Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Harpreet Singh (Harvard)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. Jayjg (talk) 02:17, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Harpreet Singh (Harvard)

 * – ( View AfD View log  •  )

This article appears to fail WP:BIO and WP:PROF. With regards to PROF, I find can no articles by Singh with citations on Google Scholar, so his impact on the field of Comparative Theology is yet to be demonstrated. The Sikh Coalition is demonstrably notable but the sources for Singh in Google News appear to be limited to quotes in his role as a trustee of the Coalition rather than being about him or establishing his notability. Trustees of such a non-profit advocate group are not automatically notable in an encyclopaedic sense and any relevant and unique information here about Singh would be more appropriate if merged in to the main article along with information about the rest of the board. Ash (talk) 11:00, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sikhism-related deletion discussions.  -- Ash (talk) 11:01, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions.  -- Ash (talk) 11:02, 11 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Delete: Does not show notability with multiple cases of reliable, independent coverage. Merge idea to organization article is interesting in theory, but this article should not be kept on the basis of gathering additional information for the merge (as proposed by Ash, it would also require details on other boardmembers). NB: In the interim, I've added him to the Harpreet Singh disambiguation page, since he wasn't there. If article deleted, that that addition should also be removed, or is should be adjusted if this article is redirected somewhere (e.g. the organization's article). —  SMcCandlish   Talk⇒ ʕ(Õلō)ˀ  Contribs. 11:26, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete Cant find anything in Academia (journals, citing etc.) to suggest notability. PanydThe muffin is not subtle 14:01, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete per everybody. Subject is not notable enough for an encyclopedia article. Andrew Lenahan -  St ar bli nd  16:01, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Do Not Delete Singh is an emerging scholar. For a scholarly work, see his reference work Harpreet Singh, “Sikhism,” in Yudit Greenberg, ed., The Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Singh co-founded the largest Sikh civil rights group, the Sikh Coalition, with offices in New York and Fremont.  His academic work and the fact that he is a founder of a national organization are sufficient to meet notability guidelines. The opinion above, "The Sikh Coalition is demonstrably notable but the sources for Singh in Google News appear to be limited to quotes in his role as a trustee," fails to take into account the following Congressional source: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2003-02-07/pdf/CREC-2003-02-07-pt1-PgE173.pdf.  The Harvard Crimson quotes him as the founder: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/8/11/sikhs-sword-seized-by-school-a. jc 16:50, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * With regard to these sources; the Encyclopaedia you quote does not have him as an author or editor, just one of (presumably) many contributors; The gpo.gov source includes a quote from him but does nothing to establish his notability apart from calling him director; the Harvard Crimson states that the Coalition was started by him but again says nothing else to establish his notability. To paraphrase the nomination, the Coalition is notable, this does not make the directors, trustees or founders necessarily notable, to have biographic Wikipedia articles they should be notable in their own right with supporting independent sources to demonstrate this, otherwise the resulting article is just a content fork of the article about the organization. With regard to scholarly notability, he may be "emerging" but until he is established and verifiability cited by other scholarly publications, this is not a rationale for notability.—Ash (talk) 17:31, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * You are wrong; the encyclopedia lists him an the author of "Sikhism" with affiliation with Harvard. You are engaging in subjectivity that has no firm basis.  Rather than engaging in this kind of rhetoric, I would suggest simply following the established guidelines. The guidelines clearly state *"Notable in the sense of being "famous", or "popular"—although not irrelevant—is secondary."*  I strongly disagree with you that a founder and a director of a major civil rights organization is not notable.  Your opinion is subjective and if we engage in this kind of a dialectic, we can remove thousands of existing biographies. The multiplicity of achievements that are verifiable is sufficient reason to retain this article.jc 18:32, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * , thanks for quoting the guidelines. I was going by how the book is catalogued with Google Books and Worldcat as I can base my opinion on little more than the evidence of the sources. If you dismiss my explanation as subjective then there seems little point in explaining any further. Good luck with your argument.—Ash (talk) 21:15, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * By the way, welcome to Wikipedia! As you have only been contributing for a few days, you may find the guidance of WP:SPA useful.—Ash (talk) 22:08, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Comment One trouble with Sikhs is so many are surnamed Singh.... If this is the same one, it could be a sign of some notability: "Harpreet Singh, Director of Community Relations for The Sikh Coalition, sang and explained the meaning of a (Sikh prayer) at a ceremony marking the opening of the 57th session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly on September 11, 2002. Other speakers included President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan Kavan and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. Harpreet Singh was subsequently interviewed by phone during a live program by BBC in London." Other than the Coalition (whose site doesn't seem to mention anyone as a founder, unfortunately), I can't see much. He does a lot of good work, is probably very intelligent, and I wish him success with his PhD, but no real notability. Yet. There probably will be, but that's not now. Peridon (talk) 19:09, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is the same one, indeed. He is the only one at the Sikh Coalition.jc 19:29, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete. This graduate student has not yet had time to qualify for any aspect of WP:Prof. Article created too early. I could be persuaded to change my mind by multiple independent reliable sources about his religious activism. Xxanthippe (talk) 01:49, 12 January 2010 (UTC).
 * Rather presumptuous of you to impute that "this graduate student" created the page. Those who know him can tell you that he would not have the luxury of free time that you apparently seem to have to engage in such an exercise. Arguments can be made either way for the existence of this page--you provide no convincing reason why the page should disappear, while thousands like it can stay.jc 03:16, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * 'This graduate student' refers to the subject of the article, not its creator about whom I know nothing. It almost never happens that graduate students satisfy WP:Prof. As well WP:Other stuff exists has never been found to be a plausible argument. Xxanthippe (talk) 04:19, 12 January 2010 (UTC).

