A Little More About Brother Laibar Singh Ji

This article doesn't really say anything new - except maybe he shouldn't call the cops for help, lol. Would someone please inform me about the demonstration on Saturday! Was there a demonstration on Saturday? I want to report, but I can't unless I get some infoirmation!

Anyway, here's the article from 660 News (All New Radio):

Paralyzed Sikh man's supporters mark anniversary of his seeking temple sanctuary

July 13, 2008 - 11:47 am

By: Jeremy Hainsworth, THE CANADIAN PRESS

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - As paralyzed refugee claimant Laibar Singh marked one year in sanctuary Sunday, his supporters were concerned about visits by Canada Border Services agents to the Sikh temple where he has sought sanctuary.

Spokeswoman Harsha Walia said the unannounced visits are making the tradition of religious sanctuary meaningless.

"The fact that they're entering into sanctuary without notice and without consent is of concern," Walia said.

"Immigration authorities themselves have typically respected sanctuary because that's the intention of that tradition, but for them even to come for any purpose is a concern.

"It's just told to them that they really shouldn't be doing that," Walia said. "They haven't attempted a removal because they know he's in sanctuary but it is a little bit alarming."

Singh came to Canada on a false passport in 2003.

His appeals to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds have been complicated by the fact that he was left a quadriplegic after suffering an aneurysm three years ago.

His refugee claim was denied because the government believed he did not have sufficient ties to Canada, although supporters pledged money to pay the costs of his care.

Singh was initially to be deported in June 2007, but took sanctuary in the Sikh temple in Abbotsford, about 60 kilometres east of Vancouver.

He has been provided shelter in several Vancouver area Sikh temples but is currently at the Abbotsford gurdwara.

He has been granted two extensions to remain while his refugee claim was dealt with.

A deportation order was issued in December despite claims that his health would suffer if he was returned to India, where he has family.

He is being cared for by supporters and doctors who are donating their services.

Walia said in an interview that Singh's health remains precarious.

"His medical condition is always up and down," she said.

"He's really stressed out (and) has a high degree of anxiety particularly because he's in a place where he can't leave because of fear of being detained and or being deported."

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who is responsible for the CBSA, suggested in January that the law would eventually be upheld in Singh's case.

And Border Services Agency spokesman Chris Williams said the same month that the fact a person is in a place of worship to avoid deportation will not stop the enforcement of a deportation order.

Day also rejected suggestions the agency might look weak due to its handling of the case. He noted when a crowd of Singh's supporters forced the cancellation of a January removal effort, agents had instead shown "sensitivity" to a situation possibly becoming inflammatory.

The minister noted the CBSA successfully removes 12,000 people a year.

Visits to Singh at the Abbotsford temple would not be the first time officials had allegedly violated the tradition of sanctuary in B.C.

An Iranian refugee claimant who spent almost three years in sanctuary in a Vancouver church was arrested in February 2007.

Amir Kazemian said he'd been tortured in Iran and had been living at St. Michael's Anglican Church in east Vancouver since June 2004 when he sought sanctuary from a deportation order.

The Canada Border Services Agency released Kazemian after Citizenship and Immigration officials granted permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate grounds not long after the arrest.

Kazemian had reportedly called police to the church himself to investigate complaints he had been receiving harassing telephone calls relating to a business deal.

The attending officer arrested Kazemian after a check of his name found an immigration arrest warrant from June 2004.

B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said the police officer was simply doing his job when he arrested Kazemian on an outstanding warrant

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN?
YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

South Africa And Palestine

Of course, this blog mostly covers Sikh issues; that is one of the reasons it exists.




From time to time, though, I feel the need to include items from the world community. I read this article from Haartez, an Israeli newspaper and was simply stunned. I know many Khalistanis, including myself, feel a sort of kinship with the Palestinians, being dispossessed from our own homeland by people who insist they have the better claim. Nevertheless, I try not to get sidetracked too much into the Palestinian/Israeli issue; it is too thorny, too complex and, to be completely honest, too depressing for me to dwell on.





This article hit me between the eyes, but I was going to let it pass until I noticed it was from an Israeli newspaper. I give you no pretty pictures, no ugly pictures, no distractions. Just the flags of the involved parties.


