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GGSF award goes to Nishkam
Council, Dr. Balwant Singh
WSN Network
 WASHINGTON:
Washington based Guru Gobind Singh Foundation will confer the Sewa
Award 2008 to New Delhi based Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council and to
Dr. Balwant Singh of Lewisberg, Pennsylvania.
The World Sikh News had featured the Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council,
founded in 1984, in a major way in its Special Edition in
October-November 2007.
Nishkam is a non-political, social welfare organization while Dr.
Balwant Singh is being honored for holding one of the first Sikh
youth camps in United States in the 70’s. Every year GGSF announces
this Sewa award during Vaisakhi celebrations in April.
Nishkam came into existence in response to the tragic events of 1984
November when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and all
over India in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Many
leading Sikh personalities came together to form Sikh charitable
trust in response to the immense tragedy facing the Sikh community
in India. Nishkam Sikh Welfare Trust mobilized the Sikh community
worldwide to extend help to the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh violence.
Dr. Balwant Singh and his wife began holding Sikh Youth Camps in
Lewisburg in 1974. Later on in 1977, it was decided by the
organizing group that youth camps be separate from the adults and
hold camps exclusively for the children for 15 days. He continued to
be part of camp organization till 1999 when his health broke down
and could not continue any further. He was assigned the duty of
selecting books for all five age groups for Sri Hemkunt Foundation’s
International Sikh Youth Symposium started in 1983. Every year over
3000 students participate in these symposiums all over the world. He
was a regular speaker on Sikh theology in many gurdwaras before his
health deteriorated.
Balwant Singh, Professor emeritus of management, Bucknell
University, Lewisburg Pa., was born at Naushahra District Sargodha
(West Punjab) in 1927 and migrated to Delhi (India) in 1947. He came
on leave for higher studies from Delhi University to the University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 1963. He was appointed as Professor
of management in 1967 at Bucknell University, and was appointed as
Christian R. Lindback chair in Business Administration in 1983. He
also served as director of Bucknell’s Master of Science degree in
business administration program. He retired in 1993 after 25 years
of teaching at Bucknell. He served as judge for society’s
scholarship awards program- Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society in
Business administration, and honored him with an annual scholarship
in his name. He has also taught at Cambridge University.
Last year this award was given to former Akal Takhat Jathedar Prof.
Darshan Singh. Before that Smithsonian Institution and Sikh Heritage
Foundation have been honoured by this award. Manjit Singh of Ottawa,
Canada, who has lobbied tirelessly the Canadian government and
political establishment to ease many restrictions on Sikhs so that
they can enjoy religious freedom while earning their livelihood in
Canada, was also honoured with this award as was Darshan Singh
Dhaliwal for his assistance in tsunami disaster.
16
April 2008
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