As a Canadian who takes great pride in being an advocate of Pierre Trudeau’s ‘Just Society’ truly want to believe that the appalling failure of the justice system in the United States in dealing with the case of Ranjit Singh Gill and Sukhmandir Singh Sandhu will never happen in Canada, Here are two young men, who when they were: the same age as my daughter is now, were arrested and sent to jail on charges that were falsely claimed by the government of India in trying to secure a detonation order for them. The charges were proven to be false and yet their torment did not end. They became victims of a conspiracy which although it originated in India, involved members of the judicial system in the U.S. When it appeared to finally be over with a U.S. District Court Judge overthrowing the deportation order.
the Indian government applied for another deportation order on new charges. The ordeal began in 1985 and it is sull not over for them. This troubles me deeply and I ask myself time and time again. “How can this happen.” We can shake our heads and blame the system then go to bed telling ourselves that there is nothing that we can do to help, But the truth of the matter is, we are the system. Tcon sider myself to be an average Canadian who, with minor exceptions, was raised with the same value system, the same opportunities and similar life experiences as the majority, Why then do we all not fight to end man’s inhumanity to man. I don’t have all the answers for you, but perhaps by sharing some of our inner self, together, we can find the answer and ultimately a solution, We read of violations of human rights every day in the paper and we all agree that it is dreadful, but somehow for the majority, it is not real. I can’t remember when it became real for me, but | know that reality brought with it, three strong emotions which make my life less comfortable today then it was before. The first 1s pain. Pain for the victim, pain for friends and family and pain for a world in which this condition still exists. The second is anger and hatred for the ‘monsters’ who carry out these vile acts. Only freaks and monsters could perform these acts, no human being could do such a thing or could they. This brings us to the third ¢motion which above all is the most disturbing. Shame! Human beings are the species to. which I belong, a species whose basic attributes I share and whose capabilities for love and hate are the same as mine, I am sure that this is on¢ very important factor which causes people to tum their heads the other way. Solutions, we need solutions. One of the most powerful, is freedom of the press and we must protect it very carefully, The public must be well informed, But how do we create an interest in what is happening on the other side of the world, As my dear friend Kehar Singh Gill says, people of like mind, must work together. We must learn to respect each other and to hear what the other person is saying. We do not always have to agree. but we must always hear and respect. AS to those involved in the U.S. judicial system | pray that they recognize very quickly, the great miscarriage of justice that has already gone beyond human decency and that they hastily convene to settle the matter, Whether these young men are guilty of crimes or not, the situation which has occurred against them is clearly a violation of basic human rights and is yet another black mark to be registered in the history books. You know, history will not be as kind to us as it has been to our ancestors. With communications as they are today, we will not be able to tell our grandchildren that we didn’t know that was happening when they ask us how a why did this happen didn’t you do something, In Canada, we stand on guard for thee for rights and dignity. If we are strong in our hearts we can not only tell others what we expect of them, we can show them.
Colleen Beaumier Liberal Candidate for the Federal riding of Brampton Canada
Article extracted from this publication >> May 14, 1993
