BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Canadian truckdriver who pleaded guilty Wednesday tosmuggling cocaine in the floorboards ofhis truck was part of an operation that sentmore than 1½ tons of drugs across theU.S. border into Canada since 2009,federal authorities said.
Ravinder Arora, 30, of Brampton,Ontario, pleaded guilty in federal courtWednesday to conspiring to exportcocaine. He faces at least 10 years inprison at his December sentencing.
Arora was about to cross theLewiston-Queenston Bridge from westernNew York into Ontario last Septemberwhen his nervous demeanor led U.S.border agents to search his truck,authorities said. Agents found 213 poundsof cocaine worth more than $3.8 millionin a compartment beneath the trailer'sfloor. It was believed to be the largestsingle narcotics seizure in the region'shistory.
As part of his a plea agreement,Arora admitted making four other tripsand agreed to cooperate in the continuinginvestigation into what authorities believeis a larger smuggling operation.
Two other people, including theowner of the trucking company thatemployed Arora, are awaiting trial.
Investigators said Arora wouldpick up the cocaine at a warehouse inChino, Calif., and drive to a warehouse inthe Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga,where legitimate cargo was piled on topof a false floor concealing the drugs. Hethen drove into Canada to deliver thedrugs to a warehouse in Mississauga foreventual street sale in the Toronto area.
Arora was promised $8,000 persmuggling trip, according to courtdocuments.
Arora's attorney, ParmanandPrashad, said Wednesday that his client"deeply regrets his actions and was usedby others who were making the bigmoney.
"He has since realized that the
risks he took were not worth the penalty,"Prashad said.
Based on ledgers seized during theinvestigation, the operation is believed tohave made nine successful trips before
Arora's arrest in September 2010. Thegroup ushered an estimated 3,500 poundsof cocaine across the border, according to
U.S. and Canadian law enforcementauthorities, who highlighted Wednesday'splea at a news conference at the interna-tional Peace Bridge.
"It was a very good concealmenttechnique, under the floorin the support structures ofthe trailer," said James En-gleman, director of fieldoperations for U.S. Cus-toms and Border Protec-tion. He said an X-ray ofArora's trailer and a pass bya drug-sniffing dog were in-conclusive, leading officersto "follow their gut" andpull up the floorboards."With some X-ray inspec-
tions ... some a second-grader could say,'I can see what's there.' Other times youlook at it and there's no definition, there
just appears to be something unusual in agiven area," Engleman said. "This was avery professional job. This wasn't anafterthought, quick concealmenttechnique. They spent a lot of time tobuild a professional quality concealmenton these trailers."
The group also is believed to havesmuggled ecstasy and marijuana into theUnited States, as well as cash.
Parminder Sidhu, who hired Aroraas a driver at his company, Prime 9, is incustody in Canada and awaitingextradition, U.S. Attorney WilliamHochul said. Sidhu is charged with con-spiracy to possess with intent to distributecocaine and conspiracy to export cocaine.It was unknown whether he has anattorney. A home telephone listing wasdisconnected and a phone number forPrime 9 could not be located.
Tel: 905-670-1522, Fax: 416-661-7273 Vol.8 , No. 1094 Thursday, September 08, 2011 23 Bhadhon , Nanaksahi Calendar 543
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Courageous Journalism02 September 08, 2011
Sikh and other small Comunities
We were extremely poor yet we hadbooks at home, said Ada Yonath, the2009 Nobel laureate in chemistry fromIsrael .Six million Israelis buy twelvemillion books every year, being the high-est consumers of books in the world.
Knowledge comes through edu-cation and Israel has the highest schoollife expectancy in South West Asia withthe highest literacy rate. Education iscompulsory for children between theages of three and eighteen. Israel spends$110 on scientific research per year per
person. Six of the best universities in theworld are in Israel. For every 10000 Is-raelis there are 145 engineers or scien-tists. On the other hand there is zeropercent chance that Pakistan will achievethe millennium development goals on ed-ucation by 2015.India,Bangladesh andSri Lanka are well on their way toachieving the same goals. One in ten “outof school children” in the world is a Pak-istani. What is required is an additionalspending of rupees 100 billion, a fiftypercent increase over current spending.Israel, the most threatened country in theworld was spending 24% of its GDP ondefense in 1984.Today it is spending only7.3%.The budgetary allocations havesince been diverted towards productivesectors of the economy. We on the otherhand are spending around 50% of the netrevenue receipts on defense. As a majorchunk of foreign arms purchases is madethrough loans, there is no account of theamount of loans taken and the interestpaid thereon.50% of the net revenue re-ceipts go to debt servicing.
As a result of “love for knowl-
edge”, deeply ingrained in the Jewishmindset, 3 out of the 4 most influentialpeople in the last century were Jews. Ex-cept Charles Darwin, the others namely,Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and AlbertEinstein were all Jews.45 Jews have wonthe Nobel prize in Physics so far.28 re-ceived the Nobel prize for original con-tribution in the field of chemistry.52 ofthe Nobel laureates in the field of physi-ology & medicine were Jewish bybirth.12 awardees of the Nobel prize inliterature and 21 in economics were also
Jews.9 got the same prize for peace. Inother words 0.3% of world population re-ceived 24% of the Nobel prizes.
A Jewish mother would like herson to be a scientist than to be the Headof a State. Albert Einstein was offered thePresidentship of Israel which he politelyrefused.
So it all originates in the familyvalues. The love for knowledge islearned as it is valued in the family. Any-thing rewarded in the form of praise orother incentives within the family and forthat matter in the larger social setting isreinforcing and ultimately becomes partof the national character. A state and so-ciety which honors the knowledgeablebecomes a formidable force to reckonwith, as technology is based on scientificknowledge and whoever has the technol-ogy has the power.
The six day war which Israelfought against the combined armies ofEgypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq resulted inthe total capitulation of the Arab Armies.Israel captured the Gaza strip and SinaiPeninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights
from Syria and the West bank and EastJerusalem from Jordan.779 Jews werekilled against 21000 Muslims.
While 24% of Nobel prizes wentto the Jews 22% of humanity is Muslim.What has been their contribution in thelast 800 years in the fields of Physics,Chemistry, Medicine, Literature andEconomics.1.4 billion Muslims have pro-duced almost nothing yet 14 million Jewshave given so much to humanity. Wesimply cannot repay what we owe toJonas Salk who invented the polio vac-
cine in 1955, preventing billions of Mus-lims, Christians, Hindus and Jews fromthe effects of the deadly virus.
The Nobel Foundation is award-ing the prize for more than 100 years, yetduring this period the 1.4 billion Muslimshave produced only six individuals whowon the prestigious award. Abdus Salamconsidered a persona non grata in hisown country, because of his religious be-liefs. Ahmad Zawail with an Americancitizenship pursued his work in the US,Naguib Mehfooz, an Egyptian wasstabbed in the back by a fanatic Muslim,Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights ac-tivist is in exile in Canada due to threatsto her life in her own country, OrhanPamuk, a Turkish novelist was criminallycharged after he made statements alleg-ing mass killings of Armenians andKurds during the Ottoman period, andMuhammad Yunas, an economist fromBangladesh and the founder of GrameenBank who has also been subjected to anaudit by the government for allegedwrongdoings.
