Sikhs constituting 1.4% of the Canadian population and 1.8% of India’s have seen Sikh baiting during Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s trip to India. The Sikh nation’s response was mature and measured. In this open letter of appreciation, love and gratitude, editor of World Sikh News applauds his visit.

Dear Justin Trudeau: Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!  This is an open letter of wholehearted appreciation, love and gratitude. In the eight days that you were in India of which you spent one day in the Punjab, your good self, your wife, children, cabinet colleagues and Members of Parliament provided a rare, significant and historic opportunity to the Sikh people to be happy and cheerful. You set an amazing example of people-to-people ties.

As you experienced, Sikhs rose as a nation and accorded a welcome befitting a leader like you. From the streets of Amritsar to the promenade to the Golden Temple to the Facebook pages, you endeared to the Sikhs, and they responded wholesomely. The Sikhs will cherish the making of Rotis by you and your family at the Guru Ramdas Langar. Simplicity and modesty were your hallmarks unlike the blatant bragging of politicians.

Countries and nations have interests, and I write to you with the Sikh interest in mind. Not from the context of being parochial, petty and selfish as some Indian scribe may think but from providing the Sikh perspective to developments affecting the Sikhs, their faith and destiny. The Sikh nation will remain indebted to you for your down-to-earth gestures, your wholesome participation, your humility, your smiling family pictures and your respectful bows at Darbar Sahib not only to God Almighty but to the congregation gathered in the holy place. Your comments about grace and humility and your admiration for the warmest welcome Sikhs have accorded to someone in a very long time -these are all indelible in the hearts and minds of the Sikhs. Worldwide, Sikhs revelled at your humble mannerisms.

All sections of Sikhs -politicians, religious leaders, the ordinary folk, men and women, from Amritsar to Delhi to Mumbai bypassed the naysayers and those who tried their best to sabotage your affinity for Sikhs and Punjab. Sikhs were glad to see the Maharaja of Punjab -Amarinder Singh, finally able to meet the National Defence Minister of Canada Harjit Singh Sajjan, whom you so gracefully took along for the official meeting. One Facebook writer styled it in chaste Punjabi -Hunn Fuffadh aaye kaabu vich -loosely translated as “Now this hard nut has cracked.”

1.4 % Sikhs in Canada and 1.8 % Sikhs in India were victims of Sikh-baiting in the Indian media. For nearly three weeks now, the Indian state, the Indian media, the Maharaja of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh -unitedly tried to scare you. You remained unfazed. Falsehood, deceitful remarks, references to 30-year old incidents and the works -all of it except the mistaken invite, nothing put you on the defensive. We the Sikhs were forced to recall the Urdu couplet of Akbar Allahabadi-Ham aah bhi bharte hain to ho jaate hain badnam, woh katl bhi karte hain to charcha nahi hota -translated thus -Even a deep sigh defames me, while even if they murder it is not debatable. This is the Sikh dilemma.

“1.4 % Sikhs in Canada and 1.8 % Sikhs in India were victims of Sikh-baiting in the Indian media. All tried to scare you. The Sikhs were forced to recall the Urdu couplet of Akbar Allahabadi-Ham aah bhi bharte hain to ho jaate hain badnam, woh katl bhi karte hain to charcha nahi hota -translated thus -Even a deep sigh defames me, while if they murder even that is not debatable. ”

When 1984 happened to the Sikhs, there was an overwhelming feeling among Sikhs in the homeland and the Diaspora that it would be the Diaspora who would lead the Sikh people to get justice, respect for human rights and a voice at the UN and other international fora. Particularly in the last 33 years since 1984, with all parties in the government, all media -from print to video to TV to social -no serious attempt has been made to understand Sikh issues and concerns. As the present time, we have been at the receiving end of lies, fake news, subterfuge and deceit. Fortunately, this time our response was mature and measured. We were pleased by your tweets and those of your teammates which were truthful, factual and uncompromising.

We have moved on. You will agree Mr Prime Minister that the Sikh nation has been able to get their voice heard -loud and clear. In the times to come, many countries will see more Sikh participation and that the Sikh Diaspora will lead and force issues concerning Sikhs. Sikh-Canadians are likely to lead the Sikh Diaspora worldwide.

Senior Indian scribes did a barrage of articles to overawe you and the Sikhs. Others did not like your dress style. Some diehard snobs disapproved your jovial Bhangra moves! No effort was made to see your novel and humble way to reach out to people. Incorrigible! Many Indian scribes had a field day writing left, right and centre against you, your cabinet colleagues and the Sikhs. Some sections of the Canadian media also joined them by resurrecting old ghosts.

