CBC's The National airs shocking expose on political pandering to violent separatists
A week after the unveiling of the Air India 182 memorial in Etobicoke, tonight's National featured a piece by Terry Milewski (text summary here) on the involvement of NDP, Liberal and Tory politicians with Sikh parades in BC and Ontario. Some participants and floats in the parade glorified members of various banned organisations which seek the secession of "Khalistan" from the Punjab area of India and Pakistan such as Babbar Khalsa, and International Sikh Youth Federation.
In the case of the Surrey parade, both of the acquitted in the Air India Trial present - and the Premier of British Columbia. The Liberal, Tory and NDP MPs challenged on their presence issued supportive statements but later flip flopped - as did the Premier.
Some of the "martyrs" were linked to the mass murder of those aboard Air India 182 near Akahista (which had a huge impact in Cork then and still reverberates today) and the killing of Indira Gandhi - an incident celebrated in a Toronto area Sikh publication linked to the World Sikh Organisation. Among those interviewed for the piece were Tarek Fatah, who had by then left the Muslim Congress and was a Rae organiser and Ujjal Dosanjh, the latter having been severely beaten in 1985 for speaking out against Sikh extremists.
Of the three parties, the Liberals seem to have more questions to answer. The allegations of Sikh block voting against Bob Rae for his report on Air India 182 and in favour of Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion were also brought up again. Meanwhile Dalton McGuinty's government has handed out 750,000 dollars to temples with either links to banned organisations or which have been accused of financial mismanagement as part of his handouts to various religious organisations. The sunset of temporary provisions in the Anti Terrorism Act which would have allowed further RCMP investigations, opposition to which was spearheaded by the Liberals, was also mentioned.
Of the four major parties it is ironic that the Quebec separatists are the only ones who do not have serious questions to answer - whether that is because Sikhs primarily settled in Ontario and BC may or may not be the reason for this.
In the case of the Surrey parade, both of the acquitted in the Air India Trial present - and the Premier of British Columbia. The Liberal, Tory and NDP MPs challenged on their presence issued supportive statements but later flip flopped - as did the Premier.
Some of the "martyrs" were linked to the mass murder of those aboard Air India 182 near Akahista (which had a huge impact in Cork then and still reverberates today) and the killing of Indira Gandhi - an incident celebrated in a Toronto area Sikh publication linked to the World Sikh Organisation. Among those interviewed for the piece were Tarek Fatah, who had by then left the Muslim Congress and was a Rae organiser and Ujjal Dosanjh, the latter having been severely beaten in 1985 for speaking out against Sikh extremists.
Of the three parties, the Liberals seem to have more questions to answer. The allegations of Sikh block voting against Bob Rae for his report on Air India 182 and in favour of Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion were also brought up again. Meanwhile Dalton McGuinty's government has handed out 750,000 dollars to temples with either links to banned organisations or which have been accused of financial mismanagement as part of his handouts to various religious organisations. The sunset of temporary provisions in the Anti Terrorism Act which would have allowed further RCMP investigations, opposition to which was spearheaded by the Liberals, was also mentioned.
Of the four major parties it is ironic that the Quebec separatists are the only ones who do not have serious questions to answer - whether that is because Sikhs primarily settled in Ontario and BC may or may not be the reason for this.
Comments
Please don't believe everything you hear. I would first suggest you go to
Baseless fear mongering by the CBC
By Japnaam Singh(Japnaam Singh)
http://www.japnaamsingh.com/ .
Then if you are up to hearing an opposing view on Khalistan, feel free to visit our blog, The Road To Khalistan, http://roadtokhalistan.blogspot.com/. We are three rather ordinary Sikh women caught up in extraordinary events; we are not violent, raving lunatics, we are loving, concerned wives and mothers. That CBC piece was a complete hatchet job. Please seek other opinions before you condemn all us Khalistanis as terrorists!
Thank you.
Mai, Vini and Suni
Why would you as Canadians wish to breakup another country into two?
Unless of course, you do not consider yourself as Canadians, and that would be a completely different debate.
