As an ex-member of 3HO, I am completely with Kamalla Rose Kaur. I do not consider her article ('Lapis, Carnelian and Jade', Feb.18) inappropriate or "biased" in the least. T. Sher Singh is completely wrong about this one ('Tirade Against 3HO Unwarranted', Feb.20).

It is completely warranted to make collective assertions about 3HO members, since, in my educated opinion and in my experience, 3HO is properly understood as a "cult"--an attempt to use religion to misguide people for the cult leader's personal benefit.

Kamalla (and I) are not just ex-members, we are ex-members who somehow retained our respect for Sikhism. So we don't reject the Sikhi part of 3HO, we reject the cult part--that is, the part whereby 3HO perverts Sikhism. Let's just cut to the chase, shall we, and tell it like it is. People in 3HO are told that they are better than Indian Sikhs and that they alone are the keepers of the "true" Sikhism.

I heard Yogi Bhajan said that "Indian" Sikhs existed just to pass the banner of Sikhism onto American Sikhs. What nonsense! The proof is in the pudding: Sikhism is all about faith in God and Guru.

When 3HO "Sikhs" recognize that Yogi Bhajan is a charlatan, they either reject 3HO completely and enter the "Indian" Sikh community or they abandon Sikhism completely. Sadly, all but a very, very few choose to abandon Sikhism completely.

3HO is not Sikhism, it is heresy. While many members may display virtues, the essence of Sikhism is lacking. Whatever allegations of criminal behaviour or impropriety are made, it is without a doubt that Yogi Bhajan teaches his followers to treat him as their "spiritual teacher"--which translates into Punjabi as Guru! This is completely contrary to the fundamentals of Sikhism. We should not see the faults in Yogi Bhajan but choose to overlook them, unless we overlook them the same way that we overlooked the faults of Indira Gandhi.

3HO deserves no sympathy or support whatsoever. 3HO members should never be allowed to represent the Sikh community as a whole or to take leadership roles in any Sikh events. For too long, the Sikh community as a whole has underestimated the extent to which 3HO has tarnished our ability to authentically communicate Sikh aims and intentions to the broader North American society.