On the eve of International Women’s Day, South Asian activists came together to raise their voices against gendered repression in the world’s so called largest democracy.  

Organized by the Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) on Sunday, March 7, the rally was held outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey.   

The demonstration was mainly focussed on the 30th anniversary of the infamous Kunan Poshpora gang rapes of Kashmiri women by the Indian soldiers.  

Close to 100 women were sexually abused by the Indian forces on the night of February 23, 1991 in the name of  "war on terror". Years have passed but the victims have not been given justice. 

The speakers were unanimous in their criticism of the Indian government for shielding the accused and repeatedly perpetuating sexual violence against women, and allowing rape to be used as a weapon to instil fear in the minds of minority communities. The pattern has grown under the present right wing Hindu nationalist government.  

They also spoke out against the recent arrests of female activists by Indian police on trumped up charges during the ongoing farmers’ agitation, and held placards asking for the release of prominent human rights defender Sudha Bhardawaj and others, who are being incarcerated for their advocacy of the poor and marginalized.  

Among those who addressed the gathering were Rohingya Muslim activist Yasmin Ullah, Sikh activist Dupinder Kaur Saran, and anti-racism educator Annie Ohana. Besides these three women, others who spoke on the occasion were IAPI members Rakesh Kumar and Gurpreet Singh.  

The participants raised slogans in support of Sudha Bhardawaj and the victims of Kunan Poshpora gang rapes.  

The event was started with a moment of silence for three female farm workers who died in a road accident in Abbotsford on March 7, 2007, and all those farmers who have laid down their lives during the current peasantry movement in India.  

 A collage of green handprints added a new dimension to an anti-racism initiative launched by Burnaby-based Spice Radio this week.  

The broadcasters and other team members at the station, came together to raise their voices for Indian farmers in a unique way.  

They not only left their handprints in green on a white sheet, but also scribbled their greetings to show respect to the farmers agitating against controversial laws passed by the right wing and pro corporate government in India.  

The farmers have been camping near New Delhi for the past 100 days now, asking to roll back the ordinances that threaten their livelihood.  

As part of their annual Hands Against Racism campaign, the team members dipped their hands in green colour and left a palm print on a white sheet laid outside the studio.  

Among them was Vishaljeet Kaur, who recently sang Kissan Di Vaar (a heroic ode of farmer). Kaur is a well-known Punjabi singer, whose recent song video focussing on the farmers’ struggle has received a lot of attention. “I support farmers”, she wrote right beneath her handprint.  

While Kaur works on the administrative side of the radio station, those doing on-air news and entertainment programs were in the forefront of the decision to show solidarity with the farmers. 

The morning talk show host Mankiran Aujla wrote, "Power to the farmers!" 

Likewise, Noni Kaur, another seasoned broadcaster, wrote in Punjabi, "We are indebted to the farmers."  

Hands Against Racism has entered its seventh year. It was started in 2015 on the birth anniversary of towering civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. by Spice Radio CEO Shushma Datt. It coincides with Holi, a Hindu festival of colours and encourages participants to dip their hands in colours and leave a handprint alongside a message against bigotry.  

Datt has provided the radio platform to different groups and speakers advocating for the rights of the agitating farmers.  

Not to be left behind, Gaurav Shah, who has a popular musical show at Spice Radio, talks about the farmers' movement almost every day and has been consistently showing his empathy with those protesting in India on social media. 

Members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together on Sunday, February 14, to raise their voices for the jailed Indian scholar who is being incarcerated despite being disabled below the waist, and having been tested positive for COVID 19.  

A well-known human rights defender, former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba is currently serving a life term after having been convicted on trumped up charges for merely standing up for the oppressed groups and religious minorities.  

He was arrested after being branded as a Maoist sympathiser for mobilizing public rallies against the state violence on Adivasis, or the indigenous peoples of India, who are being evicted from their traditional lands by the corporates with the backing of the Indian establishment in the name of development. Since Maoist insurgents are active in the tribal belt of India, Saibaba was accused of being a sympathizer of the radical left.  

