Rajvinder Kahlon - You Will Be Missed

My friend, simmal tree, posted this picture along with this story from the Surrey Leader on his flickr account

YOU WILL BE MISSED

An improvised memorial to toddler Rajvinder Kahlon is slowly growing, one bouquet of flowers at a time, on the front lawn of her family home in the 7800 block of 116 Street in North Delta.

Two ceramic fairies and three plush teddy bears, pink, green and red, stand guard over the candles, flowers and sympathy cards.

“You will be missed little one,” reads one.

“Peace be with you.”

Rajvinder died inside the house Friday morning while her mother was walking her two older sisters to a nearby elementary school.

Her father, 47-year-old Lakhvinder Kahlon, has been charged with first-degree murder.

On Monday, North Delta residents Heather Colpitts and Travis Tipton added some chrysanthemums and a card to the memorial.

Their son, Hunter, is 21 months old, close enough to Rajvinder’s age that his mother needed a moment to compose herself.

“It’s sick and sad,” she said, wiping a tear away. “I can’t get my mind around it.”

At age two and a half, Rajvinder Kahlon was tall for her age, standing almost three feet, a playful dark-haired girl with large expressive brown eyes who loved to sing traditional Punjabi-language tunes.

Most relatives believed Rajvinder would grow up taller than her two older sisters.

Her family lived in the upstairs of the recently renovated house in North Delta.

The windows of the 1970s-era two-storey wood frame stucco house have been replaced with modern glass and the gutters redone.

It’s a tidy home with cheerful light-blue and white walls.

The Kahlons shared it with a younger family of four, who lived downstairs.

On school days, Rajvinder would wait for her older sisters to come home so they could play songs on the computer and she would sing along.

Last Friday, as she normally did, Rajvinder’s mother Manjit took her two older daughters to school, walking them down the street to McCloskey Elementary.

She left her youngest with her husband.

When she returned, she discovered her daughter was dead.

Witness Sarbjeet Bath told CTV News she saw Manjit screaming on the front lawn of the house.

On Monday, Lakhvinder Kahlon made his first court appearance, just long enough for a Surrey Provincial Court judge to order a mental fitness test by a psychiatrist.

Kahlon will remain in custody until his next court appearance in February.

He is a short, stocky man with close-cropped hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His hair is almost completely white.

As he listened to a translator, Kahlon scanned the courtroom with haunted eyes.

It did not appear that any family members attended.

People who know the family say Kahlon became depressed after the birth of his youngest child. He had wanted a son, they say.

A relative has issued a plea on behalf of the family to the public and media to avoid speculation.

The family is devastated by the slaying, says the spokesman, who identified himself only as Jimmy.

“It’s unimaginable.”

Outside court, anti-violence activist Lali Pawa of the “We Can” campaign issued a similar caution against concluding the killing was somehow cultural.

“This is something that is horrific to everyone.”

dferguson@surreyleader

This was my response:

This is beyond sad.

Even beyond tragic.

How is Bhainji Manjit coping? And this story doesn't include the horrible, bloody details of what she found.

And if this murder wasn't about a cultural preference for boys over girls, what was it about? Can't we stop glossing over the evils in our midst? We need to confront them directly, eyes wide open, fearlessly, hearts and minds wide open, and

PUT AN END TO THESE ATROCITIES AGAINST GIRLS AND WOMEN!

If this is speculation, so be it!

This murder must wake up our community to put an end to this evil!

Gender preference has no place in our community. It should, it can and it must be stamped out!

Sorry for the tirade, but someone needs to say these things plainly and clearly, in a way that cannot be misconstrued.

I guess The Road To Khalistan needs to address this.

And so here we are addressing it. I have no more to say.

Except:

Just look into this child's eyes,
This LITTLE GIRL'S eyes.

They will never see anything,
ever again.

They cannot cry.
But you can,
I can.

Let our tears mean something.

Let us band together to end this atrocity.

It can be done.

It must be done.

And WE must do it!
NOW!

And Yet Another Sleepless Night

Since the events of early November, 1984, I have had a terribly difficult time sleeping. To paraphrase, I suppose, 'Sleep no more! Rajiv doth murder sleep.'*

So many nights I lie awake thinking. For me to get up and do anything would wake up my husband and one of us should sleep so I just think and very quietly jap naam.

