C O M M E N T

Indo Canadian Politicians Forget Real Heroes

Heroes from the Asian sub continent who struggle hard in an alien land and got their compatriots precious political right to vote are a forgotten lot. They were indeed men of epic proportions, hardy stuff and full of sacrifices and they paid heavy price to get their brothers and sisters their franchise. Writer Gurpreet Singh from Vancouver recounts the saga of struggle and great contribution these heroes made and bemoans the lack of respect among the emerging class of Indo Canadian politicians.

Indo Canadian politicians have turned a blind eye on their illustrious seniors who had fought for political rights of the immigrants to Canada. Their long arduous struggle finally resulted in the Indians and other south Asians getting their right to vote on April 2, 1947. It was the results of years of struggle by these old men.

While a good respectable number of  Indo Canadian politicians have been  making  to the Canadian parliament and provincial assemblies because of this right, none of them recognized the contributions  made by scores of men and women to this struggle. The  59th anniversary of this important day in the history was just another routine day for these members of House of Commons and provincial assemblies. The nations that forget their heroes are bound to suffer to live through the same fate as earlier.

Even in the past, the Indo Canadian MPs, MLAs and councilors have never recognized this day. This attitude naturally annoyed two survivors of that struggle, Mehar Singh Sandhu and Gurdev Singh Grewal. Most of their comrades have died. They included Dr. D.P. Pandia and Darshan Singh Canadian, who led this campaign.  Both these men who live in Vancouver frequently participated in the meetings organized by these leaders and raised money to carry on the struggle.

They feel that every year April 2 comes and goes without celebration and recognition of their efforts. Presently, there are eight Indo Canadian MLAs and three East Indian MPs in BC the province where this struggle was first launched decades back. The CCF, an old version of the NDP was the only political party that openly supported their struggle. But even the NDP MLAs of Indian origin have done nothing to recognize their efforts.

The east Indians started arriving in Canada as British subjects in the beginning of the 20th century. The BC government disfranchised them in 1907. A year later, they were disfranchised from voting in the municipal elections too. As a mark of protest, Hassan Rahim of Gujarat, India voted in the 1911 Vancouver municipal election. He was charged but acquitted for lack of evidence. The campaign intensified in 1942, when the British government tried to draft the Indo Canadian youth in the army.

Mehar Singh Sandhu also received a letter from the authorities asking him to join the British army. He remembers that the angry young men refused to join the army until they were granted right to vote. Finally, the government granted Indians, Japanese and Chinese their basic human rights to vote.

Sadhu Binning, a prominent Punjabi scholar who has written a sarcastic poem dedicated to the struggle for vote feels that instead of nailing the Indo Canadian politicians alone, the entire Indo Canadian community should be held responsible for ignoring the glorious contribution. This ignorance indeed is unpardonable. Both Binning and Sukhwant Hundal have authored a small booklet about this struggle that is the only authentic document available in Vancouver about this subject. Their research is based on the information gathered from old newspaper reports and the archives.

Guru Ravidas Sabha is the only organization that issued a statement praising these men on April 2, 2006 while the Indo Canadian politicians remained mum despite sharp criticism.

Ironically, pro union MLAs like Harry Bains and Raj Chauhan maintained a studied silence whereas the leaders of this struggle had a support of different unions. Darshan Singh Canadian was a trade unionist and an important figure in the IWA. Harry Bains was once associated with the IWA. Perhaps they do not want to be associated with people who had communist background. Darshan Singh Canadian, a great thinker and orator had returned to India as the then united Communist Party of India wanted to come and work in Punjab, India and finally was secretary of the Punjab unit of the CPI. He was twice leeched MLA and lived very simple life full of struggle. He met a hero’s death when scared of his steadfast opposition to the Khalistan extremist movement, extremists gunned down him near his village Langeri, near Mahilpur, Hoshiarpur district in 1982. In his death he became a rallying pint for those who opposed the extremist violence in Punjab.

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