EDMONTON: Buttons depicting a turbaned Sikh in an RCMP tunic and bearing the Slogan Keep the RCMP Canadian are “sick,” says the Alberta vice president of the World Sikh Organization.
Jasbeer Singh of Edmonton says the buttons, circulating in Alberta, could be called “pre judicial discriminatory, biased and even racist” if they suggest that most Sikhs here are not Canadians.
“It brings out dormant feelings of intolerance and hate and en courage people to express them individually and collectively”, Singh said.
“Harboring and propagating such view is definitely not in the best interests of Canada.”
Robert Kaplan the federal Liberal justice critic and former solicitor-general, said in Ottawas he has written a letter to Alberta Attorney General Ken Rostad to say the buttons are circulating
“I urge you to examine this button and act to protect Sikh Albertans’s from racial hatred, Kaplan wrote Rostad.
Craig Krioger, Rostand’s executive assistant, said that department officials are reviewing the letter.
Sikhs men are required by their religion to wear turbans and ceremonial daggers at all times. The government is weighing whether to let Sikhs who are Mouties wear turbans.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 27, 1989
