By IANS
Toronto : The continuing failure of Canadian politicians to take Sikh extremism seriously has contributed to a resurgence in the militant movement, says an award-winning Canadian journalist.
The extremists have been further encouraged by the failure to gain convictions in the 1985 Air India bombing, Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun said at the first conference on 'immigration, border controls and terrorism' organised by the Fraser Institute here Friday.
"Within two weeks of the acquittal of the Air India suspects, Khalistan slogans were again being chanted. The extremists were emboldened," a Fraser Institute press release quoted Bolan, who has written extensively on Sikh extremism and the Air India bombing, as saying at the conference.
The Fraser Institute is an independent research and educational organisation based in Canada. Its mission is to measure, study and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals.
Addressing the audience, Bolan detailed how many Sikh temples are again displaying banners supporting the creation of Khalistan and pictures of members of the International Sikh Youth Federation and Babbar Khalsa, two groups the Canadian government has labelled as terrorist organisations.
"Yet politicians from all parties continue to regularly visit these temples," she said, adding that politicians need to do more due diligence before meeting with people or groups who claim to represent any immigrant community.
She said that in search of the ethnic vote, politicians ignore vital information on the background of the people they are meeting. She cited as an example a Liberal Party fundraising dinner in Vancouver several years ago in which three of the Air India suspects mingled with a number of Liberal MPs including Paul Martin and then Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien.
"The message this sends is that these people (Sikh extremists) are powerful and connected to the government," said Bolan, who continues to receive death threats via mail and telephone for her coverage of the Air India bombing.
"Our politicians need to avoid going to events that include suspect immigrant community leaders."
"The extremists were not challenged by Canada's mainstream institutions," the release quoted her as telling the conference. "Many of the stories coming out of the community about beatings and intimidation were treated as little community stories involving a minority in Canada."
Bolan also described how the extremist leaders in the past would openly discuss their desires for violence and the need to kill their enemies.
Brochures and pamphlets with similar violent themes were produced and distributed. Ceremonies honouring assassins and terrorists were held at various temples and mainstream politicians attended. But since the discussion was carried on in Punjabi, neither the politicians nor mainstream Canada paid attention.
"Nobody figured out what was going on."
She suggested that when it came to the Sikh community in Canada, there still exists "two solitudes" between what is said in Punjabi and in English.
She, however, held out hope that the power the extremists hold within the Sikh community could be reduced and those responsible for terrorist and criminal acts would be brought to justice.
"The Sikh community in Canada is fighting hard to rescue itself from the extremists," Bolan said, adding that while the movement for an independent state of Khalistan has virtually evaporated in Punjab in India it continues to fester in Canada.
There are around 400,000 Sikhs in Canada.
According to the journalist, since nomination meetings for most political parties don't require anyone voting to be a Canadian citizen or be legally allowed to vote in a general election, Sikh extremists have become adept at delivering block votes that can influence and often determine who wins a party's nomination in a particular riding (constituency).
"Change the nomination rules around who can vote. That little thing will reduce the extremists' power and influence," she said.
Bolan started her career in journalism in 1984, a year before the Air India bombing that killed all 329 passengers on board.
In the course of her career, she has won and has been shortlisted for over 15 major national and international journalism awards, including the Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women's Media Foundation in 1999 and the 2006 PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Prize for her continuing coverage of the Air India story.