Quebec proposes another ban on religious garb (off the soccer field)
Quebec is at it again. Just a few months after the Quebec Soccer Federation reversed its ban on turbans and other religious headwear on the field after a whole lot of public outcry, officials in Quebec have introduced a proposal to ban “conspicuous religious symbols” from public sector workplaces....
The Ghadar Movement: A Living History
A North American based Internationalist movement for the liberation of India Guest blogged by York Ghadaris On the centenary of the Ghadar Movement, a conference is being held at York University, Toronto, Canada on April 12 to April 13, 2013, to honour and remember its history, and its contemporary relevance...
Some Notes and Random Musings
Guestblogged by Mewa Singh. Here are some general musings and broader notes/reflections that were sparked by my participation in the camp: On Parenting – One thing I found quite interesting was changes in parenting styles.  I don’t remember having had many choices as a child, when my parents were...
Canadian Election 2011 Analysis: On Context, Comments, and Critiques
And I was worried that no one was going to read my post J. Over the past week, I’ve read through all the comments in detail and have had many conversations with people in person. The dialogue has been supportive as well as critical, eye opening, challenging but most importantly always respectful....
UPDATE: Canadian Election 2011 Analysis – Sikhs: Kingmakers in Our Own Mind
UPDATED: Picture added on bottom. UPDATED 5/11 – Maple Leaf Sikhs responds!  View here! My fellow Sikh-Canadians, its the morning after the big party. How does it feel? You must be a little hung over? Why wouldn’t you be? You’ve been drunk on power over the last 5 weeks. You’ve had every...
Canadian Election 2011 Results – State of the Sikhs
Although this election season had seen the largest Punjabi field of candidates in Canada’s history, the number of MPs of Sikh background did decline. The winners: The Tory party had a field night and can now claim an all-out majority in the Canadian parliament.  The NDP had a very strong showing...
Letter to Community from Seva Food Bank
I received an email from a friend and wanted to share it with the rest of the Langar-ites. Congratulations to the whole team of Seva Food Bank from all of us at the Langar Hall. Monumental events usually flash by at such a speed that those involved rarely have a chance to appreciate what has just taken...
When Grace Is Refused
A few weeks back, while skimming through the news, I found an interesting report on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent visit to the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.  Although I didn’t care much for the hoopla around his visit, I did find it interesting that he “offended” Sikhs...
Every Time We’ve Had Our Babies, People Have Almost… Commiserated
Toronto Star reporter Raveena Aulakh, posing as an expectant mother, is handed bags of pills in an industrial area in Mississauga by Kanwar Bains, news editor of a Punjabi-language newspaper. Just in case the rest of the world didn’t know what a sorry state Punjab was in with respect to its gender...
Canadian Sikhs run cross-country
In order to provide a little bit of cheer as we head into the weekend, I thought I’d share this news bit. A team of 32 Sikhs partnered to run across Canada, as well as fundraised $10,000, on behalf of children’s hospitals in Canada and in Africa.  The runners were commemorating the 10th...
Fear and Loathing in the Gurdwara
Earlier this week in B.C., hundreds of Sikhs protested the arrival of Mann Singh Pehowa, a granthi accused of rape, misconduct, and blasphemy. There is, of course, an underlying issue here regarding whether or not Pehowa supports his own dera, has encouraged blasphemy, etc. There is pretty widespread...
Sikhi by fear, guilt or love?
  Please upgrade your browser He locked the washroom door, unravelled the nine-metre turban, took a pair of scissors and started cutting. Ten minutes later, three feet of hair lay in a pile and Charanbir Singh sat down and cried. Outside, his parents and grandmother were in tears. Two friends persuaded...
Sikh teen acquitted in Montreal kirpan case
Updated: Friday, at 11:30PM Last year we covered the story of a Sikh youth accused of brandishing his kirpan on the schoolyard. Accounts of the incident were hugely divergent; it was unclear whether an assault had ever actually occurred, or whether the report was a feature of animosity toward religious...
Sikh Canadian wins Carnegie Medal
Tajinder (foreground) and Shalinder (background) Bansra. Shalinder Kaur Basran is one of 19 recipients of the Carnegie Medal for heroism for intervening in a murderous domestic violence altercation in which a husband stabbed his wife. At the time, it was one of three cases in which desi-Canadian women...
Blame Canada(‘s Sikhs)
Canada’s problem with its Sikh minority should be of concern to Americans not just because Vancouver borders on the US, but for the broader lessons this story of ethnic conflict teaches. When a country imports an alien population, it often brings in all of the conflicts that bedeviled the immigrants...
Sikh Raptors Fan Gets Roughed Up By Security At Toronto’s Air Canada Centre
Just when you think that everything is hunky-dory for Sikhs in Canada, you hear of an incident like this that makes your cringe. Here’s a first-hand account of an incident that took place at the Toronto Raptors game last Friday night. My brother, Gagandeep Singh Saluja and I, Simran Kaur Saluja...
Trafficking In False Promises
Today’s Toronto Star has another article on the sad but all too frequent cases of immigration fraud. In this case, a Sikh family was swindled out of tens of thousands of dollars but a crook that promised the son a $450 a week job as a cook in a Toronto hotel. One morning in February 2007, Harvinder...
Turbans and The Home Depot
A Sikh gentleman has been involved in a Ontario Human Rights Tribunal matter relating to alleged discrimination against him for wearing a turban at work. The case centers around treatment that this gentleman received at the hands of a Home Depot employee while posted by a third party security company...
Economic Woes Deepen for Punjabi Communities
This holiday season I noticed the pinched expressions on people’s faces, the emptier stores, the going out of business sales, and the general air of unease and uncertainty as we round out of the holiday season and into a worsening (economically) new year. Over the past few weeks, the NYT has been...