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Newsletter
October 2014
Issue No. 4
Classes every Sunday held at Khalsa
Primary School, Norwood Green
For more information please contact us:
07941696607 (Sukhraj Kiran Kaur)
[email protected]
www.sssec.org
www.twitter.com/sss_ec

P2 & 3 IMPORTANT NOTICES
P4 & 5 Summer Events
P6 & 7 Thirty Years on (1984)
P8 Kids Page
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Admissions
This year the admissions day was on 7
th
September.
The day went very smoothly, with 4 stations set up
to help parents and students through the process
quickly and efficiently. Almost 100 students
registered on this day. However, many more
students registered in the following weeksThere
has been such a surge in student numbers that for
the first time ever SSSEC has had to unfortunately
close admissions to some classes, and start adding
people to a waiting list. As of Sunday 12
th
October,
there were almost 300 pupils on roll, and a further
20-30 on the waiting list!


Advanced music classes
Exciting news for music
students! Pupils now have the
opportunity to learn from top
artists in a classical North
Indian musical instrument of
their choice. Students will be
able to choose one discipline
to pursue, from sitar, santoor,
tabla, vocal, dilruba, violin and
possibly more. However, the
availability of the classes
depends on how many people
sign up - we hope to start very
soon this term, so please
contact us immediately if you
are interested. There will be a
separate registration fee for
these classes.

End of year reports!
Please can those students who
were unable to collect their
goody bags on the last day of
term on please collect them by
asking one of the SSSEC Team
members. These are very
important as they contain your
certificate, end of year report
and exam results as well as
some gifts!

Punctuality and absences
As mentioned in the home-school agreement, it is
important for pupils to arrive on time and not miss
any lessons. As classes are weekly, there are only
around 35 lessons each year! If missing a class is
unavoidable, please inform us via email or text only
and mention your pupil number. Pupils who regularly
miss classes may be taken off the register.

WELCOME























WELCOME BACK to the new academic year at SSSEC. We
hope everyone enjoyed their summer and remembered
to keep practising their Punjabi and kirtan/tabla lessons!
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Parents during lesson-time
Parents are welcome into assembly, but to minimise
disruption, no parents should be present in classes unless
they have the consent of the class teachers. If parents
wish to stay during lesson time, they are welcome to
attend the parents Gurmat class, or help with preparing
lunch for the pupils. Gurmat classes for parents are
available every Sunday after assembly, from 11:00
12:00. Currently, we are discussing the pronunciation and
meanings of Japji Sahib, after which we will move on to
other banis. All parents are encouraged to join.

Newsletter submissions
All SSSEC students and
teachers are encouraged to
submit their creative work
for publication in the next
newsletter. The deadline for
work to be submitted in the
January Newsletter is 21
st

December 2014. We look
forward to receiving your
submissions!
Instrument usage
Due to the rapid expansion of the SSSEC kirtan and tabla
classes, it has become impossible for all students to be
provided with an instrument from the centre! All students
are therefore encouraged to buy their own instrument
this will enable them to practise at home and get the most
out of the Sunday classes. It is advised that you write your
name clearly on your instruments to prevent them being
mixed up with another pupils. We would also like to
remind the pupils that all instruments, whether belonging
to them, the centre, or someone else, should be treated
with respect and care as they can be easily damaged.

Upcoming Dates:
26
th
October centre closed due to Nagar Kirtan
2
nd
November centre closed due to half term and teacher training
21
st
December end of term programme, newsletter submission
deadline, last day of term
11
th
January classes restart


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Punjabi GCSE & A level
exams
2014 was another successful
year for those taking Punjabi
GCSE and A level exams. This
year 6 pupils sat Panjabi GCSE,
with all 6 gaining A&B grades.
Two pupils took AS Level
Panjabi, and both achieved A
grades. Well done to all of you!

Trip to Southampton and Bournemouth
Despite fears of wet and cold weather, the day of the annual SSSEC trip dawned bright
and sunny. (Almost) everyone came prepared with snacks for the journey and beach gear
ready. But before heading off to the beach, we stopped at Southampton Gurdwara to
listen to and participate in kirtan our kirtan students and teachers sang and played
beautifully despite the students being very eager to reach the beach as quickly as
possible! After having langar, cupcakes and a group photo, we boarded the coach to
continue to Bournemouth beach. At the beach, some immediately decided to jump into
the waves, while others chose to relax in the sun or build sand castles. As you can see
from the selection of photos on these pages, we certainly had a lot of fun! (As well as a
lot of spring rolls & samosas on the way there and back)

Hemkunt International
Symposium
This year two of our students and
two teachers qualified for the
international round of the
Hemkunt Symposium. Well done
to Japsimar Singh and Avneet
Kaur, who both travelled to
Philadelphia to represent West
London Zone in the competition!

Summer 2014 was the busiest yet for SSSEC! Read on to find out more about
what SSSEC students and teachers got up to over the summer term and holidays:






















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End-of-year programme
The end of year programme 2014 was bigger than ever. The day started with assembly,
kirtan and prizes being awarded to the top kirtan and tabla students. This was followed
by a short break, during which parents and teachers helped distribute tasty snacks!
Every Punjabi class had prepared a short presentation, after which prizes were given to
those with the best exam results, best effort, and best attendance from each class. To
finish off the presentations, there was a short skit prepared by the adult class, which left
the whole audience in fits of laughter. (No one who was there will ever be able to eat a
pera or play golf without thinking back to the play!) The teachers then handed out the
pupils goody bags (containing their certificates, end of year reports, exam results, and a
small gift), followed by pizza and chips to end the day.