The right wing Hindu nationalist government refuses to release him on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, in spite of his deteriorating health on account of several ailments, and increasing global pressure. So much so, he was denied an opportunity to meet his mother who passed away recently because of cancer.   

The news of his having been tested positive for COVID 19 has sparked fear and apprehension among his admirers both within and outside India.  

The IAPI held an emergency rally seeking his release, outside Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey.  

Braving snow and cold weather, members of the group showed up at the demonstration holding signs and raising slogans against the draconian laws being used to supress any voice of dissent and to keep political activists behind bars. They also glued a sign asking for his release near the entrance of the office.  

IAPI was instrumental behind a petition for Saibaba in the past that attracted thousands of signatures from the residents of Canada.  

Members of the South Asian media fraternity came together on Monday, February 8, to raise their voices against ongoing suppression of freedom of the press in the world’s so called largest democracy.  

The demonstration was held right outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, by the Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia (PPCBC).  

This was in response to the recent arrests and filing of criminal charges against journalists who have been covering the ongoing agitation by farmers near New Delhi. Not only were some journalists detained after being booked on trumped up charges, but female journalists were subjected to abuse and rape threats on social media by supporters of the ruling right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government.  

The farmers have been protesting against controversial farming laws that threaten their livelihood.  

The PPCBC believes there is a pattern behind the spike in attacks on free expression in India under a totalitarian regime. Ever since the BJP came to power in 2014, attacks on religious minorities and political dissidents have grown. Apart from journalists, scholars and activists are also being arrested under draconian laws to instil fear.  

They demanded that not only motivated charges against journalists be revoked, but an impartial investigation be launched into the murders of journalists, such as Gauri Lankesh, by suspected Hindu extremists.  

They also asked for the unconditional release of all activists and scholars being incarcerated in the Indian jails, and the scrapping of black laws.    

Among those who addressed the rally was the PPCBC President Navjot Kaur Dhillon. She is the first female president of the club.  

Dhillon read out the charter of demands that was to be presented to the office of Consul General of India. However, the staff at the Indian consulate refused to accept it.  

One of the demands in the memorandum asked the Indian government to stop meddling in media affairs abroad through its diplomatic channels, and stop denying visas to the journalists raising critical questions. 

Others who spoke on the occasion included the club Vice President Gurpreet Singh, former President Jarnail Singh, besides senior members Khushpal Gill, Bakshinder Singh, Harkirat Singh Kular and Amarpal Singh.  

The rally began with a moment of silence in memory of Charanpal Gill, a community elder and a towering human rights activist from Canada, who passed away recently. Gill had fought against racism and dedicated his entire life to the rights of farm workers.  

Members of the South Asian media fraternity came together  on Monday, February 1, outside Indian visa and passport center in Surrey, to raise their voices against suppression of the free press in the world’s so called largest democracy.   

Organized by the Punjabi Press Club of British Columbia, the rally was called in response to the recent arrests of Indian journalists covering the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the slapping of fabricated charges against media persons by the police. 

The participants raised slogans against injustice, and held placards and signs denouncing the lapdog media of India, which is feeding false information against the protesting farmers to discredit them at the behest of those in power. 

They unanimously passed resolutions read out on the occasion by the former President of the Club, Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal. These resolutions called for an unconditional release of those arrested and revocation of criminal cases against other journalists, as well as immediate international intervention into the matter by the Canadian government and United Nations, and scrapping of draconian laws being used to terrorise political dissidents and journalists. 

The farmers are camping near the Indian capital of New Delhi for the past few months to protest against the controversial laws passed by the right wing Hindu nationalist government, as part of their agenda to put agro-industry in the hands of corporate control, which many believe will adversely affect the livelihood of tillers and marginal farmers. 

