"if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen
the side of the oppressor." - Desmond Tutu.
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Gurpreet Singh

Cofounder and Director of Radical Desi

 

Gurpreet Singh

In a post COVID-19 environment, where most of us are experiencing social distancing, self-isolation and near or total lockdowns, Future Tense comes in handy to comprehend the situation in disputed region of Kashmir.

Authored by Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic and writer, it is the story of ordinary Kashmiris who continue to suffer from state violence in India-occupied Kashmir. It is the moving saga of shattered dreams and revenge against daily humiliation of Kashmiri Muslims at the hands of Indian forces.

The novel comes at a time when Kashmir is under lockdown since last August 5, when the Indian government unilaterally scrapped special rights given to the state under Article 370 of the Indian constitution, arresting local leaders on the pretext of maintaining public safety.  

The right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government claims that the act was necessary to stop terrorism in the only Muslim dominated state of India. Since then, Kashmir has been turned into an open jail, communication channels such as the internet have been shut, and leaders fighting for freedom and autonomy having been detained. These include political figures and activists who have been advocating for peaceful resolution of the problem of Kashmir, where people have been struggling for right to self-determination.

Kaul, an associate professor of politics at the University of Westminster, courageously testified in October before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing where she strongly defended the rights of the Kashmiri people in her statement.  

Despite being Hindu herself, through her writings she has consistently raised her voice for the Muslims who are being persecuted in Kashmir by the Indian forces.

However, Future Tense does take a critical look at the struggle for right to self-determination. Kaul goes into the depth of many complexities of the issue, such as the marginalization of Kashmiri Hindus, class difference, social and cultural divisions within the Muslim community, orthodoxy and abuse of women.  

Kaul beautifully connects all these dots together in the story that brings two people together in conversation: Shireen, a Kashmiri Hindu woman whose family had to migrate mainly because of the threat to their community by the militants, and Fayaz, a Kashmiri Muslim man whose father was a former rebel.

Despite so much bloodshed and political violence with no bright future in sight, the novel gives hope through the characters that are resilient like real Kashmiri people, living under barbaric conditions imposed by the Indian establishment, with most determined not to give up their resolve for freedom.

Future Tense might help those privileged in relating their temporary inconvenience caused by coronavirus with the everyday experience of Kashmiri people , whose cries have largely been ignored by the outside world. The novel also depicts the conditioning of mainstream Indians who remain indifferent or insensitive to the aspirations of Kashmiri people and the reasoning behind their feelings of alienation. 

 

Gurpreet Singh

 

India’s Prime Minister, who is known for his oratory skills, recently urged the people of his country to fight Corona with Karuna (Compassion). 

In a highly emotional speech, he asked the citizens to provide poor and stray animals with meals in these difficult times.

The crisis of COVID 19 has created a lot of uncertainty for the most vulnerable, because of the lockdown imposed by Modi to maintain physical distancing and prevent the spread of disease which has claimed thousands of lives across the world.

However, the Indian government has refused to release political prisoners, including physically challenged Delhi University Professor G.N. Saibaba , who is incarcerated despite serious health concerns.

Wheelchair-bound Saibaba is fighting with numerous ailments and his situation continues to deteriorate. Yet his wife is unable to visit him in jail because of the lockdown. As If this was not enough, the jail authorities also denied her an opportunity to speak with him over the phone.

Saibaba was convicted in 2017 and given a life sentence after being branded as a supporter of Maoist insurgents. He was accused on motivated charges for merely speaking out against repression of Adivasis (Indigenous Peoples) in the tribal areas of India. These communities are being evicted from their traditional lands in the name of development by the mining companies with the backing of the Indian state. Since most of these forested areas are rich with mineral resources, the government has wanted to clear them off tribal populations. As Maoists have been active in those places, people who question the establishment over mistreatment of tribal communities are frequently labelled as Maoist sympathizers. Often the barbarity of the state compels indigenous people to join the Maoist insurgents in their class war.

