FREMONT, California, USA (December 5, 2014)—With over 300 people in attendance, Jago Conference 2014, held on Sunday November 30th at Union City, California, was a huge success. Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike came from as far as Turlock, Sacramento, British Columbia, Toronto, and Los Angeles to attend. Organizers came together with the realization that local Sikh youth needed to take initiative in organizing events around Panthik and global issues—in order to shed new light and insight on the issues at hand.
UC Berkeley graduate Kanwalroop Kaur, Jasmin Kaur of Azaadi BC, and filmmaker Kiran Rai of the Sikh Activist Network each emphasized the historical and contemporary importance of the female voice, and the necessity to continue to empower it through scholarship, art, and activism.
Our second panel focused on contemporary issues amongst Sikhs in Punjab and the diaspora. UC Santa Cruz undergrad Damanjit Singh Gill, doctoral student Nina Kaur of California School of Professional Psychology, and UC Davis graduate Punit Kaur Khalsa of Ensaaf discussed the violence of neoliberalism and democracy, the residual effects of trauma, and the need to reinvigorate our collective Panthik consciousness in order to rise up and assert ourselves once more.
Rupi Kaur mesmerized audiences with her live performance of “Cancer Train,” taking us through an interconnected tale of genocide, poverty, immigration, sickness, and love. She also spoke to the audience about trauma and how writing is key to healing and collective empowerment. Encouraging listeners to become performers and speakers in their own right, she conducted a writing workshop in which attendees shared their experiences and uncensored thoughts to the Sangat.
The conference also featured traditional Sikh musical performances of kavishri and dhadi. Subeg Singh and jatha told the story and sang the praises of human rights advocate Jaswant Singh Khalra while Bhai Sarabjit Singh Saajan sang about the movement for Sikh independence and Khalistan.
Bhai Tejinder Singh of Guru Nanak Academy provided the conference with spiritual insight, detailing the qualities needed of a Shaheed as enacted throughout Sikh history.
Prabhsharanbir Singh, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, provided the audience with reflections on the conference itself, and Sikh political movement as a whole. He emphasized that we continue to work towards creating our own spaces for Sikh thought and politics from which we may truly assert our sovereignty. Prabhsharanbir Singh’s spiritual guidance—that we acquire the spiritual and emotional depth that our community can receive only through a profound attachment with and understanding of Gurbani—resonated with attendees and organizers alike.
The Jago team would like to thank everyone who attended and joined us in the first step of this initiative. We are also indebted to the countless sevadars who guided and helped us along the way. Finally, we are grateful to our guests for sharing their profound thoughts and deep passion with us. While each speaker is unique in their background and perspective, the vision of uplifting our people, and the assertion of Sikh sovereignty is unified. This unity of diverse voices, experiences, and tactics is something we hope will continue to bloom as Jago progresses.
That said, Jago’s future activity will be defined by the following points of unity:
Jago will establish and sustain dialogue that is radical, fearless, subversive, and critical by nature. We will work to cultivate a critical mass of support by proliferating revolutionary Sikh thought through articles, art, poetry, film, political demonstration and organization, and networking across organizational and jathebandi lines.
Our second point of unity is solidarity. In furthering our core cause of Sikh sovereignty, we recognize the necessity to stand in allegiance with other oppressed communities in South Asia, North America, and across the globe.
Thus we invite you, regardless of your gender, ethnicity, language, religion, color, or nationality to join Jago in this Awakening.