Irresponsible media and community tensions

By Salim Jiwa

There will be a temptation among some reporters to capitalize on the shooting at the Surrey Sikh temple as a return to the dark days of militancy. The simple fact is that Sikh militancy has been a dead issue since the mid and late 90s.

What happened at the temple on Saturday when a man fired a shot is simply a continuation of media irresponsibility that has been evident since the days of militancy in the 80s. Then, Tara Singh Hayer – a journalistic martyr to some ill-informed members of the press and the mainstream community – openly supported violence in the community.

His writings fanned social conflict at a time when tensions were burning hot over the issue of the Indian government raid on the Golden Temple. His writings were designed to fan support for an independent Khalistan. The timing was significant in that a community filled with tensions and living in fear had to contend with the additional danger of being portrayed by the Indo-Canadian Times as pro-India.

Many victims of the Indo-Canadian Times have lived to tell a story about how they were vilified, labelled or accused of being Indian government agents because they were unsupportive of Khalistan. Beatings were applauded, violence against Indian government institutions such as the consul general’s home and office were labelled as acts of bravery. Indian government officials were described as “dogs.” Terrorist leaders were described as heroes and the killers of Mrs. Gandhi were called martyrs.

That was then. Subsequently, some Indo-Canadian media outfits have continued to show a lack of professionalism.

For the past few weeks a feud has been brewing in Surrey between the management, a host and two citizens who are well-known from their roles from the past.

A radio host on Radio India launched a vicious character assassination of Harjit Singh Atwal – a former member of the now banned ISYF. It upset Atwal greatly. He complained to me about what was going on – the advice he got was that he has civil recourse on matters pertaining to libel.

The situation had led to tensions. With threats and counter-threats and fear.

At the temple on Saturday, there was a gathering.

Radio India managing director Maninder Gill was present at a wedding. An argument began in the parking lot.

Atwal was left with a gunshot wound in the leg and was treated in hospital. Police were soon looking for Maninder Gill.

What is still a mystery was who had the gun and whether it went off during a struggle.

The reason for writing this clarification is that this had nothing to do with moderates and fundamentalists – labels used by mainstream white reporters to describe everyone who must be put in slots. That is how the white media sees it – every Sikh is either a moderate or a fundamentalist.

This was once again an example of irresponsible media actions leading to stress and tensions.

Thankfully, it is not community-wide and involves a total of four people.