A number of petty cases have
also been instituted against him.At present only 1% scientists in
the world are Muslims. Today a large partof the Muslim world is taken over byforces preaching nothing but hatred andcontempt for all others belonging to theout-group. Anyone can be held guilty ofblasphemy if his or her views do notmatch with the official dogmas. The totalemphasis is on the revealed truth and noton empirical knowledge. We hate to findthe truth. For us truth lies in all kinds ofconspiracy theories. From 9/11 to the
crash of Air Blue Airliner to cricketmatch fixing to floods every phenome-non was the result of some kind of con-spiracy against us.
In a recent survey conducted by“Newsline”, 57% of Pakistani youthwas in favor of a non-secular state. Youvisit any educational institution andwould find more than half the studentswith obscurantist views. This ideologi-cally motivated lot is conditioned to seethe world in a context which suits theirstrongly held beliefs reinforced by theforces of dark.
No place for empirical knowl-edge on the national priority list, indoc-trination of hatred, intolerance, revenge,death and destruction is what leads to thecollapse of civil order, civil society andfinally the state.
Quest for empirical knowledge,tolerance, respect for mutual coexistence,love for all human beings regardless oftheir faith, are attributes of a progressive,peaceful and prosperous society and astable state.
Sikh Press Special
A Jewish mother would like her son to be a scientist than to be the Head of a State. Karl Marx,Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein were all Jews.45 Jews have won the Nobel prize inPhysics so far.28 received the Nobel prize for original contribution in the field of chemistry.52of the Nobel laureates in the field of physiology & medicine were Jewish by birth
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September 08, 2011Courageous Journalism
KHL says Canadian hockeycoach killed in plane crash
'Indian leadership united in denying Sikhs oftheir separate identity and fundamental rights'An open letter to the Prime Minister, Government of India
A devastating plane crash in western Russia has claimed the life of
Canadian hockey coach Brad McCrimmon and six other former NHL
players. At least 43 people died when a Soviet-built Yak-42 crashed
into a river bank immediately after takeoff near the western city of
Yaroslavl, Russia, about 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow. The
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the plane crashed into
a riverbank on the Volga River.
The plane was carrying members of the Lokomotiv ice
hockey team, who were due to travel to Minsk to play the opening
game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.
The KHL has confirmed that McCrimmon is among the fa-
talities. McCrimmon, 52, is a native of Saskatchewan. He played for
six NHL teams in his career and most recently served as an assistant
coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He took the coaching job with
the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in May.
The KHL is a league that includes players from several Rus-
sia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
is a top team in the league and came third in the KHL last year. It in-
cludes several international stars in its ranks, such as Sweden's Stefan
Liv and Czech Republic's Jan Marek.
A Czech embassy said Marek was killed in the crash, along
with fellow Czech players Josef Vasicek and Karel Rachunek.
The Yak-42 is a Soviet-built, three-engine, mid-range pas-
senger jet that has been in service since 1980. Dozens remain in serv-
ice with Russian airlines and other airlines around the world.
President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging So-
viet-built planes out of service starting next year.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister
to the site of the crash.
Respected Manmohan Singh, Waheguru
Ji Ka Khalsa! Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! We,
the Sikhs, over the years, have been fac-
ing the challenges posed by the strident
anti-Sikh lobby and more specifically by
the Hindutva elements questioning our
unique and distinct identity. The Sikhs
have expressed their concern and agony
on the issue to all successive govern-
ments in the past but none has come for-
ward to correct the constitutional wrong.
Three days back, the Law Minister Shri
Salman Khursheed in your cabinet an-
swering a query by Akali MP Sukhdev
Singh Dhindsa in the Rajya Sabha
dropped a bombshell on the Sikh com-
munity by rejecting the long pending de-
mand to implement the provisions of the
Anand Marriage Act enacted in 1909 but
lying dormant ever since India framed its
Constitution in 1950.
The rejection of the demand by
the law ministry was not only illogical
but also against all cannons of justice.
The law minister has reportedly said
seclusion of Sikhs from Hindu Marriage
Act 1955 would invite similar demands
from others including Jains, Buddhists.
Also, seclusion of one community is
against the directive principles contained
in Article 44 of the Constitution which
aims at bringing in a uniform civil code.
Regrettably, the minister has forgotten
deliberately or otherwise that there exist
separate laws for Muslims, Christians,
and Jews. Earlier, the RSS was in the
forefront in painting the Sikh identity
with a Hindu brush. Now such anti-Sikh
forces have found a friend in the Prime
Minister who happens to be a Sikh. Since
the formation of the Constitution, 61
years have passed but there has been no
change in the mindset of Indian leader-
ship, irrespective of their party affiliation
they are united to deny the Sikhs of their
separate identity. By refusing to accept
the exclusive and separate Sikh identity,
the Indian state has rubbed salt on the
festering wounds of the Sikhs. While
continuing with its discriminatory poli-
cies against the Sikhs, the state has once
again given the impression that the deci-
sion makers in North and South Block
had learnt no lessons from the tragic
events of the recent past. On one hand,
your government though reluctantly had
bowed before the crowd of 50,000 thou-
sand people gathered around social ac-
tivist Anna Hazare who was on hunger
strike at Ramlilla ground. On the other,
same number of people (app. 50,000) got
perished in Punjab since 1978 while
fighting for their just rights and against
injustices, not a single contentious issue
of Punjab has been resolved till date.
With your elevation to the exalted office
of the prime minister, the identity of
Sikhs might have got the exposure world-
wide but it is ironic that within India it-
self the constitution is ambiguous on
their distinct identity.
Earlier, we had a President and
now a prime minister from the Sikh com-
munity but even then the Constitutional
discrimination continues. During Gaini
Zail Singh’s tenure, the Indian state sent
its army to storm Darbar Sahib in 1984
and now with you as political head of the
country, the Indian state has dealt yet an-
other blow to Sikh aspirations. This re-
jection of Anand Marriage Act will surely
awaken those who were in an illusion
that "A Sikh Prime Minister will address
the problems and challenges being faced
by the community". For Sikhs nothing
has changed: the same
discriminative attitude
and biased mindset still
persists in the corridors
of power. For the past 60
years of Indian republic,
the Sikhs have strived to
find an independent and
dignified place in the
constitutional framework
so as to uphold their ex-
clusive and distinct iden-
tity. BACKGROUND:
It has been established
beyond doubt that
Sikhism is a separate religion and Sikhs
are a distinct people. However, the
framers of the constitution dealt a severe
blow to the Sikhs by not according de
jure recognition to this reality. Article 25
of the Indian constitution gives Sikhs the
right to wear the Kirpan, but Explanation
II of Article 25 (2) (b) of the constitution
still continues to classify Sikhs as Hin-
dus. This is contrary to the recommenda-
tion of the Constitutional Review
Committee in 1999. The registration of
marriage, adoption, succession, forma-
tion of a family business (as is possible
for Hindu Undivided Family) -for all
these Sikhs have to adopt a set of proce-
dures incompatible with their belief sys-
tems. Indian Parliament has amended the
Constitution at least 72 times. But not
once did it consider amending it to grant
the Sikh community its due status. You
are well aware that the Sikhs are a sepa-
rate community having their own scrip-
tures, history, culture, traditions,
language, calendar, script and all that de-
fines a ‘Nation’. The Sikh struggle to at-
tain Sovereign self-rule is also based on
the realization that ‘we as a ‘complete na-
tion’ have a right to decide our own des-
tiny’. History and events have taken the
Sikhs beyond the boundaries of the In-
dian Constitution to which the world is a
witness. The Sikhs are recognized by the
international community as a people
striving for political independence. And
this happened because of the struggle the
Sikhs waged during the past three
decades.
