Gurpreet Singh 

The nongovernmental organization Khalsa Aid is again in the news for organizing relief camps on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border to help Rohingya Muslim refugees. 

A U.K.-based international humanitarian relief organization, Khalsa Aid has been active since 1999. That's when the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa was celebrated across the world.

The Khalsa was an army of dedicated Sikhs raised by the tenth master of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh, to fight for social justice in what was then Moghul-ruled northern India. The Khalsa not only opposed repression by Islamic ruler on non Muslims, but also combatted caste-based discrimination within the Hindu community. 

Khalsa Aid is known for providing relief to the victims of wars and natural calamities anywhere in the world. 

The idea of helping anyone irrespective of one's race or religion is enshrined in the Sikh philosophy. The daily prayer of a devout Sikh ends with a call for the well-being of entire humankind.

Sikh scriptures include the hymns of saints belonging to different communities and castes from all over India. The foundation stone of the Golden Temple Complex—the holiest shrine of Sikhs in Amritsar—was laid by a Muslim saint, while the four gates of the temple symbolize that people from all four castes in Hindu society can come to pay obeisance.

Most importantly, the community kitchen at Sikh temples is open to everyone. 

One of the towering figures in Sikh history, Bhai Kanhayya, also inspires members of Khalsa Aid to be ready to help everyone in a catastrophic situation.

Bhai Kanhayya was a water bearer in Guru Gobind Singh's army. But during wars, he provided water to all the wounded and exhausted soldiers without discriminating between the members of his own army and those of the rival camp.

When this was brought to the knowledge of the Guru, he was so impressed that he asked Kanhayya to start applying balm to the wounded soldiers of both sides in future. 

It's unfortunate that Hindu extremists have started attacking the Khalsa Aid on social media. Rather than appreciating them for coming to the rescue of Rohangiya Muslims languishing in refugee camps, these Hindu extremists have begun slinging mud at its volunteers. 

The problem is that India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its supporters have already announced that India is not going to open its doors for the Rohangiya Muslims, who have been forced to flee from Myanmar because of persecution from Buddhist extremists and the army.

Certain BJP supporters have said that they are okay with Hindu refugees from Myanmar, but Muslims will have to leave.

Notably, Myanmar shares a very long border with India, which has provided refuge to many other communities, including Tibetan Buddhists, Pakistani Hindus, and Sri Lankan Tamils in the past.

But the BJP government is trying to create fear about Rohangiya Muslims by citing security reasons and characterizing helpless refugees as potential terrorists and illegal immigrants.

The BJP has always been known for its strong anti-Muslim bias and has been scapegoating this community to attract Hindu majority votes. 

Thus the trolling of Khalsa Aid on social media by the BJP supporters isn't surprising. In fact, the trend of trolling political critics and anybody who does not agree with the BJP has picked up in India ever since the party came to power with a brute majority in 2014.

Attacks on Muslims have also grown in the entire county since then. What is noteworthy is that these elements that claim to be the defenders of Hinduism and aspire to transform India into a Hindu nation are actually going against the values of Hindu religion that says that the whole world is one family.

By attacking Khalsa Aid and Rohangiya Muslims, they have shown that they not only lack humanity but are in fact the enemies of Hinduism. 

Khalsa Aid which has set a great example by displaying compassion and need our appreciation and not mudslinging. The world needs to learn from them on how to offer shelter and kindness to the victims of violence rather than abandoning them to their fate. 

Gurpreet Singh 

The election of Jagmeet Singh as federal NDP leader is not just his personal victory against heavy odds, but it also represents the defeat of right-wing forces both in Canada and India.

He took more than 50 percent of the votes in the first ballot, defeating Ontario MP and heavyweight rival Charlie Angus, who collected 12,705 votes. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton won 11,374 votes, whereas Quebec MP Guy Caron bagged only 6,164 votes.Singh became the first turbaned Sikh leader of any major political party in Canada on Sunday (October 1) by grabbing 35,266 votes out of total 65,782 cast by NDP members across the country.

