Earlier this week, in a post headed "Sikh, Sikh, Sikh", I shared with you quotes by Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh on the subject of Sikh extremism and terrorism. Predictably, Mr. Dosanjh has now been threatened with death by anonymous posters on Facebook. Here is the Canadian Press report, as published in today's Toronto Star.
Members of the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team are investigating threats against B.C. MP Ujjal Dosanjh. Insp. Paul Richardson says his team was informed Thursday of what he described as “very serious” threats posted on Facebook, and an investigation is underway.
Several of the entries have been removed from the site but at least one posting on Friday morning urged the assassination of the Indo-Canadian politician, saying it would be better to pierce Dosanjh with bullets than compassion.
Dosanjh has been an outspoken critic of Sikh extremism, and most recently sounded the alarm that extremism might be on the rise in Canada after he was the target of veiled threats on a Punjabi-language radio show. He says some of the postings have been printed for him and “Canadians should take these threats very seriously as an indication of poisoned minds, born and raised in Canada.”
The one-time B.C. premier has received threats in the past and was severely beaten in 1985 for his condemnation of Sikh violence in the Punjab during the Khalistan separatist movement.
Innocent questions: Who do you suppose the anonymous posters might be? Do you think they might wear turbans? If any are ever identified, do you think they'll be prosecuted for uttering threats or hate crimes? Answers on the back of a postage stamp to Walt at the usual address.
Also see: "Canadian Sikhs: The shaming of the majority by the brutality of the few", by Anthony Reinhart, from the Globe and Mail, 25/4/10.
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