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Why I would like to meet Canada's defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan

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Harmeet Shah Singh
Harmeet Shah SinghApr 16, 2017 | 16:03

Why I would like to meet Canada's defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan

Punjab's chief minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, has done no favour to Punjab in general, and democracy in particular, by announcing his boycott of visiting Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan.

The liberal leader is one of the four Sikh cabinet members of prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Born in Bombeli village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, he was five when he came to Vancouver with his older sister and mother. Sajjan was elected as an MP from Vancouver South in British Columbia in October, 2015.

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Captain Singh, who holds the highest office in Punjab, has branded a Punjabi heading Canada's defence as a "Khalistani sympathiser".

The CM has not only stunned a large number of Sikhs in Punjab and overseas worldwide, he appears to have dealt a blow to the highest standards of democracy.

The Sikh identity, glaringly visible in Trudeau's cabinet, is disproportionate to the size of the Sikh population in Canada, ranked as one of the most developed democracies of the world.

amarinder_041617034752.jpg
I don't care what our chief minister said disparagingly about a guest of India's government. Photo: PTI

The community makes up less than two percent in numbers there.

Still, Sajjan ascended to the position where he is through what is reasonably expected to be a free and fair election in a country that's home to multiple nationalities, let alone Indian-origin Sikhs.

Capt Singh's boycott aside, I'd like to meet Sajjan during his India visit to understand how he reached out to the last mile to win support of the tiniest of minorities and dominant Canadians alike in his election.

Inclusiveness is what completes a democracy.

In that sense, Sajjan wouldn't have reached where he has if he had been backed only by voters from his community.

I'd like to know from him how a democratic leader should convincingly strike a chord with diverse groups of cultures, ethnicities and races — not just a handful of castes and a couple of religions that Capt Singh has to cater to in the Majha, Doaba and Malwa regions of Punjab.

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When I read up on Sajjan, I reckon he has a rich experience in combatting crime as a decorated police officer in Vancouver.

As a reserved Lieutenant-Colonel in Canada's armed forces, he was deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Afghanistan.

Since he's a recipient of top Canadian military honours for reducing Taliban influence in Kandahar, I'd like to hear from him how he fought off international terror in some of the world's most dangerous zones.

Canada's High Commission in Delhi has described Capt Singh's remarks about Sajjan as "disappointing" and "inaccurate".

Like innumerable Punjabis, I too was repulsed by the chief minister's comments about someone who has risen through the ranks in one of the most modern democracies, about someone who has battled global terror.

Has Capt Singh coined a new definition of terrorism? I wonder.

Isn't it intriguing to float the Khalistani narrative over and over again in Punjab — before and after elections — when the issue doesn't exist in the state any longer?

If the highest elected official of Punjab can label a man of Sajjan's status a separatist, isn't he discouraging various investment projects that many diasporic Punjabis would have envisioned for the state?

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The defence minister grew in stature with his cultural identity intact in a country like Canada.

He didn't shed his roots. In fact, he's coming back to his childhood village, which is likely to give him an overwhelming reception.

I don't really now care what our chief minister said disparagingly about a guest of India's government.

If Sajjan chooses to meet me, my last question to him would be how he was able to maintain his culture almost in toto despite the constrains of battlefield and in the face of western modernity.

Last updated: April 16, 2017 | 16:12
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