So let us, for a few moments, focus on some problems and heartbreak of our sisters and brothers of Palestine.

From Haartez

_{Last update - 09:40 12/07/2008}

Twilight Zone / 'Worse than apartheid'

_{By Gideon Levy}

I thought they would feel right at home in the alleys of Balata refugee camp, the Casbah and the Hawara checkpoint. But they said there is no comparison: for them the Israeli occupation regime is worse than anything they knew under apartheid. This week, 21 human rights activists from South Africa visited Israel. Among them were members of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress; at least one of them took part in the armed struggle and at least two were jailed. There were two South African Supreme Court judges, a former deputy minister, members of Parliament, attorneys, writers and journalists. Blacks and whites, about half of them Jews who today are in conflict with attitudes of the conservative Jewish community in their country. Some of them have been here before; for others it was their first visit.

For five days they paid an unconventional visit to Israel - without Sderot, the IDF and the Foreign Ministry (but with Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and a meeting with Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch. They spent most of their time in the occupied areas, where hardly any official guests go - places that are also shunned by most Israelis.

On Monday they visited Nablus, the most imprisoned city in the West Bank. From Hawara to the Casbah, from the Casbah to Balata, from Joseph's Tomb to the monastery of Jacob's Well. They traveled from Jerusalem to Nablus via Highway 60, observing the imprisoned villages that have no access to the main road, and seeing the "roads for the natives," which pass under the main road. They saw and said nothing. There were no separate roads under apartheid. They went through the Hawara checkpoint mutely: they never had such barriers.

Jody Kollapen, who was head of Lawyers for Human Rights in the apartheid regime, watches silently. He sees the "carousel" into which masses of people are jammed on their way to work, visit family or go to the hospital. Israeli peace activist Neta Golan, who lived for several years in the besieged city, explains that only 1 percent of the inhabitants are allowed to leave the city by car, and they are suspected of being collaborators with Israel. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a former deputy minister of defense and of health and a current member of Parliament, a revered figure in her country, notices a sick person being taken through on a stretcher and is shocked. "To deprive people of humane medical care? You know, people die because of that," she says in a muted voice.

The tour guides - Palestinian activists - explain that Nablus is closed off by six checkpoints. Until 2005, one of them was open. "The checkpoints are supposedly for security purposes, but anyone who wants to perpetrate an attack can pay NIS 10 for a taxi and travel by bypass roads, or walk through the hills.

The real purpose is to make life hard for the inhabitants. The civilian population suffers," says Said Abu Hijla, a lecturer at Al-Najah University in the city.

In the bus I get acquainted with my two neighbors: Andrew Feinstein, a son of Holocaust survivors who is married to a Muslim woman from Bangladesh and served six years as an MP for the ANC; and Nathan Gefen, who has a male Muslim partner and was a member of the right-wing Betar movement in his youth. Gefen is active on the Committee against AIDS in his AIDS-ravaged country.

"Look left and right," the guide says through a loudspeaker, "on the top of every hill, on Gerizim and Ebal, is an Israeli army outpost that is watching us." Here are bullet holes in the wall of a school, there is Joseph's Tomb, guarded by a group of armed Palestinian policemen. Here there was a checkpoint, and this is where a woman passerby was shot to death two years ago. The government building that used to be here was bombed and destroyed by F-16 warplanes. A thousand residents of Nablus were killed in the second intifada, 90 of them in Operation Defensive Shield - more than in Jenin. Two weeks ago, on the day the Gaza Strip truce came into effect, Israel carried out its last two assassinations here for the time being. Last night the soldiers entered again and arrested people.

It has been a long time since tourists visited here. There is something new: the numberless memorial posters that were pasted to the walls to commemorate the fallen have been replaced by marble monuments and metal plaques in every corner of the Casbah.

"Don't throw paper into the toilet bowl, because we have a water shortage," the guests are told in the offices of the Casbah Popular Committee, located high in a spectacular old stone building. The former deputy minister takes a seat at the head of the table. Behind her are portraits of Yasser Arafat, Abu Jihad and Marwan Barghouti - the jailed Tanzim leader. Representatives of the Casbah residents describe the ordeals they face. Ninety percent of the children in the ancient neighborhood suffer from anemia and malnutrition, the economic situation is dire, the nightly incursions are continuing, and some of the inhabitants are not allowed to leave the city at all. We go out for a tour on the trail of devastation wrought by the IDF over the years.

