C U L T U R E

House of Commons Award for Punjabis

An All Party Parliamentary Group on Punjabis in Britain has honoured organisations and individuals who have made outstanding contribution to Punjabi art literature, scholarship, sports and values. At a ceremony at the House of Commons started with a Dhol performance, a first in the history, to celebrate the onset of the season of Punjabi festival Vaisakhi, the country of their adoption honoured Punjabis.

Organisations that were honoured included Punjab Research Group that has for 22 years done pioneering and outstanding work in organising and promoting scholarly and academic studies on East and West Punjab, and Punjabi diaspora. Second was the Maharajah Duleep Singh Centenary Trust for its pioneering work on Anglo-Sikh heritage. Then was Des Pradesh, a Punjabi weekly, for pioneering contribution to Punjabi print media. The Punjabi Theatre Academy UK for promoting Punjabi theatre and drama and Punjabi Centre/Desi Radio for promoting values of unity among Punjabi people and for meaningful dialogue with the mainstream British society. Vaisakhi Da Mela Committee, Glasgow was honoured for promoting Punjabi culture in Glasgow in particular and Scotland in general.

Individuals honoured were:  Fauja Singh, a marathon runner for contribution to enhancing the positive image of old people in general and Punjabi old men in particular; Malkit Singh, a famous Punjabi folk singer, for his contribution to enriching Punjabi culture through his lyrical songs and Dr. Joyce Pettigrew for her imaginative and scholarly research on the culture and politics of resistance of the Punjabi people against centres of power.

Amarjit Chandan was honoured for his rich contribution to Punjabi poetry and literature. Ms. Susan Strong, Senior Curator V and A Museum for her contribution to promoting Punjabi arts history and Harbans Singh Jandu Litteranwala for writing Punjabi songs that celebrate the various dimensions of Punjabi life.  Mahzar Tirmzi was honoured for his dedicated contribution to Punjabi poetry and short plays, and for promoting the cause of Punjabi language in West Punjab and the Punjabi diaspora and Navdeep Kandola for his contribution to raising awareness about environmental degradation in Punjab though his documentary films. Gurinder Singh Sacha for contribution to the teaching of Punjabi language in the schools. Chaman Lal Chaman was chosen for   life long contribution to the promotion of Punjabi poetry, songs and music. Sody Singh Kahlon for contribution to Punjabi comedy and Dominic Rai for dedicated and imaginative contribution to Punjabi theatre. Gurcharan Mall for his inspiring contribution to popularising the Dhol, a Punjabi music instrument. There was a joint award to Paramjit Singh and Amandeep Madra.

For contribution towards research in artistic and cultural heritage of Punjab and the Sikhs, and to the presentation of this heritage the award went to Manghat Rai Bharadwaj. For his pioneering contribution to Punjabi grammar Suki Dhanda was chosen.

Ajit Singh Kalirai for her creative use of the medium of photography to represent the culture of Punjabi people. Gurpal Virdi was chosen for his achievements in the field of sports. Makand Singh was a hero for fighting against racism in the police and upholding Punjabi values of resistance against injustice.  For projecting a positive image of the Sikh people in the British Army by being one of the earliest Sikh recruits to the British Army was Mohni Grewal.

For contribution towards projecting a positive and ethical image of the Punjabi/Asian community by launching environmentally friendly housing schemes for the socially and culturally disadvantaged communities and groups awards were conferred by John McDonnell,  John Spellar, Grieve Dominic, Paramjit Dhanda and Rob Marriss (all MPs).

How could such grand ceremonies be without songs and there was Malkiat Singh to offer some.

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Silver-foiled sweets take a deadly turn

THE age-old Mughlai tradition of using silver foil to garnish food has turned grave it seems. For a study carried out by the scientists of Industrial Toxicology Research Centre in India reveals that millions of consumers in India regularly take in toxic, cancer causing metals in the form of silver foil used to wrap sweets and betel nut products.

The thin layer of silver foil found at sweet and tobacco shops contains significant amounts of carcinogenic nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium, the study pointed out. According to the research, Indians eat around 275,000 kg of silver foil each year. On entering the human body these release heavy carcinogenic metals, which can cause cancer. But the cause for this is different. “Silver metal is transformed into thin foil by workers in small factories who fill the metal in leather bags and then beat it with a wooden club. There is no purification process used in the manufacturing of these sheets used for wrapping,” the report pointed out. At the same time it clarifies the fact that as per the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of India, silver foil with a purity of 99.9 per cent can be used in edible form.

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