Surrey Sikh Nagar Keertan Controversy

[Balait_da_Sher]

We’ve all been reading about all the negative attention our community has been getting due to the pathetic publicity stunts orchestrated by several politicians which were honestly, just lame attempts to muster waning political support. I’ve been reading so many falsehoods and been seeing so many people actually believing it to be fact-based news reporting that I feel the need to comment.

I think we all have a lot more homework to do on this subject; it’s not always as simple and straight forward as the media would have us believe. If we look back, a lot of journalists/reporters have not skipped a single opportunity to vilify our community. A clear example of this is when individuals exonerated by Canada’s court systems were still talked about and referred to as a guilty party. I don’t think this offers an excuse to lay full blame on others, however. There’s a lot of choices and decisions we could and should have made better.

At the forefront of the Sikhs-are-the-boogeyman lobby is an individual named Ujjal Dosanjh. This guy, in addition to trying to paint any and every Sikh organization as a ‘terrorist threat,’ will leap at every opportunity to claim some kind of violent threat has been made against him.

I can see how easily Inderjeet Bains’ comments can be twisted into a threat, but honestly, just seems like Ujjal crying wolf and trying to rain on our parade (pun intended lol). In our community, we have plenty of hot-headed uncles who honestly, will do and say anything. They will threaten you and everyone’s chacha on public radio without batting an eye. I’m not saying this is okay or condoning this behaviour; it’s actually detrimental to any kind of positive progression but it’s a fact we all acknowledge. If anyone wanted to threaten Ujjal, they wouldn’t beat around the bush - they’d be pretty explicit, vocal and would probably delve into some kind of detail. Bains’ comments were inappropriate to say the least, but threatening? That’s pushing it. Someone asked and he made it clear; Ujjal Dosanjh and Dave Hayer were not special guests like other politicians and the organizers weren’t making any provisions for them if they chose to come as individuals.

There are a few questions I’d love to ask Dosanjh, Hayer and even Premier Campbell as pointed out by one of my brothers, buddasingh, <a href=" though.

Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh shot and killed a long time Sikh antagonist who was part of a plot to murder and harass Sikhs at the Gurduaara in 1914. Bhai Mewa Singh turned himself in and was given the death penalty under Canadian Law. The organizing Gurduaara committee of the Vancouver Nagar Keertan, an event attended by Premier Campbell, Dosanjh and Hayer, prominently features Bhai Mewa Singh’s pictures and has named the Langar Hall after him. No fuss over ‘glorifying violence’ here?

And what about Bhagat Singh who is revered by Dosanjh, Hayer and majority of the South Asian community as a hero? He was hanged for bombing British parliament and killing a police officer in the struggle against British imperialism. “Is tossing a bomb in parliament and ripping a bullet into a police officer not slightly threatening or violent....or is violence limited to someone suggesting that you arrange for your own security?”

Another unfortunate sentiment we’re seeing in our community, is this idea that the Surrey Nagar Keertan should be more like Vancouver’s. The reason the Vancouver celebration “went off without a hitch,” may simply be because organizers do not feel it important to address a serious issue facing the Sikh Nation, whereas organizers of the Surrey Nagar Keertan understand their responsibility as a Panthic organization to highlight blatant and ongoing human rights violations.

With regards to the open show of support for a sovereign Sikh state, Khalistan, I think it’s time people take their heads out of the sand and stop lying to themselves that this idea is some barbaric concoction of some backwards mind. The idea of a sovereign Sikh state based on ideals of Naam Japna, Vand Chhakna and Kirath Karnee has resided within the Sikh ethos since the conception of the Khalsa and manifested itself into Khalsa Raj in 1710 under the command of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur; the idea, itself, of a separate Sikh state named Khalistan was suggested as early as 1947 before the partition of India and Pakistan.

The Sikh Nation has every right to determine it’s own destiny and after the shameless attempts to deconstruct our distinct identity, after violating riparian laws and diverting Punjab’s river waters to other states thus crippling Punjab’s agriculture-based economy, and after an all-out offensive attack on Sikhi itself in 1984 and the following years of brutal genocide, the government of India has given the Sikh Nation no other choice but to establish an autonomous Sikh state where the basic rights of the people will be honoured and protected. For someone to suggest that it is ‘improper,’ or ‘terrorism’ for Sikhs to voice their demand for freedom is ridiculous; countless countries were formed by overthrowing oppressive rulers, such as, the United States. Even India was created using some amount of armed force to boot out British colonizers. To suggest that trying to break free from the Brahmanical hegemony imposed on the Sikh Nation constitutes ‘terrorism,’ is laughable.

Some, however, may say that Vaisakhi is to be celebrated as the ‘birth of the religion,’ but such comments are only borne out of cluelessness. The basis of the Sikh spiritual Thought was founded during the time of Guru Nanak Paathshaah; ‘Vaisakhi’ is important to Sikhs around the world because it marks the establishment and formalization of the Sikhs as a Nation dedicated to principles of Truth, Equality and Justice. The pratham - foremost - responsibility of the Khalsa is ‘Gareeb Kee Rakhia, Jarvaannay Kee Bhakhia’ (Protection of the Weak, Destruction of the Tyrants). These principles and ideals are the cause of the ongoing ‘Nagar Keertan Controversy’; those of our fallen brothers and sisters whose images we proudly display on our Nagar Keertan floats spilled their blood in Punjab so that each and every drop could invigorate us to renew our battle to defend these honourable ideals on a daily basis. What point is there in celebrating Vaisakhi if we don’t use this time for stop and reflect on the conception of our Nation and explore how far or close we’ve come to fulfilling our purpose in this world. When we get together on Vaisakhi, it is essential that we reflect on our past and current struggles to resist oppressive regimes and maintain our sovereignty as a nation , that we renew our pledge to ensure the flourishing and respect of all peoples without any hindrances. This revolution is what we were made for.

Let’s not back down from our responsibility to this world; we owe it to our Guru, and we owe it each and every one of those warriors, sevaadaars and revolutionaries who dedicated each one of their breaths and every single drop of their blood to further this cause.

We are not the Followers of a Religion, but the Forces of Revolution...

P. Singh, Canada