You may also be aware that the
Pakistan has enacted a full-fledged Sikh
Marriage Law since January, 2008, al-
though Sikh population over there is less
than 50,000. It may also interest you to
know that they asked the Sikhs to pro-
pose the law and then adopted it verbatim
without changing even a comma or full
stop. We are proud of our distinct and
separate identity. The Sikhs need their
own Personal law and the Anand Mar-
riage Act. These issues are Constitutional
matters that relate to our distinct identity
and to get them implemented a Constitu-
tional amendment to the Article 25 (b) (2)
is required. May I remind you that the
demand to amend the Article 25 was in-
cluded in the charter of demands, which
became basis for the launch of Dharam
Yudh Morcha in 1982 by the Shiromani
Akali Dal, the party that is in power in
Punjab today? We seek your intervention
in this case as the Sikhs have been strug-
gling for long time against injustice,
tyranny and state’s discrimination and
will continue with the struggle till they
achieve their rights and justice. Serious
efforts need to be initiated by you in this
regard. Guru Rakha
Kanwar Pal Singh
Secretary for Political Affairs,
DAL KHALSA
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Courageous Journalism04 September 08, 2011
by Martin SinghDear Editor,As you may be aware, Ontarians willhead to the polls this coming October 6,2011 to vote in the 2011 Ontario provin-cial election.
The Ontario Liberal Party earlierthis week proposed an election platformpledge of $12 million in tax credits forbusinesses to defray training costs forskilled new immigrants coming to theProvince of Ontario so they can get theexperience they need to work in the jobsthey were invited to this country to do. Iam writing you today to express my deepconcern over the anti-immigrant andthinly veiled racist statements comingfrom the Progressive Conservative Partyof Ontario in response to the aforemen-tioned election proposal.
Progressive Conservative Party ofOntario leader Tim Hudak stated on sev-eral occasions earlier this week that theOntario Liberal Party's aforementionedelection proposal is "affirmative action"and "jobs for foreign workers". Thesecomments are very xenophobic anddeeply insulting to the millions of peoplecurrently living in the Province of Ontariowho were born in other countries but whoare now Canadian citizens or permanentresidents. It is also deeply insulting to theCanadian born childrenand grandchildren of these millions ofOntarians.
The Ontario Liberal Party's pro-posed $10,000 immigrant tax credit ap-plies ONLY to "regulated professions"such as lawyers, pharmacists, account-ants, ect. It does NOT apply to regular or-dinary jobs such as customer service,sales & marketing, information technl-ogy, truck driving, construction, manufac-turing, plumbing, brick laying, bus driver,government employees, handymen, landsurveying, welding, cashiers, stock boys,waiters/waitresses, ect. It will NOT isanyway, shape or form deny jobs to On-tarians who were born and raised here.The Ontario PC Party along with thierright-wing allies in the media are pander-ing to unfounded fears and lantant racism.
They are also purposely lying and deciev-ing people with thier anti-immigrantstatements which also contain thinlyveiled racism.
What you are seeing from the On-tario Progressive Conservative Party isthe politics of anger, the politics of fear,resentment and division. This is a taxcredit for businesses that hire skilled On-tarians already living here to help themachieve the training they need for Ontariocertification. So we're talking about pro-fessions like lawyer, accountants or phar-macists who need Ontario job-experiencein order to be certified here. These arefolks who are in Ontario, but might bedriving taxis instead of working in a phar-macy helping patients.
And Tim Hudak had a very simi-lar proposal last year. He introduced leg-islation for 10 per cent wage subsidy forany business hiring a skilled newcomer inOntario -- and there was no cap to theprogram.That's not all.
The Progressive ConservativeParty of Ontario seems to have a realproblem with all things "foreign." They'reagainst businesses coming to invest herein Ontario. They're against students want-ing to come here to do their research andcontribute to our economy. And nowthey're against skilled Ontarians livinghere putting their education to work forour economy.
That kind of language divides On-tarians into an “us” and a “them.” Creat-ing divisions between struggling,unemployed workers and newer immi-grants is dangerous to our long-term so-cial cohesion. In the City of Torontoalone, over half of the total populationwas born outside Canada. There is no usversus them.
They are us. And the faster we getnewcomers into good jobs in the work-force and paying higher taxes the betterfor us all.Sincerely,John Lipka
For the candidates who will join the NDPleadership race, they will face a balanc-ing act of having to speak to their fellowNDP members as well as the Canadianpopulation as a whole. No policy areawill be more difficult thanin the area of the economichealth of the nation. Cana-dians are expecting theirgovernment and any fu-ture government to havethe skill and desire to im-prove the economy byway of job creation, im-proving productivity, andencouraging and findingfinancial resources for in-novation. For the NDP, this conversationhas been entirely avoided in the past.Only recently has the party become moreopen to speaking about supporting smallbusiness, but their understanding andsupport must go much further than this.It is not to say that the NDP have to inany way copy or mimic the other parties,but they do have to show themselves ca-pable of both understanding and support-ing the business community in all of itsvarious forms. This need to be strong onthe economics file has been made moreacute of late given that the Canadianeconomy recently experienced a contrac-tion.Innovative solutions will be required inother areas as well. Health care and theproblems facing the health care systemchief among them. Health care andCanada’s health care forms the largestpublic expenditure. That is to say, noother area of government spending islarger than the amount of money spent onkeeping us healthy. The desire of Cana-dians to continue to have a well fundedhealth care system and the desire of po-litical parties to meet this need of thepopulace resulted in all three major po-litical parties promising to increasehealth care funding by 6% a year for each
year after the current Health Care Accordexpires in 2014. The difficulty with thispromise is not that it will not be kept, butrather that it cannot be kept. Canada’seconomy is not even expanding at a rate
of 2%. Even if the econ-omy were expanding at 2%,there is a gap of 4% thatneeds to be made up else-where. Canadians willneed innovative solutionsbecause the traditionalmethods of raising taxes togenerate revenue or cuttingservices to save on costs areboth considered undesir-able.
