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Below, third from bottom - Akal Security President, Sardar Daya Singh.

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Akal Security Inc. -
Protecting America

by JOHN BURNETT

 

In the high desert town of Espanola, New Mexico, U.S.A., you'll find a community of Sikh-Americans - converts (and their 2nd and 3rd generation progeny) to the 500-year-old Sikh religion from the Indian sub-continent.

With a gold-domed church - a "gurdwara" - as a backdrop, men and women live quiet lives of meditation, yoga and vegetarianism.

They also run a big business.

Next to the elaborate gurdwara is a cluster of drab modular buildings that constitute the headquarters of Akal Security. The reach of this Sikh-founded and Sikh-managed company is huge.

In most cities across the country, for example, the guards who run the metal detectors at the doors of federal courthouses are provided by Akal Security.

In just the past three years, Akal and its subsidiary, Coastal International Security, earned more than $1 billion in federal contracts. In addition to screening people at federal courthouses, Akal also guards immigration detention centers, NASA facilities, federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and embassies under construction from Ecuador to Iraq.

Origins Of Akal Security

"Akal means undying or deathless," says Daya Singh Khalsa, president of Akal Security. "It was a battle cry for Sikhs."

Like most Sikh men and some women, Daya Singh wears a turban and a kirpan, or sacred sword, a symbol of the Sikh warrior-saint tradition of defending the defenseless.

To this day, this tradition is at the philosophical heart of Akal Security.

"We feel very good about the role we play to keep thousands or hundreds of thousands of people safe when they visit federal facilities," Daya Singh says.

Yet, as president of a major security company that employs 10,000 guards, Daya Singh has to take pains to keep religion and business separate. "We're here to run a business," he insists. And because federal contracts prohibit guards from wearing headgear, you won't see any Sikhs manning the metal detectors.

Akal is a private for-profit company. When asked where all the profits go, Daya Singh says they're reinvested in the company; individual Sikhs who work for Akal make generous donations to Sikh Dharma, the nonprofit religious organization.

The Sikh Dharma Of New Mexico

Espanola is the largest community of Sikh-Americans, composed of about 150 families. It was founded by Harbhajan Singh Yogi (popularly known as "Yogi Bhajan"), a Sikh yoga master who came to the U.S. from India in 1968 to teach kundalini yoga. By the time he died in 2004, Yogi Bhajan was recognized as the inspiration behind, and spiritual leader of what are now loosely called 3HO Sikhs, referring to the founding institution.

Akal president Daya Singh was born Daniel Cohn, the son of a New York department store executive; he grew up in the Connecticut suburbs, graduated with an English degree from Amherst College, and drifted to the then-new Sikh colony in New Mexico to pursue his interest in yoga and meditation.

All 3HO Sikhs use "Khalsa" as third name - in addition to the "Singh" for males and "Kaur" for females. ["Khalsa" is the name of the Sikh Order founded in 1699; it dictates a life of spiritual discipline and commitment to serving humanity, particularly the weak, the disadvantaged, and the needy. Literally, the word means the "Pure."]

The life of these devout Sikhs is rigorous: up at 4 a.m. for a cold shower, then two-and-a-half hours of prayer and meditation. They do not drink alcohol or eat meat. And no one gets a haircut - ever. Their hair is coiled in a bun under their turbans.

Rules that prohibit Sikhs from joining American law enforcement because they don't cut their hair may be softening. Last year, the Espanola Police Department hired its first bearded, turbaned policeman - Officer Singh Khalsa - though he has since moved on.

Five years after the death of their spiritual leader, the Sikh community in New Mexico appears to be healthy. Some families have moved away; others have come. Akal has lost some business, but there is always next year. And in an alcove inside the gold-domed temple, there is someone - day and night - reading the sacred songs of the Sikhs.

 

[This article is an edited version of the original which first appeared on the NPR.]

June 15, 2009

Conversation about this article

1: Harman Singh (Australia), June 16, 2009, 11:42 AM.

There is a full chapter on Akal Security in a book I read recently. It is titled "Sikhs Unlimited" - it is written by Khushwant Singh (not the famous writer in Delhi) from Chandigarh. I highly recommend that book.

2: David (Jonesville, Louisiana, U.S.A.), December 15, 2010, 7:06 AM.

This is a great company to work for!

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Protecting America"









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