Imagine my astonishment when I went to the CBC website and saw a link to right here!
Hello to all you people who normally wouldn't be reading this blog. Welcome and enjoy!
I just listened to CBC-BC news at 6:00pm. The coverage came after the news of a police shooting, a crack house and the Pickton verdict. You might think they were a little embarrassed or something.
I was chatting with a friend who was listening to Punjabi radio while this was going on. It was reported there that he had been driven to a gurdwara. I feel so good right now. And so proud of the sangat. We squabble about everything, but when the chips are down, all those chips come together to form a solid wall. To get to Bhai Laibar Ji now, our enemies will have to destroy that wall. And they won't be able to, OF COURSE!!
Here is an excellent article from The Vancouver Sun, Kimmy's newspaper.
And here is one from Earthtimes:
In their biggest anti-government rally since the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, thousands of Indo-Canadians forced authorities to stop the deportation of a paralysed Sikh.
The news said that the order of deportation has been stayed and they won't say when that stay will be lifted. hhehehehehehehehe...
I know, I know. Valiant in defeat, gracious in victory. I just don't feel very gracious right now. (HI, KIMMY!!!) We'll be telling our grandchildren the story of how - without firing a shot or drawing a sword - an army of a thousand Singhs and Kaurs defeated the evil elements in the Canadian Tory government on a winter day in 2007 - with shouts of JAIKAARAA and the help of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj and, of course, with the blessings of Vaheguru.
VAHEGURU JI
VAHEGURU JI
VAHEGURU JI
VICTORY!!
JO BOLE SO NIHAAL!
SAT SRI AKAAL!!
BHAI LAIBAR SINGH JI IS NOT ON AN AIRPLANE HEADING TO INDIA!!!
He is in a gurdwara in Vancouver. More than
PLEASE NOTE: WE HAVE WON THIS BATTLE, BUT THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER. CANADA MAY - PROBABLY WILL - STILL TRY TO DEPORT THIS BROTHER. OUR JOB IS TO STOP THEM WHATEVER THAT TAKES!!
(For those who might not know, here is a good discussion of the meaning of Jaikara, our 'War Cry. I am going to reprint part of this on sometimes - 2, since most of my readers there are not Sikh.)
Here is a link to the news report from Vancouver CBC News at noon:
VIDEO: Raw footage of protest against deportation of Laibar Singh at Vancouver airport (Runs 2:49)
Deportation protesters snarl traffic at Vancouver airport
More than 1,000 people blocked traffic at Vancouver International Airport's departures terminal Monday morning, in an effort to stop the Canadian government from deporting paralyzed refugee claimant Laibar Singh from Vancouver to India.
More than 1,000 protesters at Vancouver International Airport's departure terminal attempted to block the deportation of Laibar Singh on Monday.
(CBC)
The federal government granted Laibar Singh a 60-day stay of the deportation order on Aug. 19, the day before he was expected to be deported. His deportation was later scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PT Monday at Vancouver airport.
Singh came to Canada in 2003 on a forged passport, but suffered a massive stroke three years later that left him a quadriplegic and unable to care for himself.
He has since argued that he will die if he is deported to India because he won't be able to get proper medical treatment.
Singh initially sought refugee status in 2003 on the grounds that he would be persecuted by police in Punjab, where officials have accused him of links to separatist militants, but his refugee claim was denied that year.
His appeals to stay in Canada were turned down by immigration officials, who ruled Singh couldn't remain because he doesn't have adequate community ties.
Laibar Singh came to Canada in 2003 on a forged passport and suffered a massive stroke last year that left him a quadriplegic.
(CBC)
That's something his supporter, Harsha Walia, of the refugee rights group No One Is Illegal, said is outrageous, based on the support the community has already shown for him.
Walia said 40,000 people have signed a petition urging Ottawa to allow Singh to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds.
Singh has avoided deportation twice already.
He was first scheduled to be deported on July 8, 2007, but sought sanctuary at the Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib Society temple in Abbotsford instead.
