Canadian Media's Attack On Sikhs - Part 1 (editorial)

Hadd-Torr Singh · April 30, 2007

http://www.panthic.org/news/123/ARTICLE/3250/2007-04-25.html

Canadian Media's Attack on Sikhs - Part 1 (Editorial)

Wednesday 25th of April 2007

Panthic Weekly Editors

2007 Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan, Surrey, Canada

An Editorial in Response to a Few Biased Canadian Reporters and Misinformed MP's

Surrey, B.C.- In the wake of the widespread disinformation campaign being spread by several Canadian news outlets at the behest of the Indian government and other anti-Sikh agencies, the editors of Panthic Weekly feel that it is our responsibility to set the record straight and let the truth be known about the 'controversy' surrounding the April 7 Surrey Nagar Kirtan.

Over the past month various Canadian reporters have made it their personal prerogative to defame and stigmatize the already maligned Sikh community after the government of India launched a 'diplomatic protest' over a parade float that was made as a tribute to Sikh martyrs included a photo of Shaheed Bhai Talwinder Singh Parmar—a Canadian citizen who was brutally tortured and subsequently killed by Indian police forces in an extra-judicial killing fifteen years ago.

The erroneous complaints came from the Indian High Commission in Ottawa to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade via several Indian representatives based in Vancouver. Zile Sinh, an Indian deputy consul of Vancouver was one of several individuals who delivered a tirade to discredit the Nagar Kirtan, "This is not acceptable to us. We intend to convey that it is not acceptable, so the [Canadian] government understands, this should not happen again. We have issued our objection to the federal government and it has been appropriately taken up." Vancouver's India consul-general Ashok Kumar also condemned the Surrey Sikh parade, which he accused of being 'linked to violence.'

Khalistan Banners and Pictures of Sikh Shaheeds on Nagar Kirtan floats

As has been the norm in the past two decades, the Indian diplomats protested the participation of several Canadian MP's and politicians in the event saying that by participating they were showing support for 'terrorist groups.' Zile Sinh expressed concern over the event which he alleged was run and supported by 'Sikh terrorist organizations.' He further stated that the portrayal of Parmar as a Sikh martyr is 'very objectionable.'

Following this 'diplomatic protest' by the Indian government, the Canadian media has been flooded with spurious news articles and broadcasts by a few biased and incompetent reporters set on stigmatizing the local Sikh community and the annual Surrey Nagar Kirtan which is a pivotal community event that draws crowds of over 100,000 people every year.

Sensationalist Reporting and Falsified Claims

Evidently Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun isn't the only so called journalist determined to denigrate the Sikh Community in the public eye. Several other self interested money makers have taken the 'diplomatic protest' as an opportunity to fill their own pocket books by perverting the truth behind the Air India Tragedy. The numerous contrived news stories on the Nagar Kirtan is yet another revelation to the colossal void of journalistic integrity within various Canadian news agencies such as the Globe and Mail, CBC News, The Surrey Leader and of course The Vancouver Sun. Compiling a list of names can be an arduous task as it appears that the number of 'journalists' set on defaming the Sikh community is on the rise. But in recent weeks biased reporters such as Terry Milewski (CBC News), Rod Mickleburgh (Globe and Mail), Camille Bains (Globe and Mail), Kevin Diakiw (The Surrey Leader) and Kim Bolan (Vancouver Sun) have been active in the disinformation campaign to malign the Sikh community.

In the past, these same news agencies have made a business out of the Air India tragedy at the expense of the victims' families and the reputation of the Sikh community in Canada and throughout the world. Time and time again, these biased reporters have attempted to pin the blame for this gross crime against humanity on the Sikh community by falsely stating that 'Sikh terrorists' were the 'masterminds of the disaster.' Even after Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted and found not guilty on all of the wrongful charges by Judge Ian Bruce Josephson in 2005, individuals such as Kim Bolan continue to foment falsified information to frame the Sikh people. At one point the media even went as low as to suggest that Bhai Sahib Bhai Jeevan Singh, a highly revered leader in the Sikh Nation, was the 'mastermind' behind this heinous crime.

Now the litany of sensationalist and deceitful reporting has again intensified following the GOI's 'diplomatic protest' against the Surrey Nagar Kirtan earlier this month. Despite the fact, that Shaheed Bhai Talwinder Singh Parmar was never found guilty in any court of law in relation to the Air India tragedy; numerous news reports have falsely stated that Bhai Talwinder Singh Parmar was 'identified as the mastermind behind the terrorist act which killed 329 people,' and insinuated that by referring to him as a martyr the Sikh community is supporting terrorism.

Rod Mickleburgh of the Globe and Mail even went as low as to compare Talwinder Singh Parmar to the terrorist and mass murderer Osama bin Laden in order to further demonise and denigrate the Sikh Nagar Kirtan. Such racist innuendos only further the negative stereotypes and prejudice that Sikhs have met post 9/11. The Sikh identity has already come under attack due to misidentification following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and such sensationalist reporting only magnifies the defamation of the Sikh identity.

By reporting these false accusations as fact, these incompetent reporters have once again placed the blame for the terrorist attack on the Sikh community despite the fact that the RCMP has never been able to produce any evidence to prove this erroneous claim. At the end of the day, when the public reads bold headlines reading 'Sikh Terrorist Mastermind Behind Attack' these words are going to stick in their minds, and the words Sikh and 'Terrorist' will become as synonymous in Canada as they once were in India due to the propaganda campaigns of previous regimes. Sadly it seems these 'journalists' have been successful with their business to defame the Sikh community.

Media misrepresented 'Baba Ajit Singh Gatka Akhara' as ISYF on above jackets

Kevin Diakiw (The Surrey Leader) is no exception to this trend, and recently made false reports stating, 'A few children were seen wearing T-shirts with "International Sikh Youth Federation" (ISYF) written on them,' when in reality the children were from the Surrey Khalsa School martial arts team, and the shirts actually read 'Baba Ajit Singh Gatka Akhara' (Martial Arts Club). Just like the other reporters set on filling their pocket books, Diakiw made falsified claims in order to make it seem as if the Surrey Nagar Kirtan supports terrorism; although for the record the ISYF is not a 'terrorist' group by any means of the imagination.

Several reporters quoted Balwant Gill of the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey, as being 'leader of the Sikh community who is fearful of a revival of the Khalistan movement.' Yet they forget to cite the fact that the Guru Nanak "Sikh Temple" is a banned gurudwara, banned by the highest temporal Sikh authority, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, which is somewhat like the Vatican for Catholics, for numerous actions against the interests of the global Sikh Nation as a whole; therefore it is a serious misnomer to refer to Gill as a 'Sikh leader.'

Sudager Singh Sandu, president of Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, which is one of the key organizers of the Nagar Kirtan, said ""The media wants us to say Parmar is a terrorist and want to censor us by telling us not to put his picture up. But without a conviction, there is no way you can say he was a terrorist."

Obviously these sensationalist 'journalists' can care less about reporting the truth and have no shame in trying to manipulate the public into believing that Talwinder Singh Parmar was the 'mastermind' of this gruesome tragedy without any evidence to confirm this absurd claim. We live in a democratic society where the presumption of innocent until proven guilty is a fundamental legal right; however it appears that these reporters prefer the authoritarian model of guilty until proven innocent.

In the next issue, Panthic Weekly Editors will expose the Truth behind the Canadian Media's Disinformation Campaign to further malign the Canadian Sikh Community and Sikhs throughout the Diaspora.

Editors can be reached at editors@panthic.org

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