10/18/2010 7:54:50 PM

SURJITT BHAGAT JOURNALIST
Email: surjittbhagat@gmail.com
Sikh Americans are ecstatic that Obama will visit the Golden Temple.
Avatar Singh, chief of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee that
is responsible for Sikh places of worship in Punjab, Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh ,will welcome Obama. Other senior leaders, led by
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, are also expected to receive
the American President and the First Lady.
Sources said that in the few hours the Obamas will be in Amritsar, they
will also visit an organic farm. The first lady is very interested in
the subject, and has a miniature organic farm on the White House's
South Lawn.
"It's really a dream come true moment," said Potomac, Maryland-based
dentist Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman, Sikh Council on Religion and
Education and executive director, Guru Gobind Singh Foundation. "This
is absolutely a joyous moment for Sikhs not just in America, but all
over the world," added Singh, was in the forefront of urging Obama to
visit the Golden Temple. "I have been receiving scores of e-mails and
calls from not only all across America but from also people in Punjab
and Delhi and everywhere - even from Australia and the Middle East!"
He said it all had begun when "The President mentioned to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh at the state dinner in November about the Guru
Nanak birthday celebrations the White House had hosted. This was such a
complete surprise and such a wonderful and great gesture."
It was then, Singh said, "That's when I thought that this could work
(urging Obama to visit the Golden Temple). That if I just plug this
idea and somehow keep pushing this, it might work. And by god's grace
it did."
Singh had started to work on it with Paul Monteiro, White House
associate director for public engagement. Monteiro's portfolio includes
reaching out to ethnic minorities and he is a regular feature at Sikh
American events. He helped organise the Guru Nanak birth anniversary
celebration at the White House.
In early July, Singh continued, he had written to the White House that
if the President could visit the Golden Temple, it would "be a
wonderful gesture since it's a symbol of interfaith understanding." He
had pointed out that "the foundation stone of the temple was laid by a
Muslim saint and the temple itself was constructed by Hindus and Sikhs
and visited by people of all faiths from all over the world. I also
mentioned that Punjab shares 370 miles of border with Pakistan and it
will be a powerful message by the President to South Asia if he visits
the temple."
If Obama visits the temple, Singh had added, "Americans will come to
know about Sikhs and what Sikhism is all about. This will hopefully
help to remove some of the misunderstanding and misperceptions about
Sikhs in America and many of the difficulties Sikhs have faced and
continue to face due to everything from racial profiling to mistaken
identity and harassment at airports and other security barriers."
Monteiro had begun pushing for such a visit by getting this suggestion
through to the powers that be in the National Security Council. The NSC
then conferred with the State Department. At Foggy Bottom, senior
officials familiar with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's close
relationship with the Sikh community had endorsed it. Consequently, an
advance US security team visited Amritsar.
Interestingly, it was at a fundraiser on her behalf at Singh's home
several years ago for her re-election for the US Senate, where Clinton
had made those famous remarks that the Sikh community loves her so much
that she could be easily elected as the 'Democrat from Punjab.'
Administration sources acknowledged that there was "a strategic
component" to the decision to visit the Golden Temple.
The President, the sources said, "has such great respect and admiration
for Prime Minister Singh . This is shared by everyone in the
administration from Secretary Clinton to Vice President Joe Biden, who
all really, really look up to him as a man of immense wisdom and
counsel."
Thus, the sources implied, Obama creating history as the first American
President to visit the Golden Temple will be a major boost to the
Indian prime minister in the eyes of his own community, not all of whom
have looked upon him favorably.
"It has definitely played a role in this decision," one source said.
"No doubt about it."