Edwin Cameron, a judge on the Supreme Court of Appeal, tells his hosts: "We came here lacking in knowledge and are thirsty to know. We are shocked by what we have seen until now. It is very clear to us that the situation here is intolerable." A poster pasted on an outside wall has a photograph of a man who spent 34 years in an Israeli prison. Mandela was incarcerated seven years less than that. One of the Jewish members of the delegation is prepared to say, though not for attribution, that the comparison with apartheid is very relevant and that the Israelis are even more efficient in implementing the separation-of-races regime than the South Africans were. If he were to say this publicly, he would be attacked by the members of the Jewish community, he says.

Under a fig tree in the center of the Casbah one of the Palestinian activists explains: "The Israeli soldiers are cowards. That is why they created routes of movement with bulldozers. In doing so they killed three generations of one family, the Shubi family, with the bulldozers." Here is the stone monument to the family - grandfather, two aunts, mother and two children. The words "We will never forget, we will never forgive" are engraved on the stone.

No less beautiful than the famed Paris cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, the central cemetery of Nablus rests in the shadow of a large grove of pine trees. Among the hundreds of headstones, those of the intifada victims stand out. Here is the fresh grave of a boy who was killed a few weeks ago at the Hawara checkpoint. The South Africans walk quietly between the graves, pausing at the grave of the mother of our guide, Abu Hijla. She was shot 15 times. "We promise you we will not surrender," her children wrote on the headstone of the woman who was known as "mother of the poor."

Lunch is in a hotel in the city, and Madlala-Routledge speaks. "It is hard for me to describe what I am feeling. What I see here is worse than what we experienced. But I am encouraged to find that there are courageous people here. We want to support you in your struggle, by every possible means. There are quite a few Jews in our delegation, and we are very proud that they are the ones who brought us here. They are demonstrating their commitment to support you. In our country we were able to unite all the forces behind one struggle, and there were courageous whites, including Jews, who joined the struggle. I hope we will see more Israeli Jews joining your struggle."

She was deputy defense minister from 1999 to 2004; in 1987 she served time in prison. Later, I asked her in what ways the situation here is worse than apartheid. "The absolute control of people's lives, the lack of freedom of movement, the army presence everywhere, the total separation and the extensive destruction we saw."

Madlala-Routledge thinks that the struggle against the occupation is not succeeding here because of U.S. support for Israel - not the case with apartheid, which international sanctions helped destroy. Here, the racist ideology is also reinforced by religion, which was not the case in South Africa. "Talk about the 'promised land' and the 'chosen people' adds a religious dimension to racism which we did not have."

Equally harsh are the remarks of the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times of South Africa, Mondli Makhanya, 38. "When you observe from afar you know that things are bad, but you do not know how bad. Nothing can prepare you for the evil we have seen here. In a certain sense, it is worse, worse, worse than everything we endured. The level of the apartheid, the racism and the brutality are worse than the worst period of apartheid.

"The apartheid regime viewed the blacks as inferior; I do not think the Israelis see the Palestinians as human beings at all. How can a human brain engineer this total separation, the separate roads, the checkpoints? What we went through was terrible, terrible, terrible - and yet there is no comparison. Here it is more terrible. We also knew that it would end one day; here there is no end in sight. The end of the tunnel is blacker than black.

"Under apartheid, whites and blacks met in certain places. The Israelis and the Palestinians do not meet any longer at all. The separation is total. It seems to me that the Israelis would like the Palestinians to disappear. There was never anything like that in our case. The whites did not want the blacks to disappear. I saw the settlers in Silwan [in East Jerusalem] - people who want to expel other people from their place."

Afterward we walk silently through the alleys of Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank, a place that was designated 60 years ago to be a temporary haven for 5,000 refugees and is now inhabited by 26,000. In the dark alleys, which are about the width of a thin person, an oppressive silence prevailed. Everyone was immersed in his thoughts, and only the voice of the muezzin broke the stillness.