While the whole media -Indian, Canadian, Western and Russian went hammer and tongs against you for your closeness and love to Sikhs, there is nothing to worry. The perception that Sikhs may be an embarrassment to you is a fictional idea created and crafted by scribes and biased scholars. There is absolutely no substance in their references and hypotheses. A Facebook post by a Bengali lady -Riya Mukherjee is relevant and apt. Referring to the Sikhs she says, among other things, “This is one community that keeps rising from its own ashes. It suffers the horrors of partition and then rebuilds itself without any victimhood, staking claim not just to self-rehabilitation but to prosperity. This is the community that faces a planned pogrom and yet doesn’t give in to long-term hatred. This is the community that had a clear, dangerous separatist movement and yet somehow managed to distance itself from the “terrorist” tag.” I only wish that top-notch Indian scribes had good sense like her.

“When art greets politics, it touches the hearts of the people. When artist Gurpreet Singh from Moga drew your portrait in Sikh attire, the message from the Sikhs to you and the Indian scribes was adequately conveyed. Whether it will be understood or will they will continue to haunt you and the Sikhs, time will tell.”

Even the internationally respected human rights organisation -the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, which has done exemplary work in Canada not only for justice causes of Sikhs but other communities as well, is erroneously perceived by Indian columnists as well as the well-educated Chief Minister of Punjab. Leave alone a comprehensive research; not even a cursory attempt is made to find out the truth.

Despite all odds, it was nice to see you and your ministers not buckling under pressure. Undoubtedly, you “had to stand for the territorial integrity of the two countries” but all of you nuanced it with the right to freedom of expression and the right to justice against genocide and other human rights abuses. The Indian scribes, university experts, social ideologues, some politicians in Canada have failed to fathom that Sikhs want respect for human rights, justice and a deeper understanding of who the Sikhs are and what they stand for.

Sikhs hope and pray that notwithstanding the business partnership of India and Canada, both the countries will endeavour to respect fundamental human rights and completely refrain from equating quest for rights with violence and terrorism. Your ample stress on the strategic importance of ties with Punjab was music to our ears and we look forward to more educational and social participation, twinning agreements between cities, educational ties with universities and agricultural technocracy to save lives of our dying farmers.

Mr Prime Minister, I am particularly worried about the huge practical gap between the Indian concept of rule of law and due process as against the one practised in Canada and the West. Canada has to ensure that sharing of security information with India will not lead to the death penalty, extrajudicial killings and prolonged detentions under undemocratic security, despotic and sedition laws.

Sikh commentators and organisations may disagree with the joint Indo-Canadian statement on countering terrorism and they certainly have the right to present a third perspective – a perspective based on human rights protection and a discourse based on the wrongful policies of world powers in bringing about a situation wherein minority communities and nationalities are pushed to the wall.

“We the Sikhs were forced to recall the Urdu couplet of Akbar Allahabadi-Ham aah bhi bharte hain to ho jaate hain badnam, woh katl bhi karte hain to charcha nahi hota”

For the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to obliquely say that “religion should not be allowed to drive politics” sounded like the devil quoting the scripture. His right-wing party has been doing more and worse since the last seven decades. For him and his party, religion has been not only the key driving force but also the plank for hatred and acrimony amongst the population. The Sikh religio-political philosophy cannot be easily understood by biased minds. You have to see through this for a proper assessment of the Sikh people.

The Sikh narrative runs many parallels simultaneously and India will have to contend with them even if the Sikh prominence in Canada is not easily digestible. Frankly, India and its media are at sea at the sight of Sikh stalwarts in Canada. Significantly, a section of the Canadian and Indian Punjabi media has started questioning and chastising the role of the dominant Indian media.

Your visit was a roaring success on all fronts. You turned the tide upside down by establishing people to people contact and keeping core politics at the end of the visit. People like you invariably face tough times and I have absolutely no doubt that when the whole picture sinks in despite the “enforced irritants”, you will emerge stronger.

When art greets politics, it touches the hearts of the people. When artist Gurpreet Singh from Moga drew your portrait in Sikh attire, the message from the Sikhs to you and the Indian scribes was adequately conveyed. Whether it will be understood or will they will continue to haunt you and the Sikhs, time will tell.

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Canada has come a long way since the first Sikhs landed in Canada more than a 100 years ago. Following the footsteps of your illustrious father, you, your government and your country are making giant strides in understanding the Sikhs, their ethos, culture, religio-political concerns and human rights issues. We deeply appreciate that for you -pluralism, multiculturalism and peoplekind are not just pet words, but a way of modern life for peaceful coexistence. Please wish and pray that India follows Canada. Adieu!

Yours sincerely

Jagmohan Singh
Editor, The World Sikh News