Last night I thought about those 20 years of my (self-imposed) exile. Until autumn of 1986, I was simply too disoriented to - anything. I played with little Hope and regained my physical strength after a fashion, but spiritually I was empty. Even Amrit turned sour. Eventually I chopped off my kesh and walked out of my family and my life.

I spent the next years of my life trying to regain my head. 'Guru Ji, give it back! I need it!'

'No. You gave it to me. It's not yours any more.'

Time after time a hundred times, I begged for it back and always the answer was, 'No.'

How wise and merciful is our Guru Ji! Only that refusal made possible my homecoming.

I have learned that Amrit is, after all, sweet, and my head is better off in hands other than my own.

Just some thoughts on another sleepless night.

*From Macbeth by William Shakespeare:
Methought I heard a voice cry, "Sleep no more! Macbeth doth murder sleep! - the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care, The death of each day 's life, sore labor 's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature 's second course, Chief nourisher in life 's feast."
Macbeth 2:2. {Macbeth').

Painting: The Blessed Encounter by Simmal Tree

Used with permission

--
Some see things as they are and ask, Why?
I dream things that never were and ask, Why not?
Bobby Kennedy

Laibar Singh Ji - In The Khaleej Times

As a slight change of pace, here is a view of Uncle/Brother Laibar Ji from The
Khaleej Times in Dubai, United Arab Enirates.

An unwelcome guest

BY GEORGE ABRAHAM

24 January 2008



A FEW months ago, Canadians were aghast to learn that their visa mission in India had been deliberately denying entry to certain people with the last name, Singh or Kaur. Now, they are furious that a certain Laibar Singh continues to be an unwelcome guest in Canada.


The 48-year-old refugee claimant arrived from Punjab in India in November, 2003. He claimed to be fearful of his life because the Indian police had accused him of being a Sikh extremist and would torture him if they found him alive. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, which has the onerous responsibility of verifying the stories of each asylum seeker, did not believe him. They ruled his claims "not credible" and ordered his deportation.

Up until this point, there was nothing extraordinary about Singh's story. Like thousands of refugees before him, he had landed in Canada using forged papers, and the board's refusal was part of a worldwide trend which has seen Western governments becoming more sceptical about asylum seekers.

Singh's case would have therefore joined the hundreds of unsung others who are deported every year. But fate intervened in 2006 when he suffered an aneurysm that has left him quadriplegic. He cannot take care of himself, and without family in Canada, it fell to his ethnic Sikh community to fill the gap. Not only have they been volunteering their medical services and housed him in their places of worship, the community has physically blocked his deportation — twice — over the last one month.

The National Post seemed to sum up the mood of much of the nation when it said in its opinion columns last week that, "The whole affair is a complete moral disaster — one that grows worse with every minute the unfortunate gentleman stays on our soil."

With 30,000 refugee claimants waiting in queue in Canada, in addition to asylum seekers in various UN camps in strife-torn zones all over the world, Singh's case has become a lightning rod. Some have speculated that the government is treading gingerly because of an impending spring election where the so-called ethnic vote can be critical in several ridings (constituencies), particularly in the urban centres of Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.

At issue is whether or not Singh will receive good medical care in his native land of India. A member of the CBSA's advisory committee, Don DeVoretz, who is also an economics professor at Simon Fraser University in BC, weighed into the debate by suggesting a typically "Canadian way" to resolve the stand-off. He said it would be un-Canadian for government officers to forcibly enter a temple and force Singh into a plane. Instead, the government should guarantee that it will ensure that he has access to good medical care in India, the professor said.

However, other commentators saw the health issue as a bogey intended to keep Singh in Canada indefinitely and thereby defy the removal order. They also point out that Singh has four children in India who need their father's love and care. Canadians are also wary of being perceived as gullible — taken in by every tale of woe — and want to be seen as a society that upholds the rule of law, even in situations such as Singh's where compassion may dictate otherwise.

Even as the debate rages in the media, battle lines are being drawn. A small but dedicated band of supporters has made it plain that they will do virtually anything to stop the government from sending Singh back to India. On the other side are people who want to stop Canada from being a magnet for the world's tired and hungry masses.

