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 had been killed by their families.
When Bibi Shalinder and her daughter heard a fight escalating downstairs, accompanied with cries for help, they ran downstairs where they found Jatinder Waraich had stabbed his wife, Navreet. She lay bleeding on the floor, crying for help. When he advanced on her, again, Bibi Shalinder forcibly removed him (while he held his knife) from the apartment while her daughter called 911. While police arrested Jatinder, his wife, unfortunately, did not survive his attack.
Reading about this award was really bittersweet for me. On one hand, I think interjecting yourself in the heat of a fight — with someone who’s already been acting crazy and is actively wielding a weapon — requires tremendous courage and strength. On the other hand, the underlying story of domestic violence and murder is heart-breaking. It made me wonder if others would have rushed to assist Navreet Waraich, or if they would have ignored it, assuming it was a domestic disagreement.
4 Responses to “Sikh Canadian wins Carnegie Medal”
If Jatinder Waraich was not held back by backward cultural customs her chances of being alive today would be much higher. But her story is like many other punjabi women who have stayed in horrible bad marriages cause family honor is more important then a women happiness.
It kind of funny that many of the countries that have the highest divorce rates also have the best quality of life and many in punjab want to live there, yet they look down at the majority more free culture. If culture was so great would our ethnic homeland be the greatest place to live.
If Jatinder Waraich was not held back by backward cultural customs her chances of being alive today would be much higher. But her story is like many other punjabi women who have stayed in horrible bad marriages cause family honor is more important then a women happiness.
It kind of funny that many of the countries that have the highest divorce rates also have the best quality of life and many in punjab want to live there, yet they look down at the majority more free culture. If culture was so great would our ethnic homeland be the greatest place to live.
self hatin suki blows hot air again
self hatin suki blows hot air again