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humanity. “That we don’t hate or judge any faith; we respect and get along with everyone.” Starting with the first mission in Kosovo, Khalsa Aid has worked in war-hit zones like Syria and Yemen; helped multiple countries struck with disaster like the Nepal earthquake, famine in Kenya, and Indonesia Tsunami; and aided refugee camps in Greece, Lebanon and Congo, among many others. “We have attended almost every disaster. We don’t do just bits and pieces. [With] each operation we are spending more, learning more, and utilizing local groups,” says Singh proudly. In India, Khalsa Aid has
“In April 1999 so many refugees in the border were fighting for a piece of bread. That year Sikhs were celebrating 200 years of the Khalsa as an identity,” adds Singh who began questioning himself and the community on the concept of langar and its purpose. The fact that there wasn’t any method of taking langar to where it is needed most disturbed him immensely. “Each gurudwara has four doors which means anybody from four corners of the world can eat in the gurudwara. So why haven’t we gone out into the four corners to those who can’t reach us?” he wondered. This triggered in Singh the need to take the real meaning of langar to where it is required – to reach out to those
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S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
who had no access to it. This materialized with the formation of Khalsa Aid. Today, Khalsa Aid is globally known as an international NGO with the aim to provide humanitarian aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world. The organization is based upon the Sikh principle to ‘Recognise the whole human race as one’. Sharing the origin of the name, Singh says that it was chosen because the word ‘Khalsa’ is driven by
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Courage comes from my faith and my faith drives me to work without implementing or putting conditions on me. We are told that we are here not for ourselves but for our humanity.”