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Canadians know Ujjal Dosanjh as a former B.C. premier, a
federal health minister in Paul Martin's government and now an opposition MP.
But long before Dosanjh made a name for himself in politics, he rendered a
service to this country that was arguably more laudable -- and certainly more
heroic -- than anything he did in Victoria or Ottawa: In 1985, months before
fellow Canadian Sikhs bombed Air India Flight 182, Dosanjh had the courage to
criticize his own.
We live in a peaceful, democratic country. And so most of us simply assume we
can say anything we want about controversial subjects -- provided it isn't libel
or hate speech. That includes butchering sacred cows worshipped by members of
one's own religious or ethnic community. Jews represent the best example on this
score. Make a list of the most vicious anti-Zionists you can think of, in Canada
and elsewhere. I'm guessing half of them will be Jewish.
But that isn't true of certain other ethnic groups, whose communities here in
Canada have imported a culture of violence from their homeland, and whose
enforcers threaten to physically punish any deviation from the approved party
line.
Which brings us back to Ujjal Dosanjh. In the mid-1980s, when he was a human
rights activist and lawyer working in Vancouver, Dosanjh was one of the few
Sikhs who was willing to speak out openly against the thugs who were trying to
impose religious orthodoxy and a militant political agenda-- the creation of a
Sikh homeland in India's Punjab region -- on the entire community.
In April, 1985, shortly before Flight 182 was bombed, Dosanjh sent a letter
to then-prime minister Brian Mulroney, warning him about the radicals' dangerous
campaign. Mulroney never responded. Sikh moderates were being beaten and
threatened with worse. But as Dosanjh told the Air India inquiry last week,
there was a general sense that these acts "weren't really happening to
Canadians. They were happening to some brown guys that were arguing with each
other that we don't understand."
As for Dosanjh, he was ambushed in his office parking lot by an an assailant
wielding a lead pipe, leaving him with a broken hand and a gash in his head that
required 80 stitches. This is why it's so hard for the police and media to get
principled insiders to provide information about criminals and terrorists within
immigrant communities. The price of coming forward is a life spent looking over
your shoulder.
This also explains why few members of Toronto's Tamil community have publicly
spoken out against the appalling shakedowns of Tamil business owners on behalf
of the LTTE terrorist group, and the muzzling of anti-LTTE voices. And it's why
life is often difficult for the high-profile Canadian Muslims -- such as Tarek
Fatah, Irshad Manji and Salim Mansur -- who've loudly criticized Muslim
extremism, rather than hewing to a party line that blames every problem on
Islamophobia.
Of course, courage knows no skin colour. I could name several white reporters
doing outstanding work investigating radicals in the Tamil, Sikh and Muslim
communities. And they, too, face all sorts of threats. At least two that I know
of have been forced to rely on police protection after writing especially
penetrating exposes. But they are insulated, to a certain extent at least, by
their outsider status. Radical ethno-religious groups invariably reserve a
special hatred for "blood traitors" (as Dosanjh has been called) within their
own communities --and single them out for special treatment.
There are others like Dosanjh. But most are labouring in obscurity. A few
months back, while I was researching an article about last year's Liberal
leadership convention, I met with moderate Sikh journalists who regularly
campaigned in print against the radicals who've taken over many Canadian
gurdwaras. Though few outside the Sikh community know their names, they endure a
level of abuse and danger that I will likely never know.
These people are heroes. And though we can't always protect them from every
threat, we should honour them by doing what we didn't do to Ujjal Dosanjh 22
years ago: listen to their warnings.
jkay@nationalpost.com
Illustration:
• Black & White Photo:
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Idnumber: 200711270161
Edition: National
Story
Type: Column
Length: 686 words
Keywords: POLITICIANS; POLITICAL PARTIES;
GOVERNMENT; CANADA
Illustration Type: P
PRODUCTION FIELDS
NDATE: 20071127
NUPDATE: 20071127
DOB: 20071127
POSITION: 1
