Sikhs Serve Langar to Interfaith Movement in Phoenix

December 9, 2005

Source: Sikh News Network

http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/news.nsf/RecentNewsHTML/7064312DF3A3801A872570D000714165!OpenDocument

On December 9, 2005 the Sikh News Network reported, "About one and [a] half years ago, Sikhs from England set a unique example of the Sikh tradition of langar at [a] world religious conference in Barcelona, Spain. Thousands and thousands of people who attended that event were continuously served langar or the 'free kitchen' for two to three days by the Sikhs of England under the banner of Nishkaam Seva Jetha of England. Some of the members of [the] interfaith movement [in] Phoenix [who belong] to other faiths... attended that event at Barcelona... [and were] fascinated by it. When a similar kind of event was planned in downtown Phoenix on November 17th, the Sikh community took the lead and came forward to serve langar to the entire gathering. It was felt by many Sikh residents that this [would] be another unique opportunity to show off [their] unique Sikh identity through this noble Sikh tradition. This [is all the more] important [in] Arizona, [the state that] earned the dubious distinction of being first in losing one of its Sikh residents in [a] hate crime immediately after 9-11. Additionally, in this week... Sikhs all over the world were celebrating Prakash Utsav (Birthday) of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh faith, who... initiated this unique [practice] for Sikhs to follow."