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Spain – Sikh boy asked to remove turban-patka during a football match

By
Juan Sanchez Gil
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In a press release from the worldwide organization UNITED SIKHS, it stated that they are “disheartened to learn that a 15-year-old Sikh soccer player was asked by the referee to remove his turban during a football match on February 4, 2023 in Spain. The young Sikh was playing in a game between Arratia C and the rival Padura de Arrigorriaga. The referee turned towards Gurpreet Singh in the first few minutes of the second half and ordered him to remove his turban. What happened next is a testament to the spirit of gamesmanship and a remarkable gesture of humanity. UNITED SIKHS learned that both the teams showed solidarity with their colleague by leaving the field in protest against the referee’s discriminatory and unfair ruling.” 

According to the statement shared by Manvinder Sigh, Director of Advocacy of United Sikhs, the referee’s action caused a painful and traumatic experience for the young Sikh. “Any conduct or action that targets a Sikh’s articles of faith, such as turban is discriminatory,” said Manvinder Singh. “Turban [patka] is an integral part of the Sikh faith. It is worn by approximately 27 million Sikhs around the world. Not only does it symbolize spiritual grace for Sikhs but it is also considered part of their identity and no Sikh is supposed to part with it,” he added.

The referee’s ruling was wrong. A FIFA panel known as the International Football Association Board issued a landmark decision in 2014, allowing turban to be worn during matches. This came in response to the Quebec Soccer Federation’s attempts to discriminate against and ban players who wore turbans.

Despite the FIFA decision, the problem still persists. This latest unfortunate event is a testament to the fact that more education and training on cultural sensitivity and anti-discrimination is needed. The FIFA ruling is a good start in order to making the playing fields free from discrimination and harassment for players of different countries and backgrounds.

The football-specialized outlet INFOCANCHA, has reported in an article written by Remigio Frisco that the president of the Aratea club, Pedro Ormazabal, explained: “He has been playing informally for at least five years, in his first year as a cadet and so far this season. We’ve never had a single problem. However, he added the other day that the situation was also “humiliating” for the youngster.

Ormazabal points out that:

“It was the first few minutes of the second half, and as soon as he came on, the referee turned to him and forced him to take off his turban. In front of everyone: all the families, the players… Something like that cannot be left to the interpretation of the referees, because what happened in Arigoriaca can happen”

UNITED SIKHS have voiced their intention to take this opportunity to for launching

“a call on the national sports federations and international organizations to prioritize the need for diversity training to ensure that officials at all levels are trained so that this doesn’t happen again in the world’s most-loved sport. We have also requested Spain’s Soccer Federation to take measures to disciplinary measures against the referee”.
“We have written to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and other organizations in this regard, and would keep the community abreast with the latest updates”.

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Tags: #ICHRA, #sikh, #SikhIdentity, #Turban #CivilRights, #UNITEDSIKHS

Diesel patented his engine 130 years ago

By
Gaston de Persigny
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a dirty machine with a sign that says diesel

German scientist and inventor Rudolf Diesel patented the famous engine that bears his name on February 23, 1893.

The first functioning engine was made by Diesel at the Augsburg Engineering Works (since 1904 MAN) in 1897. The engine power was 20 hp. c. at 172 rpm, efficiency 26.2% at a weight of 5 tons.

In the beginning, the “diesel” engine known today was actually powered by vegetable oils, mostly peanut oil.

On January 1, 1898, a factory for the production of diesel engines was founded.

The engine finds rapid application in ships, locomotives, power plants, oil wells. The first ship with a diesel engine was built in 1903.

In 1908, the first small engine was made for locomotives and trucks. In 1936, a passenger car with a diesel engine (Mercedes-Benz-260D) was put into series production for the first time.

On September 29, 1913, Rudolf Diesel set off on the steamship “Dresden” from the Belgian port of Anvers for England, but mysteriously disappeared. Ten days later, fishermen found his body.

The world is losing an undeniable genius!

Diesel’s creation is the most popular means of propulsion for cars, industrial machines, agricultural machinery, ships, and its modernization continues within the third century.

According to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the African brother is a living and sacred image of God

By
Newsdesk
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According to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the African brother is a living and sacred image of God

The Patriarchate of Alexandria has officially released its response to a journalistic question of the Russian agency “News.ru” regarding the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, and more specifically in Kenya, where Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria recently made a pastoral visit.

The question to the Patriarchate is as follows: “The Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has registered in Kenya. This became known only during the visit of His Holiness the Patriarch of Alexandria to Kenya. How does the Patriarchate of Alexandria perceive the activities of the Russian Church in Kenya? As well as the activity of the Russian Church in Africa in general. How does the Patriarchate of Alexandria feel about this? Thank you”.

Here is the answer of the Church of Alexandria:

“The Moscow Patriarchate, driven by extremely authoritarian tendencies to dominate the whole of Orthodoxy, wanting to rule unilaterally and destroying the entire theological and canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church, appeared in Africa cunningly, like a thief in the night, ignoring the centuries-old church institutions and the sacred canons of the whole Church under the sky. Above all, this reveals her own unhealthy spiritual course and the ecclesiological deviation from Orthodox accepted norms.

The actions of the Moscow Patriarchate outside the limits of its ecclesiastical jurisdiction inflict a wound on the fraternal, unanimous and blameless beginning of our Orthodox faith and certainly contribute negatively to the denigration of Orthodoxy. The Moscow Patriarchate, motivated also by the burdens of its traumatic past and the extremely selfish ways of acting from other times, is in a close embrace with the state and with the political aspirations of the rulers of the Russian state, which wants at any cost to create spheres of influence in Africa as well . History teaches us that the results of such a course are always very painful for the Orthodox Russian people.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria will continue to serve all of Africa, where the apostolic heritage, the sacred canons and history have assigned it, always with the suffering African people in mind and with the unshakable faith that the work of evangelization and the reconciliation of peoples will not stop because its roots are apostolic, and it is not an ephemeral, self-centered or power-hungry ecclesiastical-political game. For the Church of Alexandria, the African brother is a living and sacred image of God, not an impersonal being to be used, exploited and oppressed for one’s self-vindication.

From the office of the Patriarchate of Alexandria”.

Renovations and urgent phase-out of fossil fuels needed to decarbonise heating in Europe

By
Newsdesk
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