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source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/Against+extremism/2946672/story.html
Against extremism
Editorial: The Ottawa Citizen - April 24, 2010 - 8:11 AM
A Canadian Member of Parliament has done something courageous, and now he needs -- and deserves -- the support of all Canadians.
Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberal MP for Vancouver South, issued some public statements in favour of moderation, peace, order and the rule of law -- which ought not to be controversial for a politician or anyone else to make, but in this case could be very dangerous for Dosanjh. He was speaking about the rise of extremism in his own religious community, Canadian Sikhs.
Opposing Sikh militancy has caused grief for Dosanjh before. In 1985, he was savagely beaten with a metal bar for expressing his views on the debate over Khalistan, the homeland some Sikhs want to establish in India. Eleven years later, someone threw a Molotov {censored}tail into his office.
Now he faces more threats. First, organizers of a major Sikh parade in Surrey had told Dosanjh and another B.C. Sikh politician, MLA Dave Hayer, that they weren't welcome at the event. The men should bring bodyguards if they showed up, organizers warned.
The parade featured prominent photos of Sikh "martyrs" -- terrorists -- but when Dosanjh spoke out publicly against this, and against extremism generally, death threats against him appeared on Facebook. The parade organizers have tried to suggest that these weren't threats, but simply warnings that Dosanjh would find useful, but Dosanjh himself knows a threat when he sees one.
In a parallel event last week, an American group calling itself Muslim Revolution issued death threats of its own against the creators of the TV show South Park, who portrayed a cartoon version of the prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. This militant group also denied that it was threatening murder, but rather simply passing on useful information for the South Park crew to consider (specifically, urging them to remember that a Dutch filmmaker was murdered for a film that Muslims considered insulting).
Canadians used to hear this sort of cynical, extortionist rhetoric -- albeit on a lesser scale -- from Jean-Claude Parrot when he was head of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers during fractious times. During labour disputes, Parrot would say with great flourish that of course he didn't condone violence from his members ... though of course he and other union leaders would understand how those members might lose control, what with the great provocations they have had to endure from management.
Parrot was making a threat, as are Sikh extremists who tell Hayer and Dosanjh that they had better bring bodyguards if they want to attend public events.
The Sikh case occurs against a backdrop of violence not limited to the Air India bombing of 1985, or the fatal shootings by Kuldip Singh Samra in a Toronto courtroom in 1982. There have been serious injuries this spring at two Toronto-area Sikh temples where members fought with knives, machetes and hammers.
Officials from India have noted Sikhs in Canada are often more extreme that those in India, which raises the uncomfortable possibility that Canada can be an incubator for people who immigrate here and nurse hatred for political opponents in their native countries.
Dosanjh and Hayer should be applauded for standing up to goons who, one hopes, represent a small fringe of Canadian Sikhs yet have the ability to damage the whole community.
Ottawa Citizen © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
____________________________________________
If anyone desires to express your opinion on this editorial:
You can email your letter directly to letters@thecitizen.canwest.com, or fax it to 613-726-5858, or send it to:
Ottawa Citizen
Letters to the Editor
1101 Baxter Road
Box 5020
Ottawa, ON
K2C 3M4
This will be much more effective & productive action, rather than argue among ourselves.
Harbhajan S. Sangha
Against extremism
Editorial: The Ottawa Citizen - April 24, 2010 - 8:11 AM
A Canadian Member of Parliament has done something courageous, and now he needs -- and deserves -- the support of all Canadians.
Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberal MP for Vancouver South, issued some public statements in favour of moderation, peace, order and the rule of law -- which ought not to be controversial for a politician or anyone else to make, but in this case could be very dangerous for Dosanjh. He was speaking about the rise of extremism in his own religious community, Canadian Sikhs.
Opposing Sikh militancy has caused grief for Dosanjh before. In 1985, he was savagely beaten with a metal bar for expressing his views on the debate over Khalistan, the homeland some Sikhs want to establish in India. Eleven years later, someone threw a Molotov {censored}tail into his office.
Now he faces more threats. First, organizers of a major Sikh parade in Surrey had told Dosanjh and another B.C. Sikh politician, MLA Dave Hayer, that they weren't welcome at the event. The men should bring bodyguards if they showed up, organizers warned.
The parade featured prominent photos of Sikh "martyrs" -- terrorists -- but when Dosanjh spoke out publicly against this, and against extremism generally, death threats against him appeared on Facebook. The parade organizers have tried to suggest that these weren't threats, but simply warnings that Dosanjh would find useful, but Dosanjh himself knows a threat when he sees one.
In a parallel event last week, an American group calling itself Muslim Revolution issued death threats of its own against the creators of the TV show South Park, who portrayed a cartoon version of the prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. This militant group also denied that it was threatening murder, but rather simply passing on useful information for the South Park crew to consider (specifically, urging them to remember that a Dutch filmmaker was murdered for a film that Muslims considered insulting).
Canadians used to hear this sort of cynical, extortionist rhetoric -- albeit on a lesser scale -- from Jean-Claude Parrot when he was head of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers during fractious times. During labour disputes, Parrot would say with great flourish that of course he didn't condone violence from his members ... though of course he and other union leaders would understand how those members might lose control, what with the great provocations they have had to endure from management.
Parrot was making a threat, as are Sikh extremists who tell Hayer and Dosanjh that they had better bring bodyguards if they want to attend public events.
The Sikh case occurs against a backdrop of violence not limited to the Air India bombing of 1985, or the fatal shootings by Kuldip Singh Samra in a Toronto courtroom in 1982. There have been serious injuries this spring at two Toronto-area Sikh temples where members fought with knives, machetes and hammers.
Officials from India have noted Sikhs in Canada are often more extreme that those in India, which raises the uncomfortable possibility that Canada can be an incubator for people who immigrate here and nurse hatred for political opponents in their native countries.
Dosanjh and Hayer should be applauded for standing up to goons who, one hopes, represent a small fringe of Canadian Sikhs yet have the ability to damage the whole community.
Ottawa Citizen © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
____________________________________________
If anyone desires to express your opinion on this editorial:
You can email your letter directly to letters@thecitizen.canwest.com, or fax it to 613-726-5858, or send it to:
Ottawa Citizen
Letters to the Editor
1101 Baxter Road
Box 5020
Ottawa, ON
K2C 3M4
This will be much more effective & productive action, rather than argue among ourselves.
Harbhajan S. Sangha