For both of the above two-mentionedpolicy areas, leadership will be required.By this I mean that the candidates willhave to have the confidence to makewhat will be difficult political decisions.Changes to either the economy or healthcare are not normally made without theperson in charge receiving more than afew political scars. Because of this,politicians often shy away from makingthe difficult decisions. In effect, thepoliticians chose their own personal in-terest ahead of the interests of the nation.This simply cannot be allowed to hap-pen. The national interest must alwayssupersede the interest of any one politi-cian or political party. Those who strivefor the office of Prime Minister mustkeep top of mind that although they wereelected on their election platform, theyare also Prime Minister for all Canadi-ans, not just the members of their ownparty or themselves personally.
Martin Singh is a pharmacist and busi-nessman who resides with his wife andthree children in Musquodoboit Harbour,Nova Scotia. In the federal NDP, Martinis the President of the Faith and SocialJustice Commission.
Judges speaking in public- Political issues need to be avoidedThe judiciary has always been recog-
nised as one of the co-equal institutions
of a state along with the executive and
the legislature. But in the recent past, the
public has magnified its stature manifold
— some may feel disproportionately; no
doubt, a great tribute. But then this
means that the judges must be prepared
to suffer a closer scrutiny of their ac-
tions. It is a hoary tradition that even
when an active politician accepts ap-
pointment as a High Court or Supreme
Court judge he is automatically expected
not to comment on political issues which
are being publicly debated — no doubt,
he is fully entitled to and many judges
do express their views strongly both dur-
ing the hearing in the court and then,
more thoughtfully but soberly, in
their judgments.
But this established restraint was
regretfully ignored recently when Jus-
tice Ganguly, a sitting judge of the
Supreme Court, at a book release func-
tion, commented on the current debate
among political parties and civil society
and opined that the Prime Minister
should be covered under the ambit of the
Lok Pal legislation. This debate at pres-
ent is in the political field, but it is pos-
sible that it may land in courts.
The learned judge will obviously
recuse himself for the simple reason that
he has expressed his views on this mat-
ter already in a public forum but it can-
not be denied that this may cause some
embarrassment to his colleagues who
may be hearing the matter (though, no
doubt, the decision will be given unin-
fluenced by what Justice Ganguly has
said) — would it not have been better if
such a situation had not been allowed
to arise.
In this connection it is good to
remember the cautionary words of
Baron De Montesquieu “When the leg-
islative and executive powers are united
in the same person or body there can be
no liberty because apprehension may
arise lest the same monarch or senate
should enact tyrannical laws, to enforce
them in a tyrannical manner………
...Were the power of judging joined with
the legislature, the life and liberty of the
subject would be exposed to arbitrary
control, for the judge would then be the
legislator. Were it joined to the executive
power, the judge might behave with all
the violence of an oppressor.” Mon-
tesquieu saw this predicament and him-
self added that there can be no liberty if
the power of judging is not separate
from the legislative and executive
powers.
The Supreme Court has accepted
that it is open to anyone to express fair,
reasonable and legitimate criticism of
any act or conduct of a judge in his ju-
dicial capacity or even to make a proper
and fair comment on any decision given
by it because “justice is not a cloistered
virtue and she must be allowed to suffer
the scrutiny and respectful, even though
outspoken, comments of ordinary men.”
But it does not follow that
judges have a similar right to question
any government policy in a public
forum. There are certain self-imposed
limitations on the public activities of the
judges which cannot be crossed without
endangering the impartiality content of
the judges.
The judges cannot purport to de-
clare the finality of an issue outside the
courts — it can only be within the
precincts of the courts and only then will
it be final and binding. The faith of the
public in the fairness and incorruptibility
of judges is a matter of great impor-
tance. This receives a blow if sitting
judges comment on political matters
outside the courtrooms and that too
without hearing the opposite view. That
is why the judges have on their own ac-
cepted the need to be governed by a
code of ethics. Bacon in his inimitable
style emphasised, “Patience and gravity
of hearing is an essential part of justice;
and an over-speaking judge is no well
tuned cymbal.”
Justice Frankfurter of the US
Supreme Court said, “All power is of an
encroaching nature. Judicial power is
not immune to this human weakness. It
must also be on guard against encroach-
ing beyond its proper bounds and not the
less so since the only restraint upon it is
self-restraint…...”
Similarly, the US Supreme
Court, in Baker vs. Carr, said that the
court’s authority ultimately rests on sus-
tained public confidence in its moral
sanction. Such feeling must be nour-
ished by the court’s complete detach-
ment, in fact, in appearance, from
political entanglements and by absten-
tion from injecting itself into the clash
of political forces in political
settlements.
Our founding fathers and moth-
ers, when framing the Constitution, were
aware of the warning given by Baron
Montesquieu and deliberately refused to
enthrone the judiciary both inside the
courts and outside where political ques-
tions are to be decided by the “civically
militant electorate”. It must also be ac-
cepted that there is nothing judicially
more unseemly nor more self-defeating
than for the courts to make interrorem
pronouncements, to indulge in merely
empty rhetoric.
No, I am not saying that judges
are to behave like coy brides when
speaking in public. My comment refers
to avoidance on political questions. Of
course, the judges must and are expected
to speak in public on matters connected
with the judiciary. I for one will fully en-
dorse a sitting judge of the Supreme
Court to speak, even harshly about the
delay in filling vacancies in the High
Courts and the Supreme Court, (284 va-
cancies out of 895 sanctioned) leading
to the cumulative pendency of
42,17,903 cases in High Courts and also
telling the public whether the delay is
because of the apathy of the government
or the judiciary itself. Sitting judges
should also publicly debate the failed
exercise of appointing an outside Chief
Justice of a High Court, and the not-so-
logical transfer of judges. Certainly, this
will also partly involve self-criticism of
the judiciary itself along with that of the
political government. But this open crit-
icism will be for the betterment of the
judiciary which the judges alone can ad-
vance. The only caveat is that judges,
even with good intentions and actuated
by a public purpose, may not venture on
the political field prohibited to
sitting judges.
Judges must always be con-
scious of the warning given by a former
Chief Justice of India, who reminded
them that though “our function is divine;
the problem begins when we start think-
ing that we have become divine.”
If I sound a bit harsh, I can only
invoke the caveat of Justice Holmes of
the US Supreme Court, who said, “I
trust that no one will understand me to
be speaking with disrespect of the law,
because I criticise it so freely… But one
may criticise even what one reveres….
