Dr. Inder Jit "I.J." Singh came to the United States in 1960 on a Murry & Leonie Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and is professor emeritus of anatomical sciences at New York University.
He also serves on the Advisory Board of the United Sikhs and on the Editorial Boards of the Sikh Review (Calcutta) and Nishaan (New Delhi). Dr. Singh has authored five collections of essays on his journey as a Sikh in North America, is a regular columnist on the Internet and has lectured extensively on interfaith issues.
Over the past century, SGPC and ancillary institutions evolved in Punjab in response to sociopolitical needs and realities of the day. Times have changed and Sikhs now have a worldwide presence. We now need models of self-governance and accountability that successfully knit the Sikhs into a functioning whole that reflects our existence across the world. The question is: What model to create that remains true to our history and traditions while nurturing our existence in a complex global reality.
In this webinar, I.J. Singh talks about how we need to re-think about Sikh Institutions like Akal Takht, SGPC and our local Gurduaras.
Over the years I have had the good fortune to work with many Sikh institutions in the United States; not too intimately, but closely enough to see their blemishes, wrinkles and warts. I have seen them through their good days and bad. And I include here a fair sampling of gurduaras as well as non-gurduara bodies such as SALDEF (nee SMART), Sikh Coalition, United Sikhs, SikhRI, MBSK Foundation, and a couple of Sikh Art & Film groups.