and explained how the Sikh community is under represented and its implications. He gave an account on his inspirational journey into local government.

Neena Gill, Member of European Parliament for the West Midland spoke of what members of UK and European Parliaments do. She stressed the need for greater representation of ethnic minorities in national and European government. She also offered to give young people the opportunity to shadow her in the European Parliament in Brussels. We will certainly be following this up in the coming months.

Surinder Singh, Electoral Participation Officer at Sandwell Council spoke on how local government works and how local citizens are represented. To conclude the speakers, Councillor Narinder Kaur Kooner addressed the guests briefly to invite more participation from the BME communities. She went on to specify how we can get involved in politics. She said, “Politics influences our daily lives more often then we realise – for example, there are policies that determine what our children learn in schools. There are many ways to get involved in politics, without actually having to become an MP or Councillor. You can become a member of the political party you are supporting a political party.  This way, you can vote on specific policies that are being passed, rather than just for the party in power”.

The event closed with a question and answer session inviting audience responses to “What is stopping the Sikh community from engaging in local and national government?” Questions such as; how do you feel about the Sikh community being represented, what is the best way for you to be involved, and how can you be more proactive, were discussed. The responses of the questions were collated on Post-It notes and handed in. We are hoping to have the information ready in the near future to share and disseminate with interested parties. The responses will also inform future engagement opportunities so that the barriers can be overcome and promote more participation in the democratic process.

Amrick Ubhi, Nishkam Centre Director, gave a vote of thanks to all the speakers, the organisers, Bhai Sahib Ji for the pearls of wisdom, and importantly, all the attendees for their attendance and valued participation. Amrick also invited the audience to become more proactive rather than responding to invitations all the time. He said it was our duty to get involved in governance be it a school, community events, politics and ward meetings. He went on to say that it is not only Bhai Sahib Ji’s role to represent the community at civic engagements but that we must all do our part.

The event was a great success and raised a lot of interest within the community. The intention is that many more events of this kind will be organised in the future.