The Canada Border Services Agency then arrested Singh on Aug. 13 at an Abbotsford, B.C., hospital, after he left the Sikh temple to seek medical attention.
With files from the Canadian Press
sat siri akaaaaaaaal
ReplyDeleteI believe this is the first time in 23 years I don't feel any pain anywhere!
ReplyDeleteSAT SRI AKAAAAAAAAAAL!!!
So few comments and none of dissent: curious indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nation governed by laws. When my parents emmigrated to Canada they chose to accept those laws and to follow legal processes should they disagree. I, too, believe in the law and due process. However, of what value is the rule of law when it can be over-powered by mob rule?
Don't like a court ruling? Break the law and gather a mob to prevent a justly and legally decided deportation from taking place. Are you forgetting why our democratic nation is so great? Mob rule is not the answer. Accept defeat graciously, as we all must, for surely it will come.
Dear Tel, Thank you for your comment and for not cussing at me.
ReplyDeleteWhat you say would be true if illegal immigration were a capital crime. I, too, had a major stroke, not as massive as Mr. Singh's, but still very serious. I was warned that flying could be fatal. The fact is that even the doctors said he was in no condition to fly; it would likely have been fatal. Others have been permitted to stay in Canada under similar conditions. We take great pride that, unlike the barbarians to the south, we have no death penalty here. Or do we?
Sometimes what is legal - such as this deportation - lacks humanity. Surely, a little mercy is not beyond our great country.
Injustice is often corrected by what you call 'mob action,' demonstrations of the will of the people.
I will never accept defeat. Let me quote my Dad, who for many years was in Canada illegally, having committed the crime of being from India:
When your enemy has you flat on your back, his boot in your face, his knife at your throat and his gun at your temple, laugh at him,'You can kill me, but you can't defeat me.' That's chardi kala, that's what it means to be Sikh.
It is curious, but I hope you are not suggesting I've deleted any; if I had they would still show up as 'comment deleted by author.'
ReplyDeleteIllegal immigration IS a crime in this country and a violation of the rule of law.
ReplyDeleteMr Singh has been granted three separate hearings (hence a chance to make full argument) and has been turned down every time. Note that, even after he arrived, he continued to lie about his circumstances (including the truth, so it appears, about his medical condition.)
Permitting him to flout CDN law is a spit in the face of every immigrant who, in respect of the rule of law, submits to the system and plays by the defined rules.
And to suggest that, in Canada, the crime of illegal immigration is a "capital offence" demonstrates a breath-taking ignorance of Canadian law: capital punishment was abolished in this country over forty years ago.
Attempts to substitute mob rule for the rule of law are a black mark against the reputation of the Sikh community, particularly in the eyes of Canadians outside of the community.
Dear Bruce,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and for your civility.
I think, looking back a month later, perhaps this post was a bit over the top. I will not, however, apologise for standing up for what I know to be right, that is, placing a human life above money and the need to make an example of someone, to stand up against injustice.
I do not know if Mr. Singh's medical conditionhas been caused by an aneurism or an infection as has been suggested. I doubt whether he knows. The fact is that the man is a quadriplegic and totally disabled. I myself had a major stroke in April 2006 and am considered totally disabled although I can do many things Mr. Singh cannot, such as walk, sit and, obviously, type.
As for the capital punishment thing, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are not being willfully obtuse. I, too, am a Canadian and, like most Canadians, hold our long-time ban on capital punishment as a point of great pride, clear evidence of Canada's respect for human life. My point was that a long airplane flight might well prove fatal for a man in Mr. Singh's precarious condition. To force him into such a position is tatamount to an execution. Now am I clear?
There are times in life when it becomes necessary to uphold one's beliefs at whatever cost. I think the Sikh community as a whole has decided this is one of those times and has chosen to uphold Mr. Singh's right to dignity and life even above the reputation of the community. Let me also point out that Mr. Singh has many supporters who are neither Sikh nor South Asian, just good old garden variety Canadians.