Sikh Security Agencies Protect US Interests

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Sikh Security Agencies Protect US Interests

The Capitalist Yogi

INDIASPORA/CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

Flags flew half-staff in New Mexico on Friday in honour of Yogi

Bhajan, a Sikh spiritual leader who died in his sleep at his home in

Espanola on Wednesday at age 75.

 

 

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a former congressman and Energy

Secretary, ordered the tribute in a gesture aimed as much at Yogi

Bhajan's economic contribution to the state as his spiritual

success.

 

At a time when many Americans are gnashing their teeth at news of

Indians taking away their jobs, Yogi Bhajan's remarkable success in

reconciling religion and commerce while creating employment is worth

relating.

 

Born Harbhajan Singh Puri in what is now Pakistan, Yogi came west

during his mid-life after a fairly privileged childhood. His father

was a doctor and Singh studied in private schools in the hills.

 

A lifelong yoga practitioner, he came to Canada in 1968 after a

working government jobs in revenue and customs. He drifted down to

Los Angeles at the height of the flower power, and eventually

settled down in New Mexico, where he founded the Sikh Dharma , a

slight variant of the Sikh religion.

 

He professed to teach Kundalini Yoga , and his followers – converts

to Sikh Dharma – were almost all white. As can be expected, he had

his share of spooked critics – ''Bogi Yogi,'' some folks called him –

and there were the usual charges of cronyism, moral turpitude etc.

 

But it was his business enterprise, as much as his religious

teaching, that was striking. And we are not talking of the mandatory

workshops, books, tapes etc that is the contribution of many guru

types.

 

 

An economics graduate from the Punjab University, Yogi Bhajan (he

changed his name when he settled down in New Mexico) encouraged his

followers to start their own businesses.

 

He saw no conflict between spirituality and prosperity. One of his

first enterprises was Yogi Tea, now a leading brand in the health

products section. That was just a dip in the kettle compared to what

followed.

 

The Sikh Dharma 's main business arm today is Akal Security, a firm

that specializes in protecting government sites, military

installations, missile ranges, civil amenities and even airports

across the United States.

 

It is an enterprise of staggering proportions. With more than $1

billion in federal contracts and a 12,000 member work force, it was

listed among the fastest growing companies in the country two

successive years.

 

It guards some 400 building across the country, including the

Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the Ronald Reagan

Building next to the White House in Washington.

 

Recently, Akal Security beat 20 other companies to bag a $250

million contract to protect five Army bases and three weapons

depots, according to a glowing New York Times just last week. The

Pentagon had turned to the private sector to replace soldier

s sent to Iraq.

 

Akal 's biggest security contract to provide protection for federal

courthouses and judges is worth a whopping $854 million. And its

food products division that makes herbal teas, natural cereals,

dietary supplements and health and beauty products has crossed $60

million in annual revenues.

 

Probably because the dividing line between religion and politics is

fairly thin in Sikhism, Yogi Bhajan and his followers made no secret

of their political activism, even though they were looked at with

suspicion by the orthodoxy.

 

They give tens of thousands of dollars to both Democrats and

Republicans. When the yogi celebrated his 75th birthday recently,

four state governors turned up for the celebrations.

 

The US has seen many spiritual guru s from India, but Yogi Bhajan

was one of a kind.

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