And I should show less than devotion, if
I did not do what in me lies to
improve it.”
by Justice Rajindar Sachar (retd)
The Race Is OnHudak on New Canadians/Foreign Workers
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05 September 08, 2011 Courageous Journalism
by Dr. Amarjeet Singh
The exhausted British Colonials, who
hastily quit the South Asian subcontinent
in August 1947 after World War II, left
the instruments of state power, (including
the capital city of New Delhi built by
them, under the shadow of British can-
nons, on stolen Sikh Gurdwara lands) to
a morally repugnant evil nexus of the mi-
nority Brahmin and Bania castes- hardly
5% of the population. This evil nexus
was lead, in 1947, by an anglophile Con-
gress Party leader, Pundit Jawahar Lal
Nehru, a crafty Brahmin who, used the
philosophy of ‘divide and rule’, to subju-
gate the different ‘dynastic nations’ that
lived in (British) India, like the Sikhs,
Nagas, Hydererabadis, Junagadhis,
Bhopalis and numerous other semi-inde-
pendent Native states, to setup a dynasty
of his own. Less than two years after
Pundit Nehru’s death, in 1964, his halflit-
erate daughter, (she never acquired any
college degree) Mrs. Indira Nehru, a truly
evil person, (acquired the name of the as-
sassinated founding father of India –
Gandhi) and ‘captured’ the Indian Prime
minister’s ‘throne’ and truly strengthened
the ‘Nehru’ dynastic rule. Her half-liter-
ate Italian daughter-in-law, Mrs. Sonia
Mainu also grabbed the ‘Gandhi’ name
and currently rules India, after her hus-
band Rajiv ‘Gandhi’s’ assassination – to
the eternal shame of India’s billion plus
population - like a ‘Maharani’ – queen.
To this evil, corrupt and phony Indian
ruling dynasty the muscular Sikhs, (now
numbering 28 million, of which total,
three million live FREE in prosperity and
peace in the diaspora all over the world)
are a constant source of worry and fear
lest these unpredictable, muscular, war-
rior people (whose forefathers ruled with
justice and panache in the Punjab,
North West of the Sutlej river
right up to the Afghan border, in the nine-
teenth century) decide to carve an inde-
pendent water & food-rich Sikh buffer
state of Khalistan for which every Sikh
prays daily, ‘RAJ KARAYGA KHALSA’
- Sikhs will rule. The world’s 28 million
Sikhs continue to dream and strive for a
democratic buffer Sikh-majority state of
Khalistan in their daily prayers, which
will stretch from East of the Pakistan bor-
der, to West of the Jumna river, to South
of Kashmir and to South West of Chinese
Tibet. The democratic and prosperous
buffer state of Khalistan, to millions of
Sikhs, is destined to act as a bridge of
commerce (oil and gas pipelines) be-
tween South Asia and Central Asia and
beyond. The insecurity and inferiority
complex of the corrupt Indian ‘Brahmin-
Bania’ ruling elite, has made them do
many stupid things in the past sixty four
years because of which the proud Sikhs
have suffered the most.
Right after independence in 1947
Prime minister Pundit Nehru was so sus-
picious of the Sikhs that he moved at
great expense the regimental center of In-
dian army’s Sikh regiment, (over fifty
battalions at that time) from Meerut can-
tonment (which is less than sixty kilome-
ters from New Delhi) to a god-forsaken
place in the jungles of Bihar, RAM-
GARH, over 320 Kilometers East of
Delhi. In June 1984 the daughter of Pun-
dit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Nehru,
who had by then adopted the name of the
founding father of India, ‘Gandhi’, or-
dered a massive Indian Army attack in
June 1984 on the holiest Sikh shrine of
Darbar Sahib in Amritsar (known in the
West as the Golden Temple, a unique re-
ligious institution open to people of all
religions) in which military operation
thousands of innocent Sikh men, women
and children (all pilgrims) were mur-
dered. Five months later after the assas-
sination of Mrs. Indira Nehru ‘Gandhi’,
on 31 October 1984, a nation-wide anti-
Sikh state-supervised pogrom was or-
dered by Mrs. Indira’s son, Rajiv
‘Gandhi’, (who had inherited the Prime
minister’s ‘throne’ through a back office
intrigue, hours after her death) in which
operation over ten thousand innocent
Sikh men, women and children were
murdered all over India with most of the
mass murders taking place mainly in
Delhi the capital city of India. It was a
horrible repeat of the December 1937
‘Rape of Nanking’ by the invading
Japanese army in China in which thou-
sands were murdered. Twenty seven
years have passed since the October/No-
vember 1984 state-supervised pogrom,
ordered by newly appointed Prime min-
ister Rajiv Gandhi, (now dead) for which
‘crime against humanity’ no one has been
found guilty despite numerous petitions
and protests by the Sikh community, liv-
ing all over the world.
The above factual historical back-
ground should explain why there was an
uproar among millions of Sikhs when a
report suddenly appeared (out of the
blue) in the Indian media, on Friday, 2
September, 2011, which said that, in a
surprising turn of events, the Central gov-
ernment has suddenly withdrawn the Oc-
tober 2003 Central government
notification ‘which had constitutionally
protected the small Sikh minority by al-
lowing ONLY
Keshdhari Sikhs to vote in the
elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Par-
bandhak Committee, which elections in-
cidentally are due to be held again in
seventeen days. A Keshdhari Sikh who is
a true Sikh and is a generous person who
does not cut his hair (and wears a turban
on his head, believes in all tenets of
Sikhism, follows all rituals of the Sikh re-
ligion and follows all Sikh principles like
for example; he does not follow any other
religion; does not use tobacco in any
form; does not consume alcohol; does not
eat halal meat and knows the Mool Man-
tar (Ek Onkar, Satnam etc. A link to the
above mentioned report, by Saurabh
Malik, published on Friday, September 2,
2011, in the Chandigarh-based TRIB-
UNE newspaper headlined, “SGPC poll
may be put off, Sehajdharis can now
vote; Centre withdraws 2003 notifica-
tion, claims it was issued without appli-
cation of mind,” is given below; (>
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110
902/main1.htm <) The Union of India,
was represented before the High court by
Harbhagwan Singh, a former advocate
general of Punjab, who informed the Full
Bench of the Court (made up by Justice
M.M. Kumar, Justice Alok Singh and
Justice Gurdev Singh) that the notifica-
tion dated October 8, 2003, has been can-
celled by the Indian government and
stands withdrawn. Harbhagwan Singh,
representing the Central government said
that the notification was issued, “without
any application of mind, only on the basis
of a resolution passed by the SGPC on
March 3, 2002”. The notification was is-
sued during the NDA regime under
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee a year be-
fore the (Cont.. to next page)
Indian rulers and SGPC electionsSome September musings on the controversy, cooked up recently by the Indian
rulers over the coming SGPC elections in the Sikh Homeland of Punjab, KHALISTAN
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06 September 08, 2011 Courageous Journalism
2004 General Elections. In the nine years
since the October 8, 2003, date of the no-
tification no legal action was taken to
make it a Law of the land. A few months
back, an application was filed before the
High Court by the national president of
Sehajdhari Sikh Federation (whose mem-
bers unlike the Keshdhari Sikhs are not
distinguishable like the Keshdhari Sikhs
– anyone can clain he is a Sehajdhari
Sikh) Dr Paramjeet Singh Ranu, seeking
a stay on the SGPC elections, slated to be
held on September 18, 2011. He asserted
a writ petition was earlier filed, challeng-
ing the October 2003 notification “vide
which the voting rights of the Sehajdhari
Sikhs have been taken away in a totally il-
legal and arbitrary manner”. The Bench
asserted in the open court: “In the view of
the statement by senior advocate Harb-
hagwan Singh, the reference made to the
Full Bench is rendered infructuous and is
disposed of as such.”