However, the lapdog media has frequently branded the protesting farmers as “extremists” and “anti-nationals”. This is despite the fact that the agitators have come under vicious attack from right wing goons and the police, who have been trying to chase them away from the protest sites.

Journalists who have tried to uncover such high handedness are facing constant backlash and seditious charges. Some have been detained on trumped up charges for merely doing their duty with objectivity.  

Those who spoke on the occasion included the club President Navjot Kaur Dhillon, vice president Gurpreet Singh and other members - Khuspal Gill, Harkirat Singh Kular and Amarpal Singh. 

Others who spoke on the occasion as community allies were Parminder Kaur Swaich, Harbir Singh Rathi and Kuljinder Singh Gill.  

Members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together on Saturday January 30,to mark the birth anniversary of a slain journalist, outside the Indian visa and passport center in Surrey

Gauri Lankesh was a critic of the current right wing Hindu nationalist government.  

Born on January 29, 1962, she was assassinated in 2017 by suspected Hindu extremists. Her murder was rejoiced by supporters of the ruling party.  

The IAPI members held placards and signs carrying her picture, and raised slogans against the fascist regime and the Godi Media (lapdog media) that continues to feed false narratives set by the Indian government to suppress any voice of dissent. They were outraged by the recent events in which the Godi Media tried to paint a distorted image of the agitating farmers, who are seeking the rollback of controversial farming laws that threaten their livelihood. The media has frequently branded the protesting farmers as extremists and anti-nationals.    

IAPI believes that Lankesh’s legacy of courageous journalism has become even more relevant under these dark times, when a large section of the mainstream media in India is toeing the line of an intolerant government, under which attacks on religious minorities and political opponents have grown. 

They also broke the piñata of Godi Media on the occasion, blaming it for giving legitimacy to majoritarian extremism, unlike Lankesh, who laid down her life in the line of her duty as a journalist.  

The Saturday event coincided with the death anniversary of M.K. Gandh, who was shot to death by a Hindu supremacist in 1948. Gandhi was the leader of the passive resistance movement against the British occupation of India. He was killed because of his opposition to Hindu theocracy and solidarity with minority Muslim community. The silence of the media over the constant threat of Hindu fanaticism has enabled ultranationalist groups to become much more emboldened over the years. Lankesh’s murder was the culmination of this, as similar forces silenced her voice with a gun.

The event was started with a moment of silence in memory of six Muslim worshippers killed by a white nationalist in a Quebec City mosque on January 29, 2017. The Hindu nationalists are driven by the same ideology that inspires white supremacists.

A poem dedicated to Lankesh by IAPI member Amrit Diwana was recited by him at the beginning of the demonstration, that was kept small due to COVID 19 restrictions.

Among those in attendance were IAPI President Parshotam Dosanjh, Treasurer Navtej Johal, and IAPI spokesman Gurpreet Singh.

Gurpreet Singh  

When Doug McCallum and his team opposed a motion seeking recognition of Coast Salish territory on which Surrey City Hall is located, they were not only being insensitive toward the First Nations of Canada, but they also let down many South Asians like me, who believe in building bridges with the original stewards of the land.  

This happened when a South Asian City Councillor, Jack Hundail, brought a motion asking for such recognition as part of reconciliation and decolonizing efforts in light of cultural genocide of the indigenous peoples.  

Recently, another prominent South Asian voice, Anita Huberman of Surrey Board of Trade, also wrote an open letter to McCallum to respect that reality.   

We don’t need rocket science to understand why such acknowledgement is important.  

After all, the indigenous peoples have been subjected to systemic racism for years. Canada as a nation state has been built on their stolen lands. That’s the minimum McCallum could have done by accepting the motion with an open mind.   

Although we are thankful to him and his team for recognizing the Sikh Genocide that occurred in India in the first week of November, 1984, following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, by ignoring the aspirations of the indigenous peoples of Canada he has set a very bad example. This reflects poorly on McCallum and speaks volumes about his double speak and hypocrisy on social justice. If you can be considerate for what happened to the Sikhs in India, why would you lack empathy for the indigenous peoples in your own backyard?  