Tarek Fatah
Just some of the lies in this report:
* That the Sikh community is inherently violent or supports violence outright - FALSE. The Sikh community believes in complete non-violence, and violence is only used as a last-resort in defence of the oppressed. The Sikh community has organized some of the largest and most effective peace protests in Indian history. The inspiration for Gandhi and the Indian non-violence movement was taken from Baba Ram Singh, a Sikh.
* That the Sikh community condones the Air India Bombings - FALSE. The Sikh community sympathizes with the victims families and is just as concerned about justice. Some of the passengers on Air India flight 185 were also Sikhs.
* That the Sikh community condones terrorism - FALSE. The Sikh community has been one of the most active faith communities after September 11 denouncing terrorism in all forms, and does not finance or condone any type of terrorism.
* That splitting India is a new concept, and should not be allowed - FALSE. India & Pakistan split Punjab into “East” and “West.” Khalistan would be the reuinification of the two Punjabs, giving autonomy to Sikhs and freedom of religion to all minorities (Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists alike). Khalistan was declared by the collective Sikh community in 1986 after witnessing the holocaust of Sikhs in 1984. India would not exist without the sacrifices of Sikhs, but Sikhs have always been a slave class in India. Therefore autonomy and independence is necessary and justified.
* That Khalistan has no significance for Canadian Sikhs - FALSE. Advocating the freedom of Khalistan is as legitimate as campaigning for Tibet or Israel. It is a peaceful movement for the freedom of a religious minority from oppression and state-sponsored terrorism. It is a human rights movement and Sikhs in Canada, USA, England and any other country have the right to peacefully campaign for Khalistan.
* That Sikhs as a community were complicit in the Air India bombings - FALSE. This accusation has never been proven in any court of law, and there is more evidence for the involvement of CSIS and Indian intelligence agencies. The inconsistencies in the investigation, deletion of wiretaps, involvement of CSIS informants, and many other leaks are evidence in the various investigations and current inquiry.
* That Talwinder Singh Parmar was a terrorist or was complicit in the Air India bombings - FALSE. This accusation has never been proven in any court of law, and charges against Mr. Parmar were dropped by the RCMP. If he was guilty, the Indian government would have allowed the due process of justice to take place, but instead killed Mr. Parmar in a false-encounter.
* … and those are just some of the lies.
Personally I would no more favour "deporting all Sikhs" than I would have been happy with Irish people being deported en masse from North America because of the activities of NORAID.
At the same time, the Sikh community is hopefully now realising that "inclusive" events can mean being associated by Canadians generally as being tolerant towards those who perpetrated or assisted in the worst mass murder in Canadian history. Next time, the jackets with guns should stay in closets - if not discarded entirely.
"Tarek Fatah, Sikhs do not wish for the disintegration of a Nation, however we seek justice for the murders and genocidal campaign against many minorities within the state of India.
Kashmiris, Dalits, Sikhs and Christians have been victims of gross human rights violations, and the state of India has proven itself unwilling to provide justice to the victims of their oppression.
Tarak Fatah, are you in favour of state terrorism along with India's continued denial and lack of action for the murders of millions... including many minorities outside of the Sikh Fold? Does it not bother you that 24 years after the Delhi Pogroms the murderers of 20 000+ innocent Sikhs who were burnt alive in a period of 3 days continue to roam free while holding seats in Indian Parliamant? Tarek, do you really feel murder, rape, and torture of these innocent Sikhs was justified and that the Indian courts after 24 yrs of mocking Sikhs will build up the courage to arrest and jail those responsible?
Will you, Tarek Fatah... condemn the Indian Government for its gross human rights violations, and stop your slander against Sikhs by defining our calls for justice as terrorism...? Will you..bring an end to your attempt to label Sikhs seeking social justice from a Terrorist State that has shown that they have no care for our rights... as being un-Canadian...
Tarek Fatah... will you deny yourself from standing proud amongst Khalistani Sikhs who define themselves as being Canadians through the pride in fighting for justice for all people, regardless of nationality...? Will you join us in taking pride in the Blue helmet and uniforms pridefully amended by Canada amongst United Nations Peacekeepers...
Or will you continue deny suffering human beings their right for justice, because you feel that justice is a luxury that can only be given to those with a Canadian Citizenship?"
Posted by Amneet Singh to THE ROAD TO KHALISTAN at Sunday, 01 July, 2007