THIS discussion and open forum was conducted jointly by Members of the World Sikh ‘Organization and the Windsor Public Library. Programs and displays put on by the Languages Centre tend to be cultural, recreational or historical, This forum attempted to be more serious and focus on sensitive issues such as violations of human rights and discrimination against visible minorities,

Mr, SS, Bhangoo, a school teacher in Essex arranged for two keynote speakers to head the discussion. Dr. Ranbir Singh Sandhu is an expert on Sikhism and is currently at the Ohio State University. Mr. T, Sher Singh is a barrister and solicitor from Toronto who is concerned with human rights. Bob Bucky, Languages Centre, made up the fourth member of the panel.

At the last moment, local MP, the Hon, Howard McCurdy agreed to give a short introductory talk which was well received by the audience, The focus of the whole forum, of course, was the violations of human rights in Canada, but at times the discussion led to current in India.

Dr. Sandhu compared some of the Indian government’s action to those of Hitler during the period of the Holocaust, adding that the process in India was more subtle, citing the “disappearance” of Sikh youths between the ages of 15 and 30. It was very difficult to prove exactly what was happening or provide accurate statistics, but ‘even the most conservative statistics were horrifying, this was corroborated by a member of the audience who had recently returned from India.

‘Mr. Sher Singh drew the comparison between the tenets of Sikhism and the Human Rights Code of Ontario, He pointed out that they coincided in many areas, He went on to cite various examples of discrimination and harassment in Ontario, some blatant, some subtle, and this was: confirmed by ‘members of the audience.

What were the solutions? Various suggestions were proposed. First of all, several Sikhs from other parts of the province heartily welcomed such “open forums” and to their knowledge, this was the first of its kind. They wanted to repeat this elsewhere.

“The media, too, should refrain from equating terrorism or terrorists with all Sikhs, Out of a total population of 200,000 Sikhs in Canada, only a handful have caused or been charged with any acts approximate “terrorism”. By far the majorities have led peaceful lives and would like it to continue that way. Local communities have been split between Hindus and Sikhs, and even among the Sikhs themselves, this should not continue.

Finally, there is a need for educating and enlightening in the schoolroom, so that even if those who have fixed ideas cannot be changed, at least their children can ‘be made more aware of certain values and concepts.

Asa prelude to the forum, Bob Bucky spoke on CBC radio the ‘evening before the meeting, outlining why the forum was being conducted and what was expected to take place.

In all, over 100 people turned up, The majority were Sikhs, who, although only too aware of what ‘was going on, were quite appreciative of this opportunity to have an. ‘open forum, The comments from several of the non-Sikhs in the audience were extremely encourage.

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 11, 1987