It is pertinent to mention that even the Sikh activists are respectful of the indigenous communities and their rights. Dashmesh Darbar Gurdwara, which organizes the Vaisakhi parade every year in Surrey, also acknowledges the indigenous land we are sitting on. So much so, they invite indigenous peoples to their annual Sikh Genocide commemorative events. How come the Mayor cannot see this?  

Since South Asians and the Indigenous peoples in Canada share a history of resistance against colonialism and racism, we stand in support of the First Nations and call upon the Mayor to rethink his decision.   

Gurpreet Singh  

The ongoing farmers’ agitation in India took a dramatic turn on January 26, when some protesters stormed the iconic heritage Red Fort building in New Delhi and raised Nishan Sahib to make a point.  

It being Republic Day of India, the incident left many political leaders outraged, while a section of the media has gone to the extent of describing those carrying the Sikh flag to the Red Fort as extremists.  

The farmers from mainly Sikh-dominated Punjab have been camping outside the national capital for weeks to protest against controversial farming laws brought by the right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government. 

The farmers complain that the laws which have been passed without debate and consultations are going to affect their livelihood. The movement has attracted the support of farmers from other regions of the country as well.  

They had resolved to enter New Delhi on Republic Day to take out a tractor rally. But a section of the protestors broke away from the planned demonstration to go and raise the Sikh religious flag or Nishan Sahib on Red Fort. Even though Nishan Sahib is not the same as the flag of Khalistan, an imaginary Sikh homeland, the right wing media has accused these people of acting at the behest of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a separatist group banned by the Indian state.  

With no huge following in Punjab, which has already seen the demise of an armed insurgency for Khalistan movement, SFJ often indulged in gimmickry and had announced a monetary reward to those who could hoist a Khalistan flag on Red Fort on January 26.  

And yet the right wing media commentators have tried to club the two flags together, while the BJP leaders have described these people as extremists.  

The BJP apologists in the Indian film industry, such as Kangana Ranautm have branded the supporters of agitating farmers as “terrorists.”   

The hysteria caused by this episode has also gripped the mood of many in the opposition and the frontline leadership of the farmers’ agitation.  

The farmers’ leaders have distanced themselves from the events at Red Fort, but a senior leader of the so called secular Congress party, Shashi Tharoor, has condemned the incident, saying that the Indian tricolour is the only flag that should be raised on Red Fort. 

Most opposition leaders have blamed the BJP government for allowing the situation to deteriorate by failing to listen to the farmers and refusing to roll back the problematic farming laws, but the Red Fort incident has captured the headlines.  

What could be more hypocritical than the fact that there was no outrage over the tableau of a Ram temple in the annual Republic Day parade? It was the grand model of an upcoming Hindu temple on a disputed site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.   

An ancient mosque once stood on the same spot. In December, 1992, BJP supporters demolished it, claiming that it was built by a Muslim emperor after destroying a Hindu temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram. The incident, which followed months of conspiracy with the connivance of the establishment, had vitiated communal harmony in the country. The Red Fort incident of a symbolic protest was nothing in comparison to what happened in Ayodhya. Many violent incidents and anti-Muslim pogroms followed the demolition of the mosque while the BJP remained adamant to build a Hindu temple at the same place. Finally, under the current regime, the Indian Supreme Court gave its verdict in favour of the Hindu temple while refusing to restore the land back to the aggrieved Muslim community.  

The demolition of the mosque was an outright assault on the Indian constitution that guarantees religious freedom and equality, but by including a tableau of the Ram temple that is being built on the dead bodies of Muslims in the Republic Day parade, the present government has formally buried the future of an inclusive and secular India. 