jc 03:43, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Some 32 additional international, national and regional sources citing Singh's civil rights/advocacy work for everyone's review:
 * Cheng, Victoria. "For Sikhs, reaching out is no easy task." The Boston Globe. June 24, 2007.
 * Majmudar, Nishad. “In the U.S., Indians Gain Political Clout.” The Wall Street Journal. August 17, 2004.
 * Rukavina, John. “Body-piercing and other Title VII troubles.” Fire Chief. September 1, 2003.
 * Sangha, Soni And Richard Weir. “Drunks Beat Sikh Family: Anti-Arab Slurs in Queens.” New York Daily News. August 5, 2003.
 * Kong, Deborah. “Arabs, Muslims Report U.S. Hate Crimes.” The Associated Press. March 29, 2003.
 * Singh, Harpreet. “Voice of the Bar.” New Jersey Law Journal. March 3, 2003.
 * Smothers, Ronald. “Steadfast in His Turban, a Lawyer Raises Awareness.” The New York Times. January 27, 2003.
 * Kaur, Anju. “Lessons We Learned From Hitman.” Sikhe.com. December 3, 2002.
 * Fernandez, Lisa. “Sikh followers file suits to overcome dissension.” San Jose Mercury News. October 15, 2002.
 * Mozumder, Suman Guha. “Fired NYPD officer takes complaint to EEOC.” India Abroad. June 21, 2002.
 * Coppen, Luke. “Faith News.” The Times (London). June 15, 2002.
 * Gardiner, Sean. “Sikh Files Bias Suit Against NYPD.” Newsday. June 11, 2002.
 * Author, 2002. “Sikh Officer Charges NYPD with discrimination.” The Press Trust of India. June 11, 2002
 * Author, 2002. “Discrimination Charge Filed Against NYPD by Sikh Who Was Barred From Wearing Turban.” PR Newswire. June 10, 2002.
 * Din, Suleman. “Protecting the innocents.” India Abroad. April 26, 2002.
 * Chivukula, Som. “FAA issues directives against racial profiling.” India Abroad. December 14, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “Guidelines protect turban wearers' rights at airports.” St. John’s Telegram. December 9, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “U.S. Sikhs announce security guidelines to protect turban wearers' rights at airports.” The Canadian Press. November 27, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “New Sikh guidelines protect turban wearers.” The Washington Times. November 24, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “U.S. Sikhs issue guidelines.” Chicago Tribune. November 23, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “Religion News in Brief.” Associated Press Online. November 22, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “U.S. Sikhs announce security guidelines to protect turban wearers' rights at airports.” The Associated Press. November 21, 2001.
 * Barfield, Deborah. “America’s ordeal: Hate crimes scare, sadden Sikhs.” Newsday (New York), October 27, 2001.
 * Kong, Deborah. “Advocates say reports of hate crimes slowing, some considering legal action.” The Associated Press. September 29, 2001.
 * Kong, Deborah. “Muslims in U.S. Consider Lawsuits.” Associated Press Online. September 29, 2001.
 * Disley, Jan. “War on terror: Reprisals: Two killed in race revenge attacks.” The Mirror. September 19, 2001.
 * Kong, Deborah. “America's Sikhs find themselves targets of backlash and violence after terror attacks.” The Associated Press. September 18, 2001.
 * Kong, Deborah. “America’s Sikhs become Targets.” Associated Press Online. September 18, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “Arizona slaying blamed on anger.” The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). September 18, 2001.
 * Author, 2001. “Slayings increase fear of backlash: President calls for restraint.” St. John’s Telegram. September 18, 2001.
 * Irvine, Martha. “Attacks increase fear of backlash.” The Associated Press. September 17, 2001.
 * Are any of the articles about Harpreet Singh or say anything to establish him as a notable subject apart from speaking for the Coalition? Many statements from company PR managers are in the press, the quantity of such statements does not make any particular PR manager notable.—Ash (talk) 08:34, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Small non-profits cannot afford to hire PR managers or agencies. But to answer your question, see the March 19, 2003 event at http://pluralism.org/events/interfaculty2003/schedule.php and also see the third item at http://www.sikhcoalition.org/NewsletterW09182003.aspjc 15:57, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks, a mention for him in a meeting notice and a group newsletter are not considered reliable sources in order to support a biographical article. Ash (talk) 17:23, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * That is funny. Since when is Harvard University not a reliable source? You were the one to introduce the removal of this person's page, so you have some teleology behind your statements. It's incomprehensible that 32 independent news articles, and other details are all unacceptable to you--speaking engagements at the United Nations General Assembly, Harvard Law School and Harvard Faculty Club are all unacceptable to you! 65.96.161.250 (talk) 19:10, 12 January 2010 (UTC))
 * To clarify, a mention for him in a meeting notice and a group newsletter does not demonstrate notability, as such they are not suitable sources to demonstrate notability, they may be reliable sources for other things but not notability of Harpreet Singh. If you can find articles that are actually about Singh rather than brief quotes and tangential mentions then this may be a rationale for a biographic article. Ash (talk) 20:38, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * By way of comparison, the following disambiguation page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpreet_Singh) lists two other Harpreet Singhs (a boxer and a police man); pray tell us, which of the two entries has even 5% of the supporting material that people have marshaled on this page for this individual: - we can find hundreds of entries here like this--you are being argumentative based on guidelines as you have perceived them and not as they are practiced on Wikipedia.65.96.161.250 (talk) 21:05, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Comment, topic needs to be evaluated under the WP:GNG, not WP:PROF. Abductive  (reasoning) 04:12, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.