---

WHY TRY TO FIT IN?
YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

UPDATE - Inderjit Singh Reyat Ji's Bail Conditions

Here is Kimmy Bolan's take on this. I do wonder if a kirpan is considered a 'prohibited device.' I have included some comments - unedited by me - at the bottom, just togive some perspective on the opinions of people in 'our home and native land.' And I intensely dislike this picture of him. I need to see him standing upright and strong.

Reyat's bail conditions finally released

Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun

Published: Friday, July 11, 2008

METRO VANCOUVER - RCMP bomb-sniffing dogs will be allowed to search the Surrey home of convicted terrorist Inderjit Singh Reyat every week "to ensure compliance with the firearms and explosives prohibition" in his bail conditions, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled.

Reyat, the only man convicted in the 1985 Air India bombing, will not be allowed to possess "any firearm, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition, or explosive substance" as part of the extraordinary conditions that allowed him to be freed Thursday while awaiting a perjury trial.

The appeal court summoned media lawyers to a special session Friday afternoon to release both Reyat's conditions and the court's reasons for allowing the bomb-maker out on bail, reversing a March ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm denying him bail.

View Larger Image

Inderjit Singh Reyat

Global BC

Since the surprise ruling Wednesday, a veil of secrecy had surrounded the proceeding, which upset family members of the 329 victims of the Air India bombing.

Appeal Court Justice Risa Levine read a brief statement saying that she was releasing the decision of her colleague Justice Anne Rowles to maintain the judiciary's "principle of openness."

As The Vancouver Sun first reported, Reyat had to raise sureties worth $500,000 in order to secure his bail and reside at his wife's rented home at 13114 73A Ave. in Surrey.

He will be under virtual house arrest, though allowed to work, go to appointments and attend "one place of religious observance, as approved in advance by his bail supervisor."

The 56-year-old double bomber must also "present himself at the door of his residence for any bail supervisor or police officer who attends for the purpose of confirming his compliance with these terms."

Despite the fact that Attorney-General Wally Oppal earlier called the conditions "extremely strict," there is no curfew, electronic monitor or ban on associating with others in the Sikh separatist movement that motivated the June 1985 plot to bomb two Air India flights.

There is also no restriction on meeting Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the two men acquitted after Reyat allegedly lied 27 times at their trial.

In her 32-page ruling, Rowles said Dohm was wrong to deny Reyat bail on the grounds that his "detention was necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice."

Dohm ruled in March that "the Crown has a strong case" against Reyat and that the circumstances of the case are extraordinary.

But Rowles said Dohm was incorrectly conflating "the offence of perjury with the offence of conspiracy to commit murder."

"It is clear from his reasons, however, that the exceptional or extraordinary circumstances on which he relied in denying bail was the purported link between the testimony alleged to be perjured and what he referred to as the Air India offence," Rowles said.

Rowles quoted from a prison report last February that said Reyat was a low risk to reoffend while out on bail.

"It also seems significant to me that there is no indication in the material of his engaging in any violent or aggressive behaviour towards others while he has been in prison," Rowles said.

Rowles acknowledged that Reyat was a well-regarded Vancouver Island electrician when he got involved in the political struggle for Khalistan in the mid-1980s and felt the need to retaliate against the Indian government after its raid on the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine.

"It is clear that he had sympathy for acts of violence in a political cause in India and was prepared to aid others in that cause by procuring components for explosive devices," she said. "If Mr. Reyat continues to harbour the same sympathies he had in 1985, he could present a risk to public safety."

But she said that risk could be managed by the 14 conditions imposed.

Until this week, Reyat had been in jail for more than 20 years, at first fighting his extradition from England, where he had fled after being identified as a suspect in both the Air India bombing and the same-day blast at Tokyo's Narita Airport.

He was convicted in 1991 of making the Narita bomb, which was destined for a second Air India flight when it exploded prematurely and killed two baggage handlers. Reyat was then charged in 2001 in the Air India blast and pleaded guilty to manslaughter, getting another five years.

He was then called as a Crown witness against Malik and Bagri and is accused of lying 27 times during his testimony. If convicted again, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years.

kbolan@png.canwest.com

© Vancouver Sun

COMMENTS

Kevin McKinney

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 07:21 PM

What a perversion of justice. Did it even cross the mind of this judge that Reyat and those that he is protecting might like to get him out of the country ?