The media and the opposition, which conveniently overlook this reality by squarely focussing on the Red Fort incident, also need to be held accountable for allowing majoritarianism to thrive under the garb of secularism and democracy, making life suffocating for everyone. Rather than investing more time and resources on questioning and weakening the continued growth of Hindu extremism, they are going after a perceived threat of Khalistan movement, which has lost its charm and poses a negligible threat to the security of the country. While SFJ was outlawed for merely asking for a right to referendum on Khalistan, Hindu extremist groups have been allowed to function openly and spread hatred and violence against minorities.    

If hoisting of Nishan Sahib from Red Fort is against Indian values, then why there is a silence about the display of Ram temple model in a national day parade? The Nishan Sahib, which was the flag of the Sikh warrior Banda Singh Bahadur, who had given the slogan of land to the tiller, should not alarm us, while the tableau of Ram temple, which reminds us of bloodshed,  should.  

The CEO of Burnaby-based Spice Radio turns 75 this Sunday, January 24.  

Shushma Datt, who is a pioneer in the Canadian broadcasting industry, and had started a campaign against racism in 2015, has faced many barriers and challenges because of her gender and ethnicity.  

Being a towering figure in the South Asian community, she received greetings from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and BC Premier John Horgan, besides congratulatory notes from the City of Burnaby, where she lives, and from the neighbouring city of New Westminster.  

New Westminster City Councillor Chuck Puchmayr, who is known for his stand on human rights and social justice, made a special announcement about her birthday and her work as an anti-racism campaigner during the council meeting on Monday night.  While Horgan called her directly on Friday to congratulate her, Trudeau sent his greetings through email. 

Datt started Raise Your Hands Against Racism on the birth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. in 2015. 

The campaign encourages participants to colour their hands and leave a palm print on a white sheet of paper, alongside a message against bigotry. She aimed to link the campaign which has already entered its seventh year with the Holi, an Indian festival of colours that bring people of different faiths and backgrounds together.  

The campaign has been recognised by the Prime Minister’s Office, the BC government, and several municipalities across the province. Horgan has also participated in it, as did other prominent elected officials, such as the first turbaned Sikh Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan and Chuck Puchmayr.  

Grassroots level anti-racism activists such as Harsha Walia, Sunera Thobani, Imtiaz Popat and many others have joined the campaign at different times. She had awarded Thobani as part of the campaign to send a message against growing Islamophobia under Donald Trump. Thobani had spoken out against discrimination against Muslims in the post 9/11 environment and received threats. 

The campaign provides an opportunity to Spice Radio broadcasters to speak out against racism and engage with people fighting against this menace. It has become even more relevant due to a noticeable spike in hate crimes against people of Asian origin in Vancouver because of COVID 19.   

At 75, Datt is still not giving up. She continues to lead the campaign with unwavering determination as the task to flatten the curve of rising hatred remains unfinished.  

On the night of Friday, January 15, the members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came together to reject controversial Indian laws .  

To mark the 92nd birth anniversary of the towering US civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., they burnt copies of the contentious Indian farming law, besides Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) right outside the Indian visa and passport office in Surrey.  

Since King had advocated for defying unjust laws while fighting against racial segregation, the IAPI members resolved to denounce infamous laws passed by the right wing Hindu nationalist government on the occasion.  

Farmers are agitating in India against recently passed farming ordinances that threaten their livelihood, CAA discriminates against Muslim refugees coming from neighbouring countries, and UAPA is being frequently used to suppress any voice of dissent, especially coming from minorities and left wing critics. The Indian authorities are reportedly using UAPA to intimidate those raising voices against the disputed farming laws.  

The IAPI members chanted slogans against the Indian government and burnt copies of these laws at the event, which was kept small due to COVID 19 restrictions. They also cross-marked and glued copies of these three laws at the entrance door of the building.  

Those in attendance were IAPI President Parshotam Dosanjh, Organiser Rakesh Kumar, Treasurer Navtej Johal and two other members, Tejinder Sharma and Gurpreet Singh.  

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