After seeing the current angry re-
action of the Sikh community world wide
to the reports that the Central government
in Delhi has cancelled the notification
dated October 8, 2003 which HAD re-
stricted the SGPC election to a Keshdhari
electorate and the Sikhs were in no mood
to tolerate any shenanigans by the Central
government, the rulers in Delhi beat a
hasty retreat. Four days later a New Delhi
datelined report dated 6 September, 2011,
written by Aditi Tandon, (>
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110
906/main4.htm <) headlined, “Govt:
Counsel didn’t represent us properly,” ap-
peared in the TRIBUNE newspaper, on 6
September, 2011, which quoted the Indian
Law minister, Salman Khursheed, as say-
ing that, “all the blame for the SGPC poll
controversy rests on senior counsel Harb-
hagwan Singh, who failed to represent the
government adequately in the case and he
had therefore been withdrawn”. Asked
why a senior counsel like Harbhagwan
Singh would say something of his own ac-
cord and why had someone in the Govern-
ment not asked him to say so, minister
Khursheed replied, that, “The Home Min-
ister has said he would have that part
looked into. So far as we go, we have no
intentions of doing anything excepting
withdrawing the said counsel. No further
action would help anyone. The matter
stands rested.” Asked to comment on
Harbhagwan’s claim that he received a
call from a government official, Khur-
sheed said, “He received a call. That’s
fine. But what did the caller tell him? The
caller simply told him to argue the case
according to the law, which he failed to
do. Did the caller ask him to say what he
said”. Law minister Khursheed ruled out
any action against the counsel Harbhag-
wan Singh from the Law Ministry side
and said the withdrawal of the counsel
was sufficient. He added that the SGPC
poll would take place as per the schedule.
The Law Ministry’s role in the matter is
important as this ministry engaged Harb-
hagwan Singh for the case. But Khur-
sheed explained, “Some local Congress
leaders asked us to appoint a senior coun-
sel to deal with the case they thought was
not being properly argued. We asked them
who they wanted us to engage. They rec-
ommended Harbhagwan Singh and we
engaged him. In the High Court, he did
not conduct himself in the manner he
should have. So we immediately with-
drew him.” Obviously the angry reaction
of the Sikh population gave pause to the
crafty, morally repugnant Brahmin/Bania
ruling elite.
A yet another conspiracy to divide
the Sikhs was aborted and doomed.
It is obvious that the morally repugnant
evil nexus of the crafty Brahmin and the
greedy Bania minorities, which rules
India, and was party to the 1984 Anti-Sikh
state-sponsored pogrom of murder and
arson, in which over ten thousand inno-
cent Sikh men, women and children were
murdered all over India, has not given up
in its evil aim of destroying the political
will of the proud and muscular Sikh na-
tion. They have NOT understood that self
preservation is the first principle of a
Sikh’s nature. THE PROUD SIKHS
WILL SURVIVE AS A NATION
CALLED KHALISTAN.
Khalistan Zindabad
Indian rulers and SGPC elections
Olivia Chow says Layton's legacy lives onOlivia Chow said she sees her husband
Jack Layton in every kind and generous
deed performed by those around her.
Layton lost his battle to cancer
last month after temporarily stepping
down earlier this summer as leader of the
New Democratic Party.
His death sent many across the
country into a period of mourning, with
tens of thousands paying their respects in
Ottawa, where his body was lying in
state, and then in Toronto, where it was
lying in repose before a state funeral.
Thousands of mourners wrote
messages of support in downtown
Toronto's Nathan Philip Square in a chalk
tribute that took up much of the concrete
park and many across the country ex-
pressed their condolences.
Chow told that, the outpouring of
grief has been accompanied by an over-
whelming show of support for her family.
"It feels like a big warm blanket
covering me with love and support, and
it's just wonderful,
it proves Jack is
right to be opti-
mistic," Chow said.
"He be-
lieves in the good-
ness in people and
he feels if you
touch and connect
with that goodness,
some call it love,
others call it hope,
then people will re-
spond... and the outpouring is affirmation
of that belief."
Chow, who recently said she will
not try to succeed her husband as leader
of the Official Opposition, said it was es-
pecially difficult to cope in the first few
days after Layton died.
Eventually she sought advice
from others who
had gone through
similar experi-
ences and turned
to coping mecha-
nisms such as
swimming and
running, and put-
ting her family's
affairs in order, to
help her deal with
her grief.
" T h e r e ' s
also that belief that Jack and I both shared
that some of the things we share, some of
the values we have, are eternal, like love,
like hope for the future, like believing
that when we come together we can make
things happen, we can change the world,"
Chow said.
"Those kinds of things help me
deal with not being able to spend more
time with him, dealing with his death."
Chow said Layton's legacy is the
belief, as he wrote in the final line of his
farewell letter to Canadians, that opti-
mism is better than despair, and that pol-
itics doesn't have to be a divisive, cynical
business.
"Jack kept talking about working
together no matter where you come from,
and in order to work together you have to
trust each other whether it's in life, in
work, in personal life, or in politics," she
said. Layton will live on through all those
who were inspired by his life, Chow said.
"Every time I see an act of kindness or
generosity I think ah, his legacy lives on
in action, so it makes it a lot easier."
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Courageous Journalism September 08, 2011 07
Healing, Hope and Humanity: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11
OPP Labour Day Long Weekend WrapupAURORA, ON, Sept. 7, 2011 - With the
2011 Labour Day Weekend behind them,
the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have
tallied up their numbers and are ready to
release statistics relating to this last long
weekend of summer. OPP officers were
seen in high numbers targeting aggressive
drivers, distracted drivers, those who
drove impaired and those in violation of
seatbelt and child restraint laws. Prelimi-
nary statistics indicate that over the
Labour Day Weekend, 3 people died on
roads, trails and waterways patrolled by
the OPP compared to 8 people this same
weekend last year. "I have mixed feelings
about this number because while there
were significantly fewer deaths this year,
even one fatality is unacceptable," said
OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.
"Clearly our scaled up 24/7 enforcement
is making a difference but when I look at
the number of charges we laid this past
weekend, almost every number is up.
This tells me that Ontarians need to make
changes in many aspects of their driving
habits so that we are working together to
keep Ontario's roads, waterways and
trails safe," added Lewis. Province-wide,
the OPP laid 6,472 speeding charges this
past weekend (compared to 5,889 in
2010). There were 91 street racing
charges laid (64 in 2010). Seatbelt
charges are up this year with 539 being
laid (483 in 2010).