Scott Jones

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 07:56 PM

What about the air india victims families? This man should not be allowed to walk free

SF

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 08:01 PM

"Rowles said Dohm was wrong to deny Reyat bail on the grounds that his "detention was necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice."" What a joke. With actions like this from judges, it is not too amazing that I and many other have lost confidence in the "justice" system long ago.

Andrew

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 08:05 PM

I think this story is incomplete. What are the 14 conditions?

Frank

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 08:19 PM

I am saddend for the families of the over 300 victims that this person was not given 300 life in prison terms, and because he wasnt he walks the street today. Unlike His victims. I am ashamed of Canada and our Charter of rights that has turned our justice system upside down. This case should be studued intensively and we should amend our laws so such a "Travesty of Justice" Will never happen again. Why should ANYBODY who is responsible for the Violent Deaths of 329 human beings ever be allowed to walk among innocent citizens. Bail should never ever of been an option available to this person. And bail of $500,000. Thats about $1,500 per victim.

Angel

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 08:19 PM

So I can go out....bomb a plane...kill hundreds of innocent people and only spend 20 yrs in prison and then be released on bail???Gee...how comforting! I cannot believe the justice system.I'm appalled!!!

GJay

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 08:54 PM

Typical Canadian bleeding heart judges!

blossom

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 10:26 PM

its absolutely disgusting a man who uses religion as disguise to kill INNOCENT people gets to walk free. He shouldnt be allowed to see day light in his llife again.

Bruce Wayne

Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 10:32 PM

This is unbelievable. Did the dead and innocent, from the hands of this animal, have any standing in our gutless court?

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN?
YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

The Eyes Of Balwant Singh Rajoana - A Singh To Be Proud Of

This does seem to be an uplifting week.. A demonstration planned for Brother Laibar Singh Ji, an inspiring story of 1984, Inderjeet Singh Reyat out on bail and now this most generous gesture by our brother, Balwant Singh Rajoana.

From Sikh World News:

India Calls Him Murderer, He Gives Life
Balwant Singh Rajoana shames death sentence
Panth and Humanity sole claimants to my body after death;
donates eyes to Huzuri Ragi of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar
Jagmohan Singh

BURAIL (CHANDIGARH): Every time, Kamaldeep Kaur looks into her brother's eyes, she knows such occasions will be few and far between. Balwant Singh Rajoana is on the death row, convicted in Beant Singh murder case. But such is his worldview that perhaps Kamaldeep may long have to live with those eyes. Long after Balwant Singh hangs to the utter shame of Indian justice system.

Rajoana's Eyes. Eyes that have seen untold atrocities against the Sikhs, eyes that have seen the machinations of hegemonic brahaminical forces trying to annihilate as well as assimilate the Sikhs, eyes that have rarely dropped a tear, eyes that have always gleamed with pride in the service of the Guru.

Rajoana's eyes. Eyes that will now shame even death. In the presence of his sister, brother-in-law, nephew and the Deputy Superintendent of Model Jail, Chandigarh, (where he is lodged), Balwant Singh Rajoana has signed his Will, donating his eyes to the blind Hazuri Ragi Singh of Darbar Sahib Harmandar Sahib, Bhai Lakhwinder Singh, on 17 June 2008. The original Will

It was not a spur of the moment decision. Rajoana, in fact, first wrote to the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib on June 5, explaining his wish. This was followed by calls from personal attendant of the Jathedar to the Deputy Superintendent of Jail, and thus he was granted permission by the jail authorities.

The Will of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana Ik Onkar Oh Kabir, there is nothing of mine in this life Whatever is there, is yours If I surrender what is yours, unto Thee What do I lose or pay? Bhagat Kabir, Guru Granth Sahib Accepting the Omnipresence of Akal Purakh (God Almighty), I hereby swear on oath that after my death, all the parts of my body, which can benefit any person, are pledged to the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs, Sri Akal Takht Sahib. It is my earnest wish that after my death, my eyes may kindly be given to Hazuri Ragi of Sri Darbar Sahib Harmandar Sahib, Bhai Lakhwinder Singh, who is blind, so that through him, my eyes continue to revere holy Darbar Sahib. For medical or other reasons, in case this is not possile, then my eyes may be given to any other needy person. In addition to this any other part of my body (heart, kidney or any other) which can be beneficial to any other person, may be given to that person. I am writing this Will without any coercion or compulsion and out of my own convictions and commitment and with the approval of the members of my family. I am happily making this Will in the presence of my sister Kamaldeep Kaur, my brother in law Baljit Singh, my nephew Ajaydeep Singh, my neice Harnoor Kaur, Superintendent of the Model Jail Chandigarh, Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa ji, Medical office, B. K. Salwan and other jail authorities. Signed Balwant Singh Rajoana Countersigned by Kamaldeep Kaur Baljit Singh Ajaydeep Singh Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa Deputy Superintendent of Jails 17 June 2008

