Canada White Author Uses Hindutva To Justify Kirpan Ban

[khalji]

Somebody needs to set this writer straight on this:

http://www.cynicsunlimited.com/2011/02/20/the-kirpan-yea-or-nay/

Finally, the idea of the kirpan as a White Christian versus minority non-Christian issue is literally brought to its heels by a letter from Ron Banerjee of the group Canadian Hindu Advocacy. Praising the Quebec National Assembly's decision not to admit the four Sikhs carrying kirpans, Banerjee states openly that the ceremonial dagger is indeed a weapon and that it has been used as such right here in Canada. He goes on to attack the niqab and hijab (headscarf worn by Muslim women) as well as the Sikh turban. Banerjee then contrasts Muslims and Sikhs' insistence on wearing such attire with Hindus and Jews' harmonious transition into Canadian society, calling the latter two communities' traditions as "conducive to democracy."
.....
Still, the fact that a non-white non-Christian voiced his opposition to a Sikh tradition in such stark terms casts strong doubt on the notion of kirpan foes as a bunch of "redneck Reformers."

 

[spnadmin]

khlaji ji

How does one "set" a bigot "straight?" The emotional fuel for bigotry is fear, anger and hatred. Even mild opposition gives him a justification to continue on with his fear-mongering, and hate-filled bigotry. Now a quick check of Google. I find that someone has tried to set him straight.

From TariAkpodiete of rabble.ca

Ron Banerjee of the Canadian Hindu Advocacy just sent me these two disturbing press releases which he claims were sent out today to the Parti Quebecois and Quebec National Assembly

As some of you may know, his micro organization is affiliated with the JDL (although the relationship seems to mean more to the CHA than to the JDL as the JDL frequently does not mention the CHA), and has recently participated in both the January 11th and January 18th anti-muslim events, the former of which was the EDL video presentation and the latter of which was the OISE event.

I wrote back to him and told him that he'd sent out lies and exaggerations in an improper press release format. He replied: "Nothing but the truth from us."

Some politicians and media really do think he speaks for a large group of Hindus.

---

Ron Banerjee believes that

Sikh turbans and Islamic attire like niqabs, hijabs, and burkhas have been used in certain cases of violence, robberies, and concealment by terrorists.

By contrast, Jewish and Hindu communities have achieved maximum success in North America by integrating into society in a harmonious fashion. There is no place in Canada for destructive cultural traditions being imported from overseas. Hindu and Jewish traditions, on the other hand, are conducive to democracy and should be encouraged.

...

Regards Ron Banerjee Canadian Hindu Advocacy

---
and

We are the Canadian Hindu Advocacy, a national organization and the largest representative of the Hindu community in Canada. We would like to congratulate and thank the Quebec National Assembly for excluding the World Sikh Organization of Canada from participation in the debate over Bill 94.

There are many compelling reasons to exclude this organization from public discourse, aside from the very legitimate kirpan issue. The World Sikh Organization is an organization which defends the right to advocate for a mythical Sikh state, to be named 'Khalistan'.

The 'Khalistan' movement, which WSO tries to equate with PQ goals for an independent nation, is very different from French Canadian aspirations. 'Khalistan' means 'Land of the Pure', and such a state could only be created by perpetrating genocide or ethnic cleansing against the almost 50 percent of India's Punjab state which are non Sikh minorities.
This is actually an outrageous statement, verging on criminal imho.

This movement was responsible for the rape and mass slaughter of thousands of civilians, and supporters were suspected of blowing up an Air India jet in Canada, killing over 330 Canadians. This statement is maniacally wicked at best.

Such a movement bears more similarity to the German Nazi movement in the 1940s than to any group advocating nationhood for Quebec. We thank the Quebec National Assembly, and recommend that the WSO be excluded in the future, regardless of whether or not turbans and kirpans are worn. Amazing how he has drawn the analogy here between turbans, WSO and the Nazi party, effectively denying that the QNA has any exclusionary sentiments.

Regards Rupesh Bhardwaj Canadian Hindu Advocacy

He lies and exaggerates with abandon. Don't you think he says such things precisely to get the "enemy" Sikhs riled up? Maybe even riled enough that Sikhs might do something rash and ill-conceived, goad a small percentage of Sikhs to lose control, make a few fatal mistakes in public, get sensational press coverage, and thus prove that he is right?

I am personally aware of op-eds and comments from Anglos on his pages that attempted to set him straight over the past year. It has done no good. Ron Banerjee is a man on a mission, feeling full of righteousness, and moral indignation. People like Ron Banerjee create their own distorted vision of reality so that others can feed on his emotions. He does not want to be reasonable. When he is unreassonable, he gets the results he wants. It is hard to say btw who is the vampire -- Ron Banerjee or his audience. Or do vampires feed on each other?

What is the point of playing into his hand of cards? There are smarter ways to cope with his rhetoric.

 

[spnadmin]

I want to add something. Ron Banerjee ironically is playing the part of the victim on the big stage of Canadian media. He is the symbolic sufferer, a martyr - on behalf of a large national constituency who feel they have been victimized. Whether this is true is beside the point. He uses this as his gambit, as his media strategy. He blames Sikhs and Muslims for his moral, social and political suffering, on behalf of others. It is very important not to enable this guy by co-signing his propaganda through useless arguments.

So how to deal with that? Blasting back wastes energy and resources.

1. Sikhs must ramp up their efforts to build and sustain positive networks of influence with members of other ethnic and religious groups on a local and national level, in order to raise awareness of Sikhi that drown out his arguments. This means that many of us need overcome our own ethnic and religious prejudices.

2. Pay attention to everything he says, but respond to none of it directly. Instead, vigorously create an alternative truth by using the press and the Internet the same way he does, but turn the message around. Use media to create positive profiles of Sikhs, as individuals, as sangats, as organizations, as a way of life. If we do not do that, then we are allowing Ron Banerjee and people like him to control the agenda for future discussions.

3. Remember that there are only 30 million Sikhs on the planet and most of them live in Punjab. So most people have never met a Sikh. He should not be allowed to have the upper hand in creating our image for the ignorant. We have to take that away from him. We need to work actively to create the profile by which we want to be known.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

YES..keep drawing... the SIKH "LINE" longer and straighter....making his anti-sikh line shorter by default. Rubbing out /erasing his line is counter productive. People today are not dumb..they can see and judge..