Embassy News & Events
14 April 2008
Ambassador Tuttle hosts Conference in celebration of the Sikh New Year
 Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle (center) with Vaisakhi celebration guests Resham Singh Sandhu, of the Sikh Welfare and Cultural Society UK, Leicester (left), and Raj Loomba, of the Loomba Trust (right).
(Embassy photo by Sarah-Jane Mayhew)
 Punjabi and bhangra dance performances (17 minutes)
Keynote speech by Justice Mota Singh (10 mins)
The Embassy was delighted to host a group from the British and American Sikh and Punjabi communities for a conference in celebration of Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year.
The day’s events provided an opportunity to share in each others’ cultures and to celebrate interfaith and intercultural understanding.
The event, hosted by the U.S. Ambassador, was supported by the Leicester-based Sikh Welfare and Cultural Society UK, and the Loomba Trust.
In his keynote speech, Justice Mota Singh noted: “We are meeting today, not in India, but in England and on American soil, both multi-faith societies, like India. Here the great faith communities meet in mutual respect and dignity. Dialogue has replaced disputation. Friendship has taken the place of suspicion. That is the way forward. Multiplicity of faiths is not a tragedy, but the gift of God, who is closer to us than we are to ourselves, and yet who lives in lives quite different from ours. This is consistent with the command of Guru Gobind Singh who said 'Consider the whole of humanity as one, we are all children of the one father.' This is the message of Vaisakhi.”
There were also Punjabi and bhangra dance performances by Gurpreet Kaur & Banu Sandhu and the Suraj Bhangra Group.
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