A total of 120 charges were laid
for driving while impaired by drugs or
having a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)
of above 0.08 (115 in 2010). The OPP
also issued 105 roadside license suspen-
sions to drivers with a BAC in the warn
range of 0.05 to 0.08 (compared to 247 in
2010). "As part of our award-winning
Provincial Traffic Safety Program
(PTSP), our traffic enforcement efforts
are in place around the clock, 365 days a
year. As a highly dedicated and innova-
tive police service, the OPP is committed
to finding new ways to make Ontario's
roads and highways among the safest,"
said Deputy Commissioner Larry
Beechey, Provincial Commander respon-
sible for the OPP Traffic Safety. As of Au-
gust 31, 194 people have died in motor
vehicle collisions in 2011 compared to
213 for the same period in 2010, a de-
crease of 9.1 percent.
by Dr. Tarunjit Singh (Butalia)Secretary General, WSC-AR
Several weeks ago I was visiting
my doctor. On entering the small waiting
room, a three-year-old child playing in the
corner looked up at me and exclaimed to
his mother "Mom -- there is the bad
guy."Then silence descended on the wait-
ing room. There were only the three of us
in the room -- the child, his mom, and me.
The child went back to playing with the
legos. The mom and I silently looked at
each other for a few minutes or so but it
seemed like eternity.What could one say
to a 3-year-old who shared what was on
his mind? How could I get mad at this lit-
tle child for exhibiting such prejudice?
These are the questions that went through
my mind and probably through the mind
of the embarrassed mother.But soon my
thoughts shifted to the ill-fated morning
of 9/11/01. I remember being in New
Hampshire that morning getting ready to
go to the Boston airport for a flight back
home. The horrific news of the attacks
was shocking and disgusting. The Boston
airport was shut down and I was told to
drive my rental car home -- all the way to
Ohio. So I began the journey home on the
evening of 9/11. Nearly all fellow travel-
ers were courteous and understanding ex-
cept one who screamed at me and showed
me half of a peace sign...While driving
home I recollected the following verse
from Siri Guru Granth Sahib -- the Sikh
scripture (English translation):Merciful
God, keep all beings and creatures in Your
care.Give them an abundance of grain and
water; eliminate their pain and poverty;
ferry them across.The Great Benefactor
heard our cry; the parched earth was ren-
dered green and my smoldering heart was
made cool.Keep us in Your Embrace; re-
move all obstructions.Nanak, stay im-
mersed in the Name and be forever
fulfilled.America was attacked on 9/11 by
terrorists who used their twisted interpre-
tations of Islam to justify their horrible
deeds. That was not the only attack on
America. Muslims and anyone who
looked like them were attacked soon
thereafter to cleanse America of these ter-
rorist look-alikes.Observant Sikh men
wear the turban in the public to cover their
hair as a religious head covering. Islam
does not require Muslim men to wear the
turban. Rarely does a Muslim American
man wear a turban on a regular basis. In
fact, if you see a man wearing a turban on
the street, you can be quite sure that he is
a Sikh.However, repeated media images
of Muslim radicals from Middle East
countries wearing turbans were enough to
arouse the passions of a backlash. Soon
after 9/11, many Sikhs became a Muslim
in the eyes of some of our misinformed
fellow Americans.One of the first casual-
ties of this backlash was a Sikh gas station
owner in Mesa, Arizona -- Balbir Singh
Sodhi. He was gunned down on Septem-
ber 15 in a drive by shooting. His attacker,
Frank Roque, shot Balbir fatally five
times and then proceeded to take his
vengeance on a Lebanese worker as well
as a local Afghan family. When arrested
by police at his home, Frank shouted "I'm
a patriot ... I'm an American. Arrest me
and let those terrorists run wild?" as he
was led away in handcuffs.The wheels of
justice may be slow but they do turn. In
2003 the murderer of Balbir was con-
victed of first-degree murder and sen-
tenced to the death penalty. The family of
Balbir then requested a pardon for the
death penalty of Frank Roque. Balbir's
brother was quoted in a newspaper report:
"We have lost our Balbir and have suf-
fered the intense pain of losing him. Now
we realize that the same would be the case
with family of Frank, which, we don't
want. What is the crime of his family?" In
2006 the Arizona Supreme Court over-
turned Roque's death sentence and instead
sentenced him to life in prison.What an
honorable and gracious act of love by a
brother towards the murderer of his loving
brother. This reminds me of the
eternal forgiveness that Sikhs
are called upon to uphold. It is
said that a Sikh will forgive in a
moment but not forget in a hun-
dred years.There have been
countless attacks on Sikh places
of worship as well as individual
Sikhs. Fortunately such inci-
dents have largely been aberra-
tions for the large majority of
Sikhs. We continue to live
among our fellow Americans of
all (and no) faiths proudly up-
holding the values and traditions
of our faith as laid down by the
Sikh Gurus. Since 9/11 we have
seen the increased visible pres-
ence of Sikh Coalition and
SALDEF -- two excellent Sikh
civil rights organizations. Sikhs
have always been a strong com-
munity but now we are more
empowered because of the tire-
less efforts of such coalitions.
And just recently Valarie Kaur,
filmmaker of "Divided We
Fall," launched Groundswell --
a multifaith network that aims to
connect, mobilize, and amplify
the moral center around social
causes.But more needs to be
done. Many Sikhs will declare
authoritatively (and rightfully
so) that Sikhs are not Muslims.
It is true that prejudice against
Sikhs is misdirected. However
dealing with misdirected preju-
dice does not mean that we
should be spared at the expense
of our fellow Muslim Ameri-
cans. We should take inspiration
from the Ninth Sikh Guru, Siri
Guru Tegh Bahaadar Sahib,
who gave up his life in 1675 to
protect the practices of the
Hindu faith even though he did
not believe in the practices of
that faith. Sikhs, as well as be-
lievers of other faiths, need to
continue to stand in solidarity
with Muslims to reduce Islamo-
phobia in our country.By now
the embarrassed mother and I
had silently looked at each other
for more than a few minutes. Then she
gracefully hugged the child and looked at
me. She asked about me and my family. I
shared a photo of our three kids. And then
I stumbled onto a BlackBerry photo of our
five-year-old son holding a rock bass that
he had caught the day before on a fishing
trip. The boy was thrilled to see this and
exclaimed "Mom -- when can I go fish-
ing?" By then it was my turn to see the
doctor. As I left my chair, the mom and
son together waved at me exclaiming
"Good bye good guy!"The child's mom
did not verbally apologize to me during
our encounter. She did more than that. She
responded by asking us to share our hu-
manity with each other so the innocent
child could feel the human passion and be
freed of prejudice.Here lies the lesson for
all of us. While as a community we all are
healing from the aftereffects of 9/11, our
hope for the future lies in our shared hu-
manity. The edifices of religious prejudice
and hate are built upon foundations of de-
humanization of the religious other. It is
time for us to re-humanize our fellow
human beings to develop increased mu-
tual respect and promote shared security.
We are only as secure as the least among
us.Siri Guru Granth Sahib proclaims this
universality (English translation) as:No
one is enemy, no one is stranger.
