About The World Sikh Foundation
About Us
In early 1960, Dr Jit Singh Chandan, a student at Wigan Technical College in Wigan, Lancashire, conceived the idea of forming the Sikh Cultural Society of Great Britain and started the publication of The Sikh Courier. He was helped in his quest by Dr Ajit Singh Bittoo. In 1962, soon after his arrival in the UK, Mr Amar Singh Chhatwal got involved in co-editing and publishing The Sikh Courier. Dr Chandan and Dr Bittoo left for the USA and Canada respectively in 1965, leaving Mr Chhatwal with the entire management of the Sikh Courier.
As founding members of the Cause Dr Chandan and Dr Bittoo were co-editors of the journal. Upon Dr Chandan’s departure to USA, Dr Bittoo enlisted the help of Mrs Pamela Wylam (who later became Manjit Kaur), both co-editing with Mr Chhatwal until 1965 when Mr Bittoo emigrated to Canada. Manjit Kaur remained to co-editor until 1969, when she was joined by Mr Inderjit Singh (now Lord Singh of Wimbledon). After Mrs Manjit Kaur's departure in 1980, Mr Singh undertook the role of chief editor until 1984.
The current chief editor, Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor, took over these duties in 1984 and has remained in place ever since. The entire management of the Sikh Courier (fund collection/raising, advertisements, publishing, and distribution, etc) was handled by Mr Amar Singh Chhatwal from his residence. It was through his full-time devotion and toil that this journal continued publication until his demise in 2002. Since then, his daughter Mrs Harjas Babli Bharara has taken over the management of the duties with the assistance of Dr Amarjit Singh Chopra. Initially The Sikh Courier International was published quarterly, but since 2004 it has become biannual due to constraints of reduced advertising revenue and a decline of other income, in addition to the costs of publication and distribution. At present, over 600 copies are printed and distributed to individuals and libraries all over the world, with the majority sent out complimentary to educational and research institutions, as well as leading academics. In recent years, we have developed a website where our journal will be uploaded regularly and made available online
Harjas Babli Bharara MA
DR A S Chopra FRCP
Managing Editors