Sartaj Singh Dhami, a writer, director, makers of film, is an active member in the local Sikh community
of Washington D.C. (USA). He was born and brought up in the Suburbs of Washington D.C. He graduated
with an electrical engineering degree from Virginia Tech. He currently utilizes his engineering expertise
to aide towards identifying solutions to complex technical problems with one of the largest engineering
firms in the United States. Apart from his professional life, he has emerged as a role-model for his love and
various activities for the welfare of his community. He is the Principal organizer for Guru Gobind Singh
Foundations Annual Summer Youth Camp. He also works with youth groups to contact and interact with
non-Sikh organizations to strengthen their bonds with Sikh community. He has also drawn the attention
towards slanderous material about Sikhs being provided in video games and spread otherwise. He coorganized
a youth memorial service for Sgt. Uday Singh of US army. Further, he has volunteered with
the Sikh American Legal Defense and Educaiton Fund, and played an active role in organizing the Sikh
Council on Religion and Education’s Capitol Hill Heritage Dinner. In this respect, his contribution in film
making is also worth appreciating. When, in 2003, he released his film ‘Gatka 1 : The Experimentation’, it
proved to be a smash hit. This short film became an Internet highlight among the Sikh community and was
viewed throughout the world. Later, it went as far as to be featured on SikhNet. After creating several more
shorts, Sartaj formed Dashmesh Pictures as a creative outlet dedicated to portraying Sikhism in a positive
manner. Sartaj is passionate for creating this organization, which is open to all, so that the next Sikh “Steven
Spielberg” can be found. Another important achievement in which S. Dhami has collaborated with GNE is
the creation of a musical video Call turBAN presented at the spinning wheel film festival, giving expression
to protest against The French Government’s ban on head covering. This presentation in Hip Hop rack music stresses upon the world turBAN instead of turban. S. Tanmeet Singh, from GNE has written the lyrics of
this presentation Sartaj questions the French Government as how they can impose such a ban when the
declaration of human rights was initiated in that vary country (France). However, the role-model remains
optimistic when he says “If you are proud of who you are, regardless of who you are…and follow it to the
teeth, there is no issue in today’s world and that is what turban does.”