In spite of calls for the immediate release of Saibaba by international bodies, like the United Nations, the Modi government has not relented. 

It is pertinent to mention that Indian jails are over-crowded, which is a cause of worry for not only the family of Saibaba, but many other political prisoners because of the threat posed by COVID 19. This has forced social justice activist Tushar Sarathy to launch a petition which has been signed among others by renowned author Arundhati Roy. 

Quoting the India Justice Report 2019, the petition notes that the national average of occupancy in Indian prisons is 114 percent of its capacity. It goes on to add that over 67 percent of prisoners in the country belong to the category of under-trial prisoners, who aren’t convicted yet and continue to face investigation or trial.

The petition has also given the list of some prominent political prisoners, including Saibaba.

If Modi really means what he says, then now is the time to release these political prisoners. After all, the Indian courts recently released several well-known right wing political prisoners owing allegiance to Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party. A case in point is Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur – who was released on medical grounds last year to fight  in the parliamentary election on BJP’s ticket. Now sitting as an MP in the Indian parliament, she was charged for her involvement in a bombing incident that left 10 people dead and many injured in 2008. The incident was aimed to terrorise the Muslim community, and yet she was given bail to run for the office. Modi himself supported her candidacy. By remaining indifferent to the worrisome condition of prisoners such as Saibaba and advocating for the freedom of a religious extremist, Modi has already shown his true colours.

 

Gurpreet Singh

Canadian author Naomi Klein’s warning to her readers about the tendency of big powers to capitalize on catastrophes has started showing a sign in the world’s so called largest democracy.

The right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been facing international criticism for bringing a discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that welcomes non-Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and excludes Muslims.

The Modi government claims that only non-Muslims in those Muslim dominated countries face religious persecution, and India being a neighbouring nation has an obligation to open its doors for them. However, this goes against the principles of secularism and inclusion enshrined in the Indian constitution. The CAA sparked angry protests against the Modi government across the globe. Even before, attacks on religious minorities have grown under Modi since he came to power with a brute majority in 2014. Modi's critics fully understand the real intentions behind the CAA, which is part of a larger design to turn India into Hindu theocracy.

Now, two major events that shook the world have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for a heartless government in New Delhi: the COVID 19 which has affected more than 150 countries, including India, and the recent terror attack on a Gurdwara in Kabul that left 25 Sikhs dead.

On the pretext of enforcing physical distancing and stopping the spread of coronavirus, the Modi government announced a lockdown, which has brought the anti-CAA protests to a standstill. Though it is understandable that this is not the right time to organize huge demonstrations, what is not convincing is the way the police in Delhi went to one of the major protest sites and erased graffiti and slogans against CAA. The police used excessive force elsewhere to implement a curfew, and did not let daily wage-earners for whom staying home is not a choice to step out.  The protests which had exposed Modi have not only been obliterated physically, but have lost relevance for media outlets which are overwhelmed with the coverage of Coronavirus.  

If this was not enough, the Islamic State extremists attacked a gurdwara in Kabul on February 25, killing 25 innocent people. Since then, the Modi supporters have intensified their campaign in defence of CAA. They are now asking the Indian government to speed up its process of bringing Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan and attacking the CAA opponents as “anti-nationals”

So much so, one of the BJP leaders even questioned the Sikhs in Delhi who served free food to the anti-CAA Muslim protesters to show their solidarity. Kapil Mishra went to the extent of linking Muslims in Delhi with Islamic State in Afghanistan.  This makes no sense as one cannot blame ordinary Muslims in India for any action of Islamic State in another country.

All this only suggests that more than being concerned about the safety of its citizens and non-Muslims in Afghanistan, Modi and his apologists are trying to use these incidents to silence any voice of resistance against its divisive political agenda. In times of uncertainty when the dependency of people on governments starts growing, it becomes easier for those in power to make everyone fall in line and stop questioning.