Picnic & Activities Day
After assembly as normal, the students were
split into four teams to complete a fun quiz
about what they had learnt from Sikhs in the
Spotlight over the year. It took slightly
longer than expected to complete but this
just showed how determined each team was
to win! (Every member of the winning team
was awarded chocolate fingers.) Everyone
then went downstairs for the picnic and
games that were taking place in the hall.
There was a range of activities on offer, from
egg & spoon races to skipping to pinning the
kakaars on the picture of a Sikh child. There
was even a drawing competition run by
Jagmohan Singh, an artist who came in
especially for the event.

Music Exams
For the second year running, many of
our kirtan and tabla students sat the
Pracheen Kala Kendra music exams.
These took place in September, with
revision sessions held by our
dedicated music teachers in the first
and last weeks of the summer
holidays. Good luck to the twenty-
five of you who took the exams we
look forward to hearing your results!



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Questions
1) What happened in June 1984 in Amritsar?
2) What was the Indian governments excuse for what they did?
3) What happened in October and November 1984?
Background
During the 1970s, Sikh leaders in Punjab wrote the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.
In this document they asked for all Indian states to be allowed more control
over their own affairs. Among many other things, it also asked for fair division
of water from the rivers running through Punjab, and for the borders of Punjab to be redrawn to
include other Punjabi-speaking areas. The government felt threatened.
Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale was a Sikh activist who campaigned for the implementation of the
Anandpur Sahib Resolution. He was a good public speaker and soon became very popular. This
made him dangerous in the eyes of the Government, so they decided to get rid of him and
labelled him a terrorist. This gave them a reason to target Bhindrawale, who decided to move to
the Harimandar Sahib (Golden Temple).
June
Starting on 1
st
June, the Indian army launched an attack on the Harimandar Sahib. Thousands of
Sikhs had gathered there to remember the shaheedi of Guru Arjan Dev ji. By 3
rd
June, Punjab was
cut off from the rest of the world; all methods of communication and travel were blocked, and
the electricity supply was cut off. No journalists were allowed into Punjab, and the entrances
and exits of the Harimandar Sahib were sealed.
The next day, the army starting firing on the Harimandar Sahib, killing many people in the gun
battles that followed. On 5
th
June, tanks were brought in for the next stage of Operation Blue
Star. Over the next few days, thousands were killed and there was great damage to buildings in
the Golden temple Complex, including the Akal Takht. Bhindrawale and many of his supporters
were killed during the attack.
Even after the attack had ended, the Sikh Reference Library was burned down, resulting in the
loss of many rare artefacts and manuscripts some written by the Gurus themselves. However,
it was looted by the army before being destroyed, and some of the librarys contents are thought
to still be with the Indian government.
Although official figures say only 493 Sikhs were killed, other people estimate that at least 5000
were killed during Operation Blue Star. (Operation Woodrose also took place at the same time,
where other Gurdwaras around Punjab were attacked by the army to supposedly draw out any
militants and terrorists hiding there. Hundreds of innocent Sikhs lost their lives due to this.)






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4) In total how many people died due to these events?
5) What can you do to make sure this isnt forgotten?
BONUS QUESTION
6) How have innocent Sikhs and their families been further affected since 1984?

Do you know what happened to Sikhs in India thirty years ago, in 1984? Test your knowledge by
answering the questions below you can use the information on these pages to help you!
October/November
On 31
st
October, the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by her bodyguards
Beant Singh and Satwant Singh in revenge for the June attack. Over the next few days,
thousands of Sikhs in Delhi were killed by Hindu mobs in revenge for the death of Indira Gandhi.
However, these were not ordinary riots. These were organised by the Indian police and
government. The mobs were given the addresses of Sikhs and provided with weapons. Some
Sikhs were burnt alive, and many families lost their homes and livelihoods. Some were lucky to
have good neighbours and friends who helped to hide them during the riots despite the danger.
Over 8000 Sikhs are estimated to have been killed in the Delhi riots.
1984 - 2014
Since 1984, there have been even more killings tens of thousands
of Sikhs have disappeared or been arrested on false charges.
Although justice has not been given to the thousands of Sikhs
affected, there are many organisations and individuals trying to
make a difference.
Charities such as SOPW help the families of those killed or arrested during this time, and lawyers
such as HS Phoolka are trying to gain justice for the victims of 1984 by fighting their cases and
taking up cases against those involved in carrying out the attacks. These people are very brave
many have been threatened, arrested, tortured or killed for exposing the governments actions.
One example is Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was kidnapped and murdered by police in 1995.
What can I do?
Even if we feel like there isnt much we can do, we can still help! We can donate to charities and
organisations trying to get justice and make a difference to those affected by 1984. Most people
will never even have heard of Operation Bluestar or the Delhi anti-Sikh riots, so we can also
raise awareness of this issue just by talking to our friends about it and maybe even doing a short
presentation in class or a school assembly. But before doing this we should make sure we have
properly understood what happened in 1984 by finding out more from books and the internet.
Finally, there is a website where you can upload videos of interviews with people who were alive
in 1984. This website is creating an amazing resource by preserving their experiences, and we
can easily become a part of this! Visit www.1984livinghistoryproject.org for more information.


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If you want to submit
something for the
SSSEC newsletter,
please email us at
[email protected]
Here is the solution to the Sudoku
puzzle in the previous newsletter.
Did you get it right?

Here is a funny poem in Punjabi with an important message.
The first ten students to give us the correct English translation will get a prize!
dyKo m`KI ikMnI SYqwn, in`kI hY pr k`Fy jwn[
jd gMdI QW bih ky Awvy, inrI bImwrI nwl ilAwvy[
in`kIAW in`kIAW l`qW au`qy, l`KW hI ieh kIVy cu`ky[
swfy BOjn a`uqy Dr, kihMdI Kw ky jwvo mr!
dyKo m`KI ikMnI SYqwn, in`kI hY pr k`Fy jwn[

Connect the
dots!