By Bhupinder Lidder Canada
OTTAWA: India’s human rights record is not very good Vancouver area Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal told guests at the World Sikh Organization Annual Parliamentary Dinner. He gave assurance that he will continue to speak out for improvement of human rights as he had done during his Visit to India last December.
He told the gathering that we can be very effective because India is sensitive to international opinion He related the story of a human rights worker who says he would not have been alive had it not been for the support from the international community Dhaliwal observed that Sikhs have been fighting for human fights for the last 500 years This is nothing new for us. The dinner was organized to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attack on the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. WSO President Mohinder Singh Jawanda asked guests (6 observe a minutes Silence in memory of those who were killed others who spoke included Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Mathi Indian human rights lawyer R.S.Sodhi and Ottawa University Professor Laurie Wiseberg. Sodhi cited cases of disappearances which he said were on the increase He told the guests.
I am not running my country down i am sharing my anguish. In a message to the meeting Prime Minister Jean Chretien stated that the efforts of the Sikh community in Canada to preserve and enhance its religious traditions contribute to the vibrant multicultural heritage that Strengthens this great nation. Apart from prominent members of the Sikh community from across Canada and the United States the gathering included the following Parliamentarians; Liberal David Kilgour Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons; Jean Augustine Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Hendy Fry Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; Peter Milliken Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons; Jean-Robert Gauthier Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee: Derek Lee} Ted Mc Whiney; Reform MPs l an McClelland and Philip Mayfield New Democrats Bill Balkier and Chris Ax worthy.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
