Youth Slate-Positive Change or Easy Win?

The United Nations, for statistical purposes, defines youth, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, without prejudice to other definitions by Member States. This definition was made during preparations for the International Youth Year (1985), and endorsed by the General Assembly. Various other common definitions of youth that can be found are: 1. The condition of being young. 2. The appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., characteristic of one who is young. 3. The time of being young; early life. 4. The first or early period of anything. 5. Young persons collectively. 6. A young person, esp. a young man or male adolescent. We are now seeing a very big push from various religious and cultural organizations to have youth involvement into the community and into various institutions. One such institution is our religious institution, we are trying to get the youth involved into the political, social, and religious makeup of the Gurdwara. First we saw the Youth Slate win over Khalsa Diwan Society New Westminster, and they have done a tremendous job there. People are very satisfied with the progressions of the Gurdwara since the new committee has taken over. In more recent times we saw a Sikh youth slate win control over Guru Nanak Sikh Temple North Americas second largest Gurdwara. The campaign was very new, the ideas were fresh and the dedication seemed very true to the cause. They won by a sweeping margin, by gaining 13,458 votes as opposed to the other slate which attained 7,257 votes just a fraction under a 2:1 ratio. This shift in power by such big numbers is a sure show that people believe it is now time for change, and for the old regime to move on and make way for the youth of today to take control, and learn the ways of the religion. The people have put theyre trust and faith behind the leaders of tomorrow. With elections for more of the Sikh Gurdwaras upcoming we are seeing an emerging trend of using the term Youth Slate for campaigning purposes. However some of the main members of these committees do not look so youth like in theyre pictures. It is good that we are getting youth involvement into our religious institutions; they are the leaders of tomorrow. But we cannot let the term Youth be used so loosely, we must also be cautious of the people who will play with peoples emotions and try to cash in on the term youth. Surely people in theyre late 30s or 40s do not fit in the youth category by any means, and people over that well lets just say they are creative, and very ambitious. Unfortunately it is not these so called leaders fault because they have found a new easy way to gain control, and win votes. We need to have true representation. The leaders of the Gurdwara should not have any kind of influence over them, they need to be true and humble believers of the religion, and not power mongers. They need to have the knowledge themselves first in order to lead the community and youth in the right direction. They need to have the dedication to give whatever it takes to change things and unite a much divided community. They need to have the loyalty to stay true to the cause no matter what comes along the way. These are the qualities we should be looking for in our leaders. We should not merely follow the youth slate name; we should ask all the relevant questions, what is the mandate of the committee? Surely they cant think by merely including some youth as members of the committee this is a representation of a Youth Slate what is the involvement of this youth? The youth need to have key roles, and responsibilities to be true representation of a Youth Slate. Change in a positive manner is not only appreciated but also necessary. I am one for change, I am one for youth involvement, but I am cautiously optimistic. We have been mislead time and time again; we have created such divides amongst the Sikh community that we now need to find a common bridge to gap this distance. We are the voters, we must rise above our personal loyalties to individuals, and recognize our loyalty to our religion, we must follow the teachings of Gurbani and listen to what our heart tells us. The youth may very well be the answer we are looking for, with common similarities, less baggage of controversies, and true dedication they can possibly pave the way for a united community, and ultimately common ground for all Sikh followers to gather on. In paintings we see of Guru Gobind Singh Ji on Vaisakhi 1699 during the formation of the Khalsa there is a caption on some paintings that reads These friends are united, and will not be separated again, they have been united by the Creator Lord himself We belong to that community and we need to make sure we live true to the foundation of our being, and to the community we belong to. Please think about this when its time to vote. Written By: Parvinder Singh Sangha Aldergrove, BC