A Nieman scholar from Harvard University, George Abraham writes from Ottawa. Reach him at diplomat01@rogers.com

The 10 Commandments

This has been sitting in my in box since New Year's Day. I hadn't yet decided what to do with it. But I need to decide now. I'm cleaning out my overflowing in box. I already posted the turban video with all those charming Sikhs. OK, so

I'll post this from The Indian Express, even as I download 'The Dancing Singhs" on YouTube.

The 10 commandments

Posted online: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST
Chandigarh, December 31

The God gave Moses ten imperatives which mankind should have followed for noble living. People from the region interpreted these commandments quite literally. Read on...

1) Thou shall not have any other gods. I am your lord
Ask Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim. As if a name featuring three lords wasn’t sufficient to
remind people of his presence, he decided to quiet literally don the attire of a highly venerable Sikh Guru.

2) Do not make any idols
Again we took it literally. Instead of an Indian idol, we preferred Voice of India. Ishmeet Singh got not just awards and felicitations, but also job offers, marriage proposals, advertising contracts and much more. Meanwhile, the SGPC also decided that it is better to have portraits than idols even if it involved the absurdity of hanging the image of a secessionist leader in the museum near one of mankind’s holiest and purest shrines.

3) Do not misuse the name of God
Too many custodians of God wanted to make sure that his name wasn’t misused. So a little-known Shahi Imam issued a fatwa against Aroosa Alam. An even lesser known right-wing party called for a ban on the movie Jab We Met. Reason: They felt a Hindu boy marrying a Sikh girl was blasphemous.

4) Keep the Sabbath Holy
God said keep the Sundays holy and an over-eager Punjab government decided to give hallowed status to a major portion of the year. Apart from Saturdays and Sundays, there are 31 public holidays and restricted offs. Mathematically speaking, it constitutes more than one-third of the year.

5) Honour your father and mother
Nobody exemplifies it better than Sukhbir Badal. Concerned at the sheer magnitude of his father’s onerous duties, he has decided to share his responsibilities. Conducting meetings with bureaucrats, taking official decisions and deciding on government’s policy stands are some areas where he has alleviated the burdens of the Chief Minister.
6) Do not murder

This is a commandment that applies to each one of us in the region who balk at the thought of a girl child and have no qualms about taking every possible step to ensure that she doesn’t see the light of the day.

7) Do not commit adultery
Tch tch…People are so touchy about this that the mere presence of a female friend raises their hackles. Capt Amarinder Singh’s proximity with a friend from across the border is leading to him being hauled over the coals. Similarly, G.S. Bali’s alleged rendezvous with bar dancers led to his exit from the Himachal ministry. So, walk the straight and narrow. Sigh!

8) Do not steal
Finance Minister Manpreet Badal has been nobly exhorting his state’s denizens to pay the government its due. In his endeavour, he has made moving speeches, given glaring examples, shocking statistics and adapted novel methods of tax compliances. But despite that, tax collection remain abysmal in Punjab.

9) Do not lie
Yes, please, please don’t. Right to Information (RTI) has ensured that fibbing cannot go undetected for long.

10) Do not covet
Covetousness isn’t about neighbour’s wife or house only. So many persons coveted positions which didn’t belong to them and had disastrous results. Surinder Singla wanted to be an MP, Bhajan Lal wanted to be the CM, Vijai Singh Mankotia wanted more prominence than was warranted. Alas, they were all cut to size.


Now what is your reaction? I think I'll be annoying and put in a poll. I haven't done that for a while.

I'm trying to find a widget that will translate English into Gurmukhi. Does anyone know of such a thing?

And while I'm being annoying, I will officially make my endorsement for the US President: Dennis Kucinich. I have no endorsement for the Repulican nod. Put in a Mormon (Romney) or a Christian evangelical (Huckabee), and we'll find ourselves living under the Christian equivalent of sharia law. And McCain supports the war in Iraq. They're all a bunch of losers. No one worthy of my nod. Of course, since I'm Canadian, I can't vote.. Still I live here and do have opinions.

Dal Khalsa of America

I don't really have the energy to write tonight, but this from Dal Khalsa of America showed up in my inbox a couple days ago and I thought you would enjoy it. It is in both English and Punjabi.

This Is Why Sikhs are Hot (from the Sikh Coalition)

I just found this irresistible and wanted to share it.