The mindset behind such an inhuman and mean approach is best explained in Shock Doctrine written by Klein. In a recent video she expressed how COVID 19 is being used by governments, including the one led by right wing US President Donald Trump, to pursue their policies of scrapping civil liberties and promoting free market economics. Modi therefore cannot be an exception considering his outright fascist ideology.

 

Since early February, after Seattle city council passed a motion highly critical of a discriminatory citizenship law brought by the right-wing Hindu nationalist government in India, expectations have grown for a similar move in New Westminster.

The Seattle motion, introduced by council member Kshama Sawant, was approved unanimously.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India recently adopted the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from neighbouring countries—including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh—on the pretext of giving shelter to non-Muslims facing religious persecution in those places.

The law blatantly ignores Muslims and only encourages non-Muslims to come to India from these Muslim-dominated nations.

This is despite the fact that not only non-Muslims, but even some sects of Muslims and atheists have been facing oppression in these countries. 

The CAA violates the principle of secularism enshrined in the Indian constitution.

The BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to transform India into a Hindu theocracy. Attacks on religious minorities, especially Muslims, have grown under the BJP government ever since it came to power in 2014.

There have been angry protests against the CAA all over the world.

Yet politicians, for the most part, have been silent in Canada, which has a history of the racist Continuous Journey Regulation, passed against South Asians in 1908 to discourage their permanent settlement in this country.

While Canada has already apologized for the Continuous Journey Regulation, it remains indifferent to the CAA, which is repeating that history in its worst form. 

Notably, Vancouver was the site of the Komagata Maru episode - the outcome of the Continuous Journey Regulation, designed to keep Canada as a white man’s country.

The Japanese vessel carrying more than 350 South Asian passengers was forced to return to British-ruled India from Vancouver's harbour in 1914.

Unlike Sawant, Canadian leaders have largely remained unmoved by these public demonstrations, apart from statements against the CAA by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh, and Vancouver councillor Jean Swanson’s presence at one of the anti-CAA rallies outside the Indian consulate on January 26.

No motion like Sawant's has been passed in any municipal council or provincial legislature in Canada, let alone in the House of Commons.

However, New Westminster city councillor Chuck Puchmayr tabled a motion against CAA on the night of March 9. The motion has yet to pass with a majority, since the vote has been delayed due to the crisis caused by COVID 19.

While Swanson was expected to bring a motion against the CAA before Vancouver city council, she was forced to withdraw it, due to a strong push back from pro-India lobby groups and lack of support from other councillors.

Although New Westminster city council also came under pressure from the Indian consulate and supporters of the Modi government, Puchmayr went ahead with his plan to move the motion amidst tension. The council was initially supposed to vote on the motion on March 30.  It will now set a new date once the health emergency ends in BC. 

Notably, New Westminster has a sizable population of people of Indian origin who are really concerned with the developments in India.

Their hopes remain high as New Westminster has already started taking steps to become a designated sanctuary city where refugees can live without fear.

New Westminster has proved to be a leader in human rights and social justice in the past.

On January 11 this year, the City of New Westminster proclaimed Bhai Mewa Singh Day. This was in commemoration of a Sikh political activist who was hanged in New Westminster in 1915.

Mewa Singh was part of a radical movement launched by Indian immigrants in North America in the early 20th century against the British occupation of India and racism abroad.  

Singh was also a devout Sikh, who assassinated a controversial Immigration Inspector, William Hopkinson, in Vancouver in 1914. The incident was the culmination of infamous Komagata Maru episode.

This episode led to bloody clashes between the political activists and the pro-establishment faction in the South Asian community.  

As a result of this, Bela Singh, a mole of Canadian authorities within the Sikh community, went inside a gurdwara in 1914 and shot to death a revolutionary community leader, Bhaag Singh, and his associate Badan Singh.

Since Bela Singh was patronized by Hopkinson—who precipitated the conflict among local South Asians through his network of spies—Mewa Singh murdered him. 