Singh, an Ontario MPP, is now a candidate for the post of prime minister. He made a history in a country where Sikhs and other South Asian communities were disfranchised in 1907.

Many political pundits were doubtful about the chances of Singh getting elected because of his religious background. Since the NDP relies heavily on labour unions, many were skeptical over him getting enough union support to win the leadership.

They speculated that Angus would take away most union members' votes. Others thought that Singh had no chance in Quebec where secularists won't vote for anyone with a strong religious identity.  Then there were those even within the NDP who thought that Canada is not ready yet to accept someone with a turban and facial hair as their future leader. In the end, Singh proved all the apprehensions wrong.

He has been working aggressively by criss-crossing Canada taking along not only his Sikh compatriots but also many others. After all, he had more endorsements than others in the race.

The growing momentum in favour of Singh has caused great anxiety among right-wing groups. There was a verbal attack on him at a public event by a white woman who is reportedly associated with an alt-right movement. He has been under attack from white nationalists on social media, too.

If this were not enough, right-wing forces in India and their apologists in Canada also tried to discredit Singh. He previously brought a motion in the Ontario legislature describing the anti-Sikh pogrom in India during 1984 as “genocide”.  Thousands of Sikhs were murdered following the assassination of the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The political goons belonging to the slain leader’s Congress party organized violence against innocent Sikhs in different parts of India.

On another occasion, Singh raised the issue of political prisoners in India and also criticized the Indian government for growing violence against minorities and so-called untouchables under right-wing Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi. For these reasons, Singh was denied visa by the Indian government.

During his campaign those owing allegiance to the Indian establishment frequently tried to brand him as Sikh separatist and discouraged people within the South Asian community from donating money to his campaign or voting for him.

In spite of these challenges, Singh remained calm and focused on his election. His message that he believes in fair trade and not free trade resonated with people who have had enough of Trump or Modi. 

Singh’s wonderful victory raises hope for those who want the world to be free from bigotry and oppression. 

Gurpreet Singh 

If the attitude of the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India toward Rohingya refugees is any indication, it is repeating the history of the Komagata Maru. 

In 1914 the Japanese vessel carrying more than 300 South Asian passengers from India was forced by the Canadian government to leave from Vancouver's harbour and go back to British-ruled India.

The decision was made under a discriminatory immigration law that was passed to keep Canada as a white man's country. These passengers had come to Canada as British subjects to earn their livelihood and both India and Canada were under the British monarchy.

When the ship arrived, there was a widespread racist backlash from the media and right-wing politicians. Under pressure from the white nationalists, the ship was forcibly returned.

When the Komagata Maru reached India, British colonial police suspected that many of the passengers might have turned into subversives.

Officers tried to arrest them upon reaching near Calcutta, resulting in a scuffle between the police and the passengers, Police started shooting, which left several people dead on September 29, 1914.

Only last year did the Canadian government formally apologize in the House of Commons for this racist episode.

While the Komagata Maru tragedy remains etched in the collective memory of Indo Canadians, the government of India, the country where many of them were born, is taking its society backward.

Following large-scale violence by Buddhist extremists and the Myanmar army targeting the mainly Muslim Rohingyas, thousands of refugees are now seeking shelter in India on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. A minority of these refugee claimants are Hindus.

The refugee crisis was triggered by army repression following an attack by Rohingya militants seeking autonomy and citizenship rights for their people.

But the right wing BJP government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not willing to accept them with open arms.

Some are raising security concerns, citing the Rohingya militancy that they claim might spill over to India if these refugees are admitted.

The more hawkish BJP supporters have gone to the extent of suggesting that only Hindu Rohingya refugees be allowed to stay and Muslims be sent back.

Such hateful statements are no different from messages directed at Komagata Maru passengers and other South Asian immigrants by white supremacists in Canada more than a century ago. Back then, they emphasized that immigration from  India would create problems.

