Sikh-Canadians to don turbans at Olympics' opening ceremony

[ranjit singh]

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=b373806b-255e-4158-abac-67ec41323c92

and for some great comic relief, don't forget to check out the comments

on a serious note though, judging from the comments, i didn't know so many canadians would be offended. sad to see that so much racism and ignorance still exists.

 

[Arjun Barua]

Oh man, and here I was thinking that Canadians were tolerant and understanding people... They're making me ashamed to call myself Canadian.

Good for these 4 guys, though. I'm glad they're doing this. They should definitely go through with it, and not back down.

 

[Saleem]

i didnt know anyone would actually name their kid Gabbar Singh!

 

[yraparla]

I think it's a solid point to criticize that he doesn't wear a turban.

It's hypocritical to me to bash Snoop and Akshay Kumar for wearing a Turban for entertainment/fun/whatever and not take these guys to task for not representing their religion properly in everyday life

Ok, yes, their goal is to 'raise awareness' which is not the same as wearing a pagh like an accessory. I understand that. I also understand that in his day to day life, he made the choice to 'fit in' and not wear the symbol of Sikhism whose sole purpose is to demonstrate faith and let others know that you are a Sikh. THAT is raising awareness, not causing controversy at the Olympics when your country is supporting you.

I know they are drawing attention to some laws prohibiting the wearing of a pagh (I don't know details, some people want to fill us in?). And I respect that, and I respect that they are arguing for the RIGHT to decide themselves whether or not to wear one and not have the government make that decision for them. But that doesn't mean that they don't deserve criticism.

Also, the paper is called Times Colonist....I'm not expecting progressive comments on it (although user comments seemed 50/50)

 

[Summy]

Thats the dumbest move ever. Its an Identity issue to them, but they dont want to wear it everyday? Do they not have an identity then?

Its funny when people make these fake olympic stands for some cause way above even their own comprehension.


Read this comment:
Yet another reason not to watch the Olympics. Wake me up when citizens of Canada are Canadians. Not Indo-Canadians, not Asian-Canadians, not let's-differentiate-ourselves-Canadians, just Canadians. And let me know when I can go to India or wherever and make them change their rules and customs because I'm a Cano-Indian.

WTFateh is he talking about?


billThu, Aug 7, 08 at 12:09 AM
I have enougth of my problem of my own at home now to worry about all these bickering.I just wonder if this gentlement always has his turban on when he went to school or played field hockey everytime.If he did then I have no problem,But if he didn't then his motive is in question.

Smart guy.

 

[AmitB]

hey, I was watching the opening ceremonies yest, and it looked like there were a few sardars in the canadian delegation that marched in....does anyone know who they are/what sport they compete in, or were they members of the canadian olympic committee?

 

[ranjit singh]

http://bhangrateamsforum.com/discuss/index.php?topic=1109.0

 

[Saleem]

Moderator's Note: merging topics