Their recent outcries denouncing the supposed 'glorifications of violence' at Sikh Nagar Keertans are problematic for several reasons. It is a known fact that the organizing Guruduaara committee of the Vancouver Nagar Keertan, an event attended by Ujjal Dosanjh, Premier Campbell and Dave Hayer, prominently features Bhai Mewa Singh Lapoke's picture and has named the Langar Hall after him. 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 Guruduaara in 1914. Bhai Mewa Singh turned himself in and was given the death penalty under Canadian Law. Why no fuss over the 'glorification of violence' here?

 

And what of Bhagat Singh? Who Ujjal Dosanjh and Dave Hayer, along with, majority of the South Asian community revere 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?"

 

The truth is, their actions time and time again demonstrate a malicious attitude towards the Sikh community, at large. They do not stand for Canadian ideals like Freedom, Equality and Justice; the only conclusion, one can draw is that they stand for their own personal gain. 

 

With regards to their disparaging remarks concerning the advocacy of a sovereign Sikh state, Khalistan, they only serve to further illustrate their ignorance of Canadian law, as well as, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; freedom of opinion and expression is a fundamental freedom protected by Canadian law. This freedom is further strengthened by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Sikh Nation will continue to actively exercise this right to advocate for an independent Sikh state in a democratic manner. 

 

The concept of a sovereign Sikh state based on ideals of Naam Japna, Vand Chhakna and Kirath Karnee has resided within Sikh ethos since the conception of the Khalsa and manifested itself into Khalsa Raj in 1710 under the leadership of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. The notion of a separate Sikh state named Khalistan, itself, was suggested as early as 1946 before the partition of India and Pakistan by an english soldier named Landon Sassfield, author of 'Betrayal of the Sikhs.' 

 

"Mr. Jinnah claims for the muslims, the right to self determination - as a nation - and asserts this is their birthright; perfectly correct and logical in every way. But are the Sikhs not also entitled to the right of self determination as a nation? Are they not as virile, as civilized, and as capable of governing themselves as a separate nation? ... If the Muslims are entitled to Pakistan in those areas where they predominate, then equally, the Sikhs are entitled to Khalistan , where they are in the majority."

 

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' 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 of the Brahmanical hegemony imposed on the Sikh Nation constitutes 'terrorism,' is dangerously misguided. 

 

It is, however, not too late to make amends. In the spirit of Canadian ideals and the Sikh virtue of forgiveness, it is high time that both, Ujjal Dosanjh and Dave Hayer, apologize to the Sikh community of Canada - and at large - for their constant slander and defamation of the Sikh struggle for independence over the years, and as true Canadians that they stood side-by-side with the Sikh Nation as advocates for Sikh self-determination in Khalistan. 

 

 

Prabjot Singh