They even threatened Edward Bird, a lawyer who defended the ship's passengers, much as the BJP supporters are attacking people on social media who are defending Rohingyas. 

Social justice activists within the Indo Canadian community cannot overlook this connection.

For those who care about the history of the Komagata Maru struggle it has become even more relevant today in the light of Rohingya refugee crisis.

It's not only the right wing government in India but Canada's Liberal government that also needs to be made accountable for what is happening in that part of the world where a section of the population has become stateless.

After all, Canada has given the leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, honorary citizenship for fighting against military regime in the past.

As she remains complicit in the crimes against Rohingyas, the Canadian government that claims to be a human rights leader in the world should take away her honorary citizenship. 

What binds Kyi with Modi and U.S. president Donald Trump is that they are all indulging in populist politics that survives on majoritarianism.

In the name of security, all three governments are scapegoating Muslims to polarize Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians, respectively.

If Trudeau is really sorry for what happened to the passengers of Komagata Maru 103 years ago, he should now stand up for Rohingyas, as he is the only hope in an international political world that's increasingly dominated by the extreme right. 

Gurpreet Singh is a broadcaster and the cofounder of Radical Desi magazine.

The Rohingya refugee crisis has put the diversity of the word's so-called largest democracy to test. 

Persecuted by the Buddhist extremists and Myanmar army, thousands of Rohingyas are seeking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh and India. 

Mostly Muslims and far fewer Hindus, these refugees are being subjected to what the UN's top human rights official has described as "ethnic cleansing". 

The Indian response to the situation has so far remained very negative. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met the Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi—a long-time flag bearer of democracy who had fought against the military regime in her previous avatar—and did not raise the issue at all.

Aung San Suu Kyi too has come under criticism for remaining noncommittal on dealing with the issue in a rightful manner. So much so that she went to the extent of rationalizing the violence putting entire blame on Islamic extremists in the region.

The two leaders mostly spoke about enhancing cooperation in tackling with terrorism. The underlying message was how to fight together against Muslim extremism. 

The facts speak for themselves. While Myanmar is a Buddhist-dominated country, Hindus form the majority of India's population. Modi represents the right-wing Hindu Nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which is known for its strong anti-Muslim bias.

Notably, under Modi violence against minorities has grown. Muslims are mostly at the receiving end of the attacks by BJP supporters who wish to see India transformed into a Hindu theocracy. 

Much like Islamic activists In Myanmar are fighting for autonomy and citizenship rights, Muslims in Indian Kashmir are fighting for the right to self-determination. In both cases their resistance is met by brutal state violence and often ordinary Muslims are made to pay the price. 

The emergence of the threat of Islamic extremism, both real and imaginary, has made it easier for Modi and Myanmar to scapegoat all Muslims for their political survival in majoritarian democracies. 

In the meantime, Modi supporters have started shouting that India should send the Rohangiya Muslims back to Myanmar. Some have shamelessly suggested that only Hindu refugees be allowed to stay in India whereas Muslims should be forced to return. The argument being given by them is "security concerns", as if only Muslims indulge in terrorism and violence while the rest of the communities are peaceful. 

From the overall response of the Indian state, it appears that it has buckled under pressure from the Hindu right. 

It isn't the first time that India is facing such situation. In the past India had opened its doors to Tibetan refugees, Hindus migrating from Muslim-dominated Pakistan, and Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka during armed conflict between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil separatists. 

The anti-Rohingya rhetoric is part of the larger design to keep India as an exclusionary Hindu state. This not only goes against the spirit of India that has always been known for its openness and pluralism, but also the values of Hinduism that is based on this principle: the whole earth is one family. 

On one hand, the BJP wants to recreate Ram Rajya—or the rule of Lord Rama, one of the most revered gods whose kingdom was kind to those who came into its refuge—while on the other it is trying to raise walls against those who are trying to escape tyranny.  

We all know what Modi and his party stand for. It is entirely up to him now to prove his critics wrong and let the Rohingyas stay in India till the peace returns.