In his hand-written letter, sent to the Jathedar through the prison authorities, Balwant Singh Rajoana said: "As you are aware, I have been sentenced to death by an Indian court in the Beant Singh assassination case. I have decided not to appeal against this order and not to submit before this system."

He said while he was waiting for his final call from the government of India, he desired that "after my death, the vital organs of my body (eyes, kidneys, heart and any other part that may be useful to any other person) may be offered at Sri Akal Takht Sahib to be given to those who may need them." The idea was that the organs could be donated to anyone as per the wishes of the Sikh community. Rajoana had in fact made it clear right at the time of his conviction that his body shall be donated.

Explaining himself, he said that while watching the Kirtan programme on television, the sight of a blind Hazuri Ragi inspired him to offer his eyes, so that, "even after my death, (through the Ragi Singh) my eyes continue to worship at holy Darbar Sahib."

Speaking to the World Sikh News, Kamaldeep Kaur, the sister of Balwant Singh, informed that the will was signed in her presence. Her husband Baljit Singh, her son Ajaideep Singh and Mr. Randhawa, the jail deputy superintendent were also witness to the document.

In his communiqué to the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh, he has said that "every single part of my body" that could be of any use to anyone in the service of the Panth and humanity could be used accordingly.

Parents of Balwant Singh Rajoana

Dying is no act of bravado, to be prepared to die for one's convictions is bravado par excellence. No university could have educated Kamaldeep Kaur about this great truth, but Rajoana's life has. "Many people think that my brother wants to die. No. Like all living things he also wants to live, but he does not want to cringe, he does not want to dither from his Ardas, he does not want to love life at the cost of his courage and the cause of the Khalsa Panth."

One only wonders how many sisters who tie rakhi around their brother's wrist across India can actually understand what Kamaldeep must be passing through. Or perhaps every single one of them will understand, if only the Sikh community ensures that the story of Rajoana's Eyes be spread and propagated all across the globe.

Harpinder Singh Goldy Rajoana's sister about his decision "Having lost my brother Harpinder Singh Goldy to the Sikh struggle, I do not want to lose another one, but at the same time I bow before his decision not to appeal his sentence and not to submit to the Indian system, which violates human rights of Sikhs. What he is saying and doing is in the true traditions of the Sikhs...My aged parents wanted a support system for themselves but they are not selfish. They are proud of their son and his commitment." Eye Pledge Form

"By this act, I think my brother will bring more respect to the Sikh community." There is no end to beautiful, heart-wrenching poetry about eyes, the beauty of eyes, the power of eyes, eyes full of tears, eyes that laugh, eyes that move hearts. But the saga of Rajoana's Eyes will remain perhaps unmatched, for which poet has ever written about the power of eyes of a man condemned to death? Rajoana does not want to shut his eyes to his Guru, to his brave Sikh nation, to the machinations of its enemies, to the great ideal of Sarbat Da Bhala.

Beant Singh's eyes were always covered with trademark black-tinted glasses, even during broad daylight. Those were eyes that could not handle shame, for more were dying under Beant Singh's jackboots than a human heart could bear to see. Now, Rajoana's Eyes will ensure that the line between a life spent in Guru's sewa and a death courted for one's principles shall stand merged.

Even the most ungrateful would hold him in awe and respect.

Rajoana's seven-year-old nephew, Ajaydeep Singh, was told about the reasons for which Rajoana was in prison, the contents of his will of June 17 and the possibility of him climbing the scaffolding ladder with a noose around his neck. "Tell Mamaji, I will never forget him. I will remember him for all my life." Little kid of the Sikh Nation, you will not be alone. Rajoana's Eyes will see that the Sikh Nation will never forget him. And the story of Rajoana's Eyes will live on long after those eyes stop shining.