Mewa Singh faced his trial with courage and conviction, and chanted prayers while being taken to the gallows in New Westminster. His testimony establishes that he took such an extreme step in response to racism and sacrilege of the temple. 

As a fitting tribute to Mewa Singh, who laid down his life fighting against racism, the City of New Westminster decided to proclaim January 11, 2020 as “Bhai Mewa Singh Day”.  

The City of New Westminster had earlier removed the statue of a controversial colonial era judge, Matthew Begbie, who had ordered the execution of six Chilcotin Chiefs in 1864 for the murder of 14 white road construction workers who were harassing Indigenous peoples.

Likewise, the City of New Westminster showed leadership in 2010 by becoming the first municipal government in Canada to apologize to Chinese Canadians for injustices of the past.

Will the city now stand up against India’s anti-Muslim law and pass the motion unanimously? That remains to be seen.

 

Gurpreet Singh

 

Wednesday, March 25 will go down as another black day in history.

25 people were brutally murdered when Islamic State extremists attacked a Sikh temple in Kabul. The incident shook the entire world. Questions were raised by many about minorities being unsafe in Muslim-dominated Afghanistan, where the Taliban had once made the life of non-Muslims miserable in the past.  

The incident evoked a prompt and sharp reaction in Canada where Sikhs have a sizable population.

Elected officials of Sikh heritage across the political spectrum took to social media to condemn the terrorist act.

Notably, Canada had recently opened its doors for Hindus and Sikhs being persecuted in Afghanistan.

Not to be left behind, MLAs belonging to the BC NDP government were quick to respond. Among them were Minister for Labour Harry Bains and former Minister Jinny Sims.  

Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal and his conservative colleague and former federal minister Tim Uppal also denounced the bloody episode.

While this unanimous condemnation of the massacre was the right thing to do, there is one fundamental problem with their reaction. Such promptness remains missing when similar situations arise in India.

Minorities, especially Muslims, are under constant attack in India ever since the right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in 2014.

During recent months hate crimes against Muslims have spiked under the BJP, which wants to transform India into a Hindu theocracy. In February, there was large scale violence against Muslims in Delhi by BJP supporters who targeted the community with the help of police, leaving many dead. 

Earlier, Muslims and secular activists had been peacefully protesting against the divisive Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The BJP tried to instigate violence against the opponents of CAA, leading to the killings of 53 people, mostly Muslims.

This resulted in rallies and protests even in Canada. But the Indo-Canadian politicians who are now shedding tears over the deaths of Sikhs in Afghanistan remained silent and never came out with any statement to flay what is happening in India.  So much so, they have also ignored frequent calls by community activists to stand up for minorities in India. 

This hasn't been noticed for the first time. These politicians have mostly remained disinterested in the issues of minorities being mistreated in India. 

It goes without saying that they are too timid to criticize the Indian government, as they have business and family ties in that country. After all, the Indian government can easily deny them visa.

Notably, Dhaliwal was once denied visa by the Indian government for trying to bring a motion on the Sikh Genocide. Thousands of Sikhs were slaughtered across India in the first week of November, 1984 following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The massacre was orchestrated by the ruling Congress party.

Then there are politicians like Sims, who are known for their proximity with the Indian Consulate in Vancouver; their silence is understandable.

This is despite the fact that Canada claims to be a human rights leader in the world, and some of these politicians, like Sims and Bains, come from trade unions that championed for the rights of people oppressed anywhere on the globe.  

It is pertinent to mention that the violence in India was state sponsored, and is much more difficult to question than the violence of rogue elements that killed Sikhs in Afghanistan.

Such selectivity only strengths Islamophobia. It has become a norm to identify terrorism with Muslims, which overlooks the fact that majoritarian extremism also exists under the garb of democracy in places like India, where the establishment openly patronizes Hindu fanatics killing Muslims at will.