I get along with all.I have forgot-
ten my jealousy of others, since I found
the company of the spiritually enlight-
ened.Whatever God does, I accept that as
good. This is the sublime wisdom I have
obtained from the spiritually enlight-
ened.The One God pervades all. Gazing
upon God, beholding God, Nanak blos-
soms forth in happiness.
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TORONTO, Sept. - This year anumber of high-profile Canadiancelebrities are lending their star-power to CIBC's 2011 CanadianBreast Cancer Foundation CIBCRun for the Cure campaign, join-ing the 170,000 Canadians whoparticipate to support a cause thatis important to them. ETCanada's Rosey Edeh, Canadianactress Lisa Ray and Olympicmedalists Catriona Le MayDoan, Cheryl Pounder andHeather Davis are featured inCIBC's ads encouraging Canadi-ans to register for the event onSunday, October 2."We are thrilled that these high
profile Canadian women arelending their names and celebritystatus to the CIBC Run for theCure to help continue to buildawareness for this very importantcause," said Veni Iozzo, CIBC'sSenior Vice-President of Market-ing and Strategy."With breast cancer impactingthe lives of so many Canadians,including our colleagues, clientsand loved ones, CIBC is veryproud this year to mark our 15thAnniversary as title sponsor ofthe CIBC Run for the Cure. Lastyear's event raised a record $33million dollars to support theFoundation's vision of creating a
future without breastcancer."Rosey Edeh, one of thehosts of EntertainmentTonight Canada and athree-time Olympian, isrunning to raise aware-ness and to inspire othersto run as well. Rosey hassigned on to promote theCIBC Run for the Cureand, in addition to beingfeatured in CIBC's ads,will be encouraging herfellow hosts andcelebrity friends to par-ticipate.Well-known Bollywoodactress, Lisa Ray, wholives in Toronto and hasalso been featured inmainstream movies likethe Oscar-nominatedfilm Water, has person-ally been affected by
cancer. Lisa is lending her sup-port to CIBC's print and onlinemarketing campaign.Olympic bronze medalistHeather Davis is running for herbest friend's mom. Heather, aCIBC Marketing Director whoearned a bronze medal in thewomen's coxed eights final at theSydney Olympics in 2000, is fea-tured on CIBC branch postersand print ads. Heather will alsoparticipate in CIBC's officialThink Pink Week employee kickoff event at Commerce Court onSeptember 13."The Run for the Cure is veryimportant to me because my bestfriend lost her mom - Diane - tobreast cancer," said Heather. "Irun each year to honour hermemory and to raise funds sothat one day we can achieve a fu-ture without breast cancer."Two-time Olympic gold medalistCatriona Le May Doan, whowon back-to-back gold medals inthe 500 metre speed skatingevent at the Nagano and SaltLake City Olympics, is runningso her young daughter Gretawon't have to. Catriona is fea-tured in CIBC's billboard, printand online ads.Cheryl Pounder, who won back-to-back gold medals in women'shockey at Salt Lake City andTorino, is running for her mom,a breast cancer survivor. Cherylis featured in CIBC's print ads."My Mother was diagnosed withbreast cancer over 13 years ago.I watched her brave journey
through treatment and thecourage she showed comingout of it," said Cheryl. "Sheis my hero...she worked fulltime through full blownchemotherapy and radia-tion. My message to othersis to have the courage tofight this disease, and myhope is that my daughtersand their Mommy won't beaffected by it."Heather, Cheryl and Roseywill be joining CIBC onRun day in Toronto thisyear on Sunday, October 2and Catriona will be run-ning in her hometown ofCalgary.About the Canadian BreastCancer Foundation CIBCRun for the CureSince 1992, the annualCanadian Breast CancerFoundation CIBC Run forthe Cure remains thelargest, single-day, volun-teer-led national event in supportof creating a future withoutbreast cancer. In 2010, close to170,000 participants raised $33million to fund innovative breastcancer research, education andawareness programs. On Sunday,October 2, 2011, this nationalmovement will connect partici-pants and volunteers in 59 com-munities across the country tosupport our vision of creating afuture without breast cancer. Formore information, visitwww.cbcf.org.About CIBC
CIBC is committed to sup-porting causes that matter toour clients, employees andour communities. We aim tomake a difference in commu-nities through corporate dona-tions, sponsorships and thevolunteer spirit of employees.With a strategic focus onyouth, education and health,and employee commitment tocauses including the CanadianBreast Cancer FoundationCIBC Run for the Cure, theCIBC Children's Foundationand United Way, we are in-
vesting in the social and eco-
nomic development of communi-ties across the country. In 2010,$33.7 million was contributedthrough the CIBC group of com-panies to charitable and non-profit initiatives in Canada,supporting a wide variety of na-tional, regional and local organi-zations. To learn more, visitwww.communitymatters.cibc.com.About the Canadian Breast Can-cer Foundation - 25 Years ofProgressFor the last 25 years, the Cana-dian Breast Cancer Foundationhas been at the forefront of a na-tion-wide movement to raiseawareness and mobilize actionon breast cancer. Today, theFoundation is the leading organ-ization in Canada dedicated tocreating a future without breastcancer. Since 1986, from coast tocoast, we have invested over$230 million to fund vital re-search, education and health pro-motion programs that have ledprogress in breast cancer preven-tion, diagnosis, treatment andcare. Visit cbcf.org and join themovement.
Everyone has their reason for running:Canadian celebrities get behind Canadian Breast
Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure
08 September 08, 2011 Courageous Journalism
The new e-newsletterdesign introduced this monthis to compliment the new ex-citing and informative website,jassikhangura.com, whichJassi launched recently. Thewebsite consists of all con-stituency related information.It also has a separate sectionfor NRIs.Jassi stated that his old sitewhich started over 7 years ago,has served as a great tool withwhich to contact with support-ers everywhere. From simplebeginnings the old site hadbeen regularly enhanced andhad become a regular refer-ence point for many.With delimitation resulting inthe abolition of Halqa QilaRaipur (incidentally the onlyGrewal-centric constituencythat Punjab ever had) Jassi de-cided it was time for a com-plete new start, not just a makeover.The new site fully reflectsJassi’s personality. It is loud
but not over powering. Thehome page is less busy, thetabs are fewer and the pagesare logically listed.Jassi says, ‘this is now my onestep portal for information onDakha and Qila Raipur areasas well as having a separatesection for NRIs.” He contin-ues to say, “I wanted to replacemy old website with some-thing more relevant to people’sneeds and requirements today,hence it has a Facebook plu-gin, which acknowledges theimportance of that to our usersalso.”The site has been developed tohelp people find the informa-tion they want, including dataon villages and a specially de-signed section explaining howNRIs can register to vote inIndia.Jassi welcomes feedback aboutthe new site. Do you like it?Any downloading issues? Canyou find what you are lookingfor?
Jassi launches New Website
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September 08, 2011 10 Courageous Journalism
London: The
world's oldest
marathon runner
has revealed that
drinking cups of tea
and eating ginger
curry, combined
with "being
happy", