Update - REPRIEVE - LAIBAR SINGH IN SANCTUARY

Vaheguru has blessed the Saadh Sangat. Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj has come to the aid of his Khalsa children..The Canadian Border Service is honouring the gurdwara as sanctuary - for now. Once again our dear brother has been pulled back from the edge of the precipice.

.

ANNOUNCEMENT - PRESS RELEASE

.

No One Is Illegal-Toronto along with various Sikh Youth Activists and Organizations will be hosting a press release for the media tomorrow. For those interested in attending and/or speaking, it will be taking place at 10am, 25 St. Clair East. Downtown Toronto."

.

UPDATE - 1O January 1:30 PM

.

I have no new information, but I do have a couple of blogs you will like to check out. The first, Dust My Broom, by His Tory-ness Darcey, actually quotes this post! Darcey, this is a war only in a symbolic sense, sort of David and Goliath, to get biblical.

.

The second blog, maisonneuve, presents a more balanced view of the case and contains some excellent news links that I'm too worn out to put in here. It's worth a read.

.

UPDATE - 1:30 AM

(What's the matter with you, woman; have you forgotten how to sleep?)

.

I came across this rather compelling and hopeful - for us - article that suggests that the CBS will, in practical terms, have to let Laibar Ji stay because they've bungled things so badly up to this point. From The Province. (Shouldn't someone explain to them that it's no disgrace to be defeated by the Sikhs? Or maybe not, just leave well enough alone.)

.

And India eNews is suggesting that the 'White' community is a bit annoyed with the CBSA's seeming inability to deport Uncle Laibar Ji. Well, the word they actually used is 'outraged.'

.

UPDATE - 10:00 PM

No new news links this time. I wrote and published a post on sometimes - 2, my personal blog about my life in roughly the last 24 hours. I think some of you would enjoy reading it; if so, go here. It will probably be cross posted over here eventually, but for now, I want to leave this as the lead post on this blog. Now I am going to check out my e-mail. I see there are now 55 unread messages. Sheesh. Most of them will be from the Gurmat Learning Zone (GLZ) and the International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO), two groups I belong to. Those can wait, if necessary. But some few will be personal to me and those need to be answered. So off I go. (I most sincerely hope there are no Laibar Singh Google Alert Updates! A futile wish, I know. Actually I got no more updates until around 1:30 AM)

.

UPDATE - 5:00 PM

.

A couple of new links

.

From India eNews, an article.

.

From MediaScrape, a CBC video

.

ORIGINAL POSTING - THIS MORNING

.

Here is the story from The Vancouver Sun (Kim Bolan's newspaper.)

.

And here is a link to a blogger who was there from the Hammond Face.

.

And here is the print story from CBC, along with a link to the video. Here is a direct link to their comments. Please voice your support for Laibar Ji here, and remember to be calm and well mannered whatever you may read others writing about him and us..

.

And from The Province. Be sure to read the comments, or at least a few of them. Such hatred!

.

Photo from The Vancouver Sun.

EMERGENCY!!! - PLAN TO DEPORT LAIBAR SINGH THIS MORNING!!!!

Subject: EMERGENCY - KIDNAPPING AND DEPORTATION SCHEDULED TONIGHT

CANADIAN AUTHORITIES PLAN TO KIDNAP AND DEPORT LAIBAR SINGH EARLY THIS MORNING, AT 4:00 AM. iF YOU ARE IN SOUTHERN BC, STOP THEM. PEACEFULLY AND LAWFULLY, OF COURSE!!!

Today At 4:55pm CBSA Notified Laibar Singh that he is going to be deported Wednesday, January 9th 2008 At 4:30am. Laibar Singh has been at the Surrey Guru Nanak Sikh Temple since December 15th

URGENT ACTIONS:

1. We are meeting at the Surrey Gurudwara at 4:00AM - Join us if you can. Call: 778-999-9219 /604-779-7430 For More Information.(See Below For Directions)

2. VANCOUVER SUPPORT RALLY:
Wednesday, January 9th at 3pm
Citizenship Immigration Canada
300 West Georgia Street At Hamilton

“As a compassionate people Canadians should embrace Mr. Singh and not deport an individual who has the support of thousands of Canadians, trade unionists, disability advocates, and community organizations. He is a paraplegic man who needs our support and needs medical treatment, not immigration enforcement”
– Fred Muzin, President of the Hospital Employees Union

“A state that does not respect sacred space, of no matter which religion, is violating a “zone of peace, ” a “state of exception.” The deportation of Laibar Singh from Sanctuary and in the face of massive public support for this man’s right to dignity and to live with his community is a fragrant violation not only of Sanctuary but of the basic human rights of disabled persons, of asylum seekers and of the democratic will of a significant proportion of the population.”
Dr. Denise Nadeau , Interfaith Community Consultative Committee of the Interfaith Summer Institute.
“In a deliberate attempt to thwart public outcry and support, the Canadian Border Service Agency provided laibar singh and his legal counsel with less than ten hours notice. The decision to deport him at this absurd hour in the morning is malicious and under-handed”
– Harjap Grewal of No One Is Illegal

For more information:
www.supportlaibar.blogspot.com
www.noii-van@resist.ca

**Directions to this morning’s action:
take Knight Street
#91 East Surrey/Delta - over the Alex Fraser…
Take left exit 72nd Avenue
72nd to Scott Road
Right on Scott Road
Left in Surrey Temple Parking Lot (7050, 120th)

BRIEF HISTORY:

Mr. Laibar Singh came to Canada in 2003 and his refugee claim has been rejected based mostly on minor inconsistencies. Mr. Singh suffered from an aneurysm in August 2006 that left him paralyzed and unable to feed himself. Prior to suffering from his aneurysm, Mr. Singh worked as a labourer. He received his first deportation order for July 8, 2007 but took sanctuary on July 7, 2007 in the Abbotsford Sahib Kalgidhar Darbar Gurudwara. While in sanctuary, Mr. Singh’s health deteriorated and he had to be hospitalized. On Monday August 13, while in the hospital, Abbottsford police and Canadian Border Services Agency officers detained Mr. Laibar Singh. Due to immense community and political pressure, Mr. Singh was granted a 60-day stay first on August 20th and then another stay on October 20th 2007, pending a decision on his humanitarian and compassionate claim.

His humanitarian and compassionate claim was refused in November 2007, rendered largely on the basis that he ‘does not have significant ties to Canada`. This is clearly a false assessment and one that appears to be motivated by the politics of the Conservative party rather than any real consideration of the facts, which includes over 40,000 petition signatures that were presented to Parliament in October 2007.

Laibar Singh was due to be deported on December 10, however, upwards to 1500 of Singh’s supporters rallied at the airport prior to his deportation, and peacefully blocked the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) officials from getting to the taxi where Singh was waiting.

Sanctuary ,