The latest incident might give an excuse to the Indian government to justify the necessity of CAA, as it opens doors for Hindus and Sikhs who wish to migrate from Afghanistan. It’s time that these politicians should equally criticise such a law, that excludes Muslim refugees on the basis of religion. One must keep in mind that the Islamic State is not only against non-Muslims, but has also been targeting fellow Muslims from Shia communities and those who believe in Sufism. The CAA is therefore flawed as it specifically allows non-Muslims from Afghanistan to seek refuge in India.

Canada must not remain quiet to this injustice, and raise its voice against exclusion of Muslims and ongoing violence against them in India.  Its silence on the situation so far suggests only one thing - that it has chosen to side with the oppressors as far as the Indian state is concerned.    

 

 

Gurpreet Singh

 

Friday, March 20 marks the twentieth anniversary of the killings of 36 Sikhs in Indian-occupied Kashmir under mysterious circumstances.

It happened close to then US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India.

The massacre took place in the Chittisinghpura village of Kashmir. The assailants wore Indian army uniforms, lined up the Sikhs from the village, and shot them to death.

Kashmir is a disputed territory where an armed insurgency has been going on for years. One faction of insurgents wants complete independence, while the other wants Kashmir to be merged with Muslim-dominated Pakistan. The Indian army continues to use military power to suppress the voice of dissent in Kashmir. Even those seeking the right to self-determination through peaceful means are not spared.

This was the first time that the Sikh minority was targeted in Kashmir in such a violent manner. The Indian government, under the then-ruling right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), blamed Pakistan-based Islamic extremists for the crime. Their argument was that the Pakistan-sponsored militants wanted to send a message to the visiting US President.

But several survivors noticed something unusual. The attackers did not appear to be Kashmiris. They looked more like people from southern India. While leaving they chanted pro-India slogans.

Under immense pressure to solve the case, the army later apprehended five Kashmiris and eliminated them in a staged shooting in Pathribal area. The army claimed that the dead men were foreign (read Pakistani) militants who died in an exchange of fire, though none of the soldiers were injured in the incident.

The army also claimed they were able to identify the men with the help of another militant, who was arrested and aided them in locating their whereabouts. This militant was later freed after the authorities failed to present any corroborative evidence before the courts.

Following the Pathribal episode there was a huge outcry in Kashmir. The families of those who were killed maintained that they were locals and were picked up by the army before the alleged shootout. People protested for an investigation into the incident, but the trigger-happy security forces killed nine more people in firing on the demonstrators in Brakpora. Among the dead were those related to the victims of the Pathribal episode.

Finally, the investigation revealed that those killed in Pathribal were local Kashmiris who were indeed murdered, after their bodies were exhumed from the graves and identified by their families.

Yet, the Indian army tried to exonerate the soldiers involved. There has always been the intention of a cover up, as proved when there was an attempt to temper with the DNA of those killed in Pathribal, and a delay in release of the forensic report.

In the meantime, former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright wrote in her memoir that Clinton suspected the hand of Hindu extremists in the Chittisinghpura incident. This angered the Indian government, and the publishers relented and agreed to make changes.

However, this only raises more questions.

Notably, a former officer of India’s secret agency RAW, B. Raman, acknowledged in his memoir that during a minority government before the BJP came to power, an idea was floated to recruit Hindu nationalists for counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir. The government was supported by the BJP. However, the proposal was shot down, and the government fell after a short while. There are reasons to believe that this idea might have been brought into practice once the BJP came to power.

If we connect all these dots together we can safely conclude that there is something fishy about the tragedy and the way its investigation has been handled. We need to ask: why there was no investigation into the possibility of Hindu extremists being involved in the crime that was blamed on Pakistan during Clinton’s visit, to strengthen the claims of the Indian state which has frequently accused Pakistan of aiding and abetting terrorism in India? Why wasn’t the role of the army thoroughly investigated to get to the bottom of the truth?

