Arson suspected at Vancouver Khalsa school
One of the three Khalsa schools in Vancouver burnt to the ground yesterday. Arson is suspected.  The fire started in the main building and two portable classroom buildings simultaneously, and spread rapidly. The Elementary School had been broken into as well. When the school secretary called 911 to...
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...
Wayward warriors and Sikh imagery in gang violence
While many may still be reveling in Slumdog’s Sunday limelight, a darker movie about Indo-Canadians in Vancouver (the vast majority of who are Punjabi-Sikh), aiming to shed light on gang violence, is sparking criticism. [See trailer here.] The film titled “A Warrior’s Religion”...
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...