Gurpreet Singh 

While progressive forces in the South Asian community were gearing up to celebrate the birth anniversary of Paash—a revolutionary Punjabi poet—on September 9, news of the assassination of journalist Gauri Lankesh shook everyone to the core.

Paash was a byproduct of the late 1960s radical communist campaign known as the "Naxalite" movement that united oppressed communities and the working class in India. He was at the forefront of many people's struggles and captured the literary landscape of Punjab due to his fiery poetry, which had a strong mass appeal because of its rebellious content.

Born on September 9, 1950, as Avtar Sandhu, Paash chose his pen name after Paasha (a.k.a. Pavel), the hero of The Mother, a famous novel by Maxim Gorky. 

Paash challenged not only the Indian state through his poems, but also wrote against both Hindu and Sikh fundamentalism. The emergence of the Hindu right and Sikh fanaticism during the 1980s vitiated the social environment of Punjab. While Sikh extremists were seeking a separate homeland of Khalistan, an imaginary country to be carved out of India, Hindu fundamentalists terrorized Sikhs and other minority groups across India in order to establish a Hindu nation.

Sensing that this would lead to another religious partition of India—like in 1947 that resulted in separation of Muslim Pakistan and large-scale sectarian violence—Paash formed Anti 47 Front. He pulled no punches while condemning the reactionary forces of any stripe.

As a result, the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), which was involved in an armed insurgency in Punjab, assassinated him in 1988.

The KCF took responsibility of murdering him and other communist activists in the state for their opposition to the movement for Khalistan. The organization justified the action by branding Paash as "anti Sikh". 

Many supporters of Khalistan continue to malign him on social media and deny their hand in his murder. They claim that Paash might have been killed for personal and not political reasons. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Hindu nationalists too have problem with the writings of Paash. The ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has tried to ban his poetry in educational institutions. 

Now let's fastforward to 2017. On September 5, journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered in the southern state of Karnataka by unknown assailants. 

Much like Paash, Lankesh was also a vocal critic of religious fanaticism. She consistently wrote against the growing threat of Hindu extremism under a right wing BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lankesh had been receiving death threats and as soon as the news of her murder came, the supporters of Modi began celebrating her death on social media. Not only did some try to rationalize her killing but they also tried to prove that she might have been killed for nonpolitical reasons.

Apart from these two individuals, there were many more free thinkers and writers who have been killed in India over all these years. While there are many similarities between the killings of Paash and Lankesh and the reaction that followed, the Indian state handled the two situations very differently.

Khalistani extremists who claim to be the defenders of the minority Sikh community were frequently killed in staged police shootouts. The Indian authorities duly rewarded the police for eliminating them in the name of "national interest".

The killers of Paash and other writers like him in Punjab were punished by using extrajudicial means in the name of peace. But that has never been the case with the Hindu right extremists. Rather, those indulging in the killings and bombings in the name of a Hindu nation continue to enjoy the state's patronage.

Unsurprisingly under Modi government, they have become emboldened. So much so, some trolls on social media who've been using filthy language against Lankesh after her murder were being followed by Modi. 

There seems to be a complete lack of political will to arrest such elements, let alone have them punished. A case in point is that of Lt. Col. Srikant Purohit, a serving army officer who was arrested for being a part of Hindu supremacist group that has been targeting Muslims through bomb blasts.

Only recently he was released on bail and was reinstated on the job even before the court could give its final verdict in the case.   

This reflects badly on a state whose constitution guarantees equal treatment to all religious communities. If India is truly a pluralist and diverse nation then  it must under all circumstances treat extremists of both the minority and the majority communities alike.

Those who keep boasting over the restoration of peace in Punjab and ending the Sikh militancy with an iron fist owe an explanation why the Hindu extremists are not being dealt with firmly when they too are posing a threat to the unity and diversity of the country. Such tendencies only show that India is increasingly becoming a Hindu theocracy in spite of its official mandate to remain secular.