Unfortunately, those killed in Chittisinghpura and subsequently in Pathribal and Brakpora are being treated by the world as “unworthy victims”. It is sad that even the US did not stand up for the families of those killed in a series of incidents linked with Clinton’s visit. If Clinton and Albright knew something more, they should have been candid about it, instead of pushing everything under the carpet to maintain cozy relations with India. This reflects very badly on a country that claims to be the champion of democracy and human rights.

India understandably will never be honest about it, considering the circumstances that point to the complicity of the army. Even otherwise India has a poor human rights record, considering its patronage to the Hindu extremists and lack of political will to punish them, as against minority extremist groups who are often dealt with violently.

With the BJP being in power and US being governed by a right wing President who is a staunch ally of the current Indian regime, the chances of any transparent effort to uncover the truth are bleak.

Only an independent international inquiry by the UN can settle this issue. India owes an answer to the global community for at least 50 deaths (36 Sikhs + 5 Kashmiris + 9 protestors) that resulted from the conspiracy behind the Chittisinghpura massacre.

The Coronavirus scare which has gripped the globe must not make us forget those who died for no reason.

***

 

Grade 10 and 12 students at L.A. Matheson School in Surrey joined the campaign for the release of Delhi University Professor G.N. Saibaba on Thursday, March 12.

Wheelchair-bound Saibaba, who is ninety percent disabled below the waist, is being incarcerated under inhumane conditions in India. This is despite the continued deterioration of his health because of 19 ailments.

March 7 marked the third anniversary of his life sentencing by the Indian judiciary that branded him as a sympathizer of Maoist insurgents. The Indian government has refused to free him on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, even as UN experts have sought his release.

A teach-in was organized at the school by award winning educator and social justice activist Annie Ohana along with her colleague Gurpreet Bains, in partnership with Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI). They told the students about the case of Saibaba and encouraged them to write to local MPs asking them to build international pressure for his release.

Ohana had also spoken at the rally for Saibaba held by IAPI in Surrey on the International Day for Persons with Disabilities in December.

IAPI members Parshotam Dosanjh and Gurpreet Singh were also present at the Thursday event, which was organized as part of the Indigenous week. Ohana tried to draw parallels between the indigenous issues in Canada and India.

Saibaba has been framed because of his opposition to the repression of indigenous communities and other minorities in India. Since Maoists are fighting a class war in the tribal belt, not only Saibaba, but others like him have been frequently labelled as ultra-leftists to suppress any voice of dissent. Saibaba has been raising concerns over the eviction of indigenous peoples from their traditional lands in the name of development by the extraction industry with the backing of the Indian state.

The current right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government is indulging in a double standard by openly shielding Hindu extremists who are spreading violence and terror while punishing a scholar like Saibaba.

The attacks on minorities and indigenous peoples have grown ever since the BJP came to power with a brute majority in 2014.  

Later, some of the students stuck “Free Saibaba” signs on their backs for a group picture to show their solidarity with the jailed teacher.

 

Following in the footsteps of Seattle City council, which unanimously passed a motion against the discriminatory citizenship law adopted by India, a councillor in New Westminster made a similar move on Monday, March 9.

Chuck Puchmayr, who is vocal on social justice and human rights, tabled a motion calling for the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amidst a tense atmosphere inside the council chamber. The motion also urges the Canadian government to intervene.

The right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India recently passed CAA, which discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, on the pretext of giving shelter to non-Muslims facing religious persecution in those places.

This stirred angry protests in India and Canada. More than 50 people have died in New Delhi alone during violence. Most of those dead were Muslims who were systematically targeted by BJP supporters with the active help of the police.

The motion clearly says that the city of New Westminster, which is one of the most multicultural cities in North America “raises concerns with the Government of India’s December 11, 2019 passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act which clearly discriminates against Muslims and has sparked fatal attacks on Muslims inside India.”

The motion is yet to be passed and is scheduled for debate on March 30.