2 July, 2008

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN?
YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

Inderjit Singh Reyat Released On Bail - Conditions Not Disclosed

Today, Inderjit Singh Reyat was released from prison on bail, awaiting trial on perjury charges. As anyone who knows me at all is well aware, I believe the government of India was responsible for the downing of Air India 182 and we Sikhs, including this gentleman were framed. Here is the story from our friends (?) at CBC. First, the video:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8742369&ch=4226714&src=news Sorry, I can't imbed it...maybe later, if it shows up on YouTube.

Then the article, where various other links can be found.

Convicted Air India bombmaker Inderjit Singh Reyat free on bail
Last Updated: Thursday, July 10, 2008 10:14 PM ET










Inderjit Singh Reyat leaves the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C., on Thursday. (CBC)

Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings, walked out of a Lower Mainland prison in B.C. Thursday after more than 20 years behind bars.

Reyat, who still faces perjury charges, was released at 2:55 p.m. PT from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

He appeared before a justice of the peace by video conference and agreed to the bail conditions set by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

His family reportedly posted a $500,000 surety for his bail.

Members of Reyat's family, including his wife and brother, greeted him emotionally outside the pretrial centre. Reyat is now at his wife's house in Surrey.

Inderjit Singh Reyat has served more than 20 years in jail for his part in building the bombs that detonated aboard Air India Flight 182 and at Narita International Airport in Tokyo in 1985, killing a total of 331 people. (Canadian Press)

The B.C. Court of Appeal on Wednesday granted bail to Reyat.

Reyat was convicted of two counts of manslaughter for his part in building the bomb that detonated at Narita International Airport in Tokyo in 1985, killing two baggage handlers. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in the bombing of Air India Flight 182, which went down the same day as the Tokyo bombing, killing another 329 people.

He faces additional charges of perjury related to accusations that he lied during his testimony at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted of murder in the bombings. The trial on the conspiracy charges is set for January 2009.

The B.C. Court of Appeal issued a memo on Thursday morning, saying any media organizations that want to obtain copies of the court order that contains the release conditions, or the reasons for judgment, will have to arrange a date for a hearing.

Before the court makes a decision about releasing the documents, it is expected to hear opinions from lawyers on both sides of the case on whether the public should be allowed to know what the bail conditions are.

Special prosecutor Len Doust, who is handling the case for the Crown, supported releasing the details, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal told CBC News on Wednesday.

The conditions are strict, but they will be kept secret under a publication ban until the judge decides otherwise, Oppal said.

WHAT A STORY - From Delhi 1984

A lady I know, Namjot Kaur, just told me her story of Delhi 84.

It's bloodier, nastier and more unbelievable than ours, and I'd like to share it with you, at least the strangest part. So I start in the middle.

The mob forced the Sikhs in the house onto the street, including the women and children. They separated the males from the females and threw kerosene on the males. Inderjeet, her husband, knowing what was about to happen, drew his kirpan and cut their son's throat - he was just a little boy of 9. That angered the mob and they turned their total attention to him.

As they set him alight, a man appeared beside him, with his hand on Inderjeet's shoulder. Inderjeet didn't move a muscle, just stood there burning, staring at her and smiling. Just before he died, he shouted. "Bole so nihal," and his body collapsed on the ground. Then he and their son, who whose body had been at his feet, rose and embraced the man and they both disappeared.

While Inderjeet was burning, the man's hawk kept dive-bombing the mob, which seemed unable to move. After the men disappeared, the mob ran off, screaming in terror, leaving the remaining Sikhs in safety.

Namjot is sure the 'man' was Guru Gobind Singh Ji, although he looked quite different from the pictures we see of him. This' man' was very rough-looking, a warrior with a full, bushy beard, not at all like the dandified pictures we see of Guru Maharaj Ji. The hawk, though, is a give-away. And the light around the apparition

I believe Namjot's story. I know Guru Papa Ji looks after his children.

There's much more to her story, of course, that's just the most dramatic part. I'm trying to convince her to write it out for this blog; I would even be willing to play Alex Haley to her Malcolm X, ie, I'm willing to ghost-write it, you know, as told to.

Chardi kala!