Both supporters and opponents of the CAA were present inside the council chamber, and there were heated exchanges between the two sides outside before the meeting started. The opponents of CAA outnumbered the people on the opposite side and had lined up more speakers. A significant number of Muslims came out to show their support for the motion.

Puchmayr faced lot of pushback from pro BJP activists. However, he ended up moving the motion, which needs a majority vote to pass.

In the meantime, a move to bring another anti-CAA motion in Vancouver city council has fizzled out. Brought by Councillor Jean Swanson, it received backlash from the pro-India lobby. In the absence of any potential support from within the council she has now withdrawn it.

 

 

Following in the footsteps of Seattle City council, which unanimously passed a motion against the discriminatory citizenship law adopted by India, a councillor in New Westminster made a similar move on Monday, March 9.

Chuck Puchmayr, who is vocal on social justice and human rights, tabled a motion calling for the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amidst a tense atmosphere inside the council chamber. The motion also urges the Canadian government to intervene.

The right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India recently passed CAA, which discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, on the pretext of giving shelter to non-Muslims facing religious persecution in those places.

This stirred angry protests in India and Canada. More than 50 people have died in New Delhi alone during violence. Most of those dead were Muslims who were systematically targeted by BJP supporters with the active help of the police.

The motion clearly says that the city of New Westminster, which is one of the most multicultural cities in North America “raises concerns with the Government of India’s December 11, 2019 passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act which clearly discriminates against Muslims and has sparked fatal attacks on Muslims inside India.”

The motion is yet to be passed and is scheduled for debate on March 30.

Both supporters and opponents of the CAA were present inside the council chamber, and there were heated exchanges between the two sides outside before the meeting started. The opponents of CAA outnumbered the people on the opposite side and had lined up more speakers. A significant number of Muslims came out to show their support for the motion.

Puchmayr faced lot of pushback from pro BJP activists. However, he ended up moving the motion, which needs a majority vote to pass.

In the meantime, a move to bring another anti-CAA motion in Vancouver city council has fizzled out. Brought by Councillor Jean Swanson, it received backlash from the pro-India lobby. In the absence of any potential support from within the council she has now withdrawn it.

 

 

The members of Surrey-based Punjabi Press Club of BC (PPCBC) have unanimously condemned recent attacks on journalists in the national capital of India.

In a monthly meeting of the club held on Tuesday, March 3, it was resolved to denounce the assault on journalists in Delhi during anti-Muslim violence engineered by supporters of the ruling right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

More than 40 people have died in the bloodshed that followed protests against a controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the BJP government, which wants to turn India into a Hindu theocracy. The act discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from the neighbouring countries and is being opposed by secularist activists.

The BJP supporters had been trying to incite violence against peaceful demonstrators and had targeted Muslims in a well-organized mob attack.

Several journalists were assaulted during the pogroms. One of them was even forced to take off his pants to prove that he was not a Muslim.

As if this was not enough, threats of rape were made against a highly respectable female TV anchor, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, by BJP supporters. Sherwani has been highly critical of CAA and the divisive politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She has been a target of smear campaigns and fake news aimed at maligning her image.

Also, BC-based journalist Gurpreet Singh was directly threatened by Modi supporters at a teach-in held at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on February 25. The event was organized to educate people about the CAA and its fallout on Muslims. Invited as one of the speakers, Singh had described the act as problematic and sectarian.

The PPCBC expressed its solidarity with Sherwani and flayed all the incidents of physical and verbal assaults against the journalists in India and Canada by those who subscribe to the ideology of BJP.

The outgoing President of the club, Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal, moved the motion to condemn the UBC incident and called it an assault on press freedom and media fraternity.

In the meantime, the PPCBC elected its first female President.

Navjot Dhillon is a seasoned journalist, and has been a well-known broadcaster with Radio Red FM. She is a prominent progressive voice within the South Asian community and her popular show Raushani was highly educational and challenged the status quo and social ills.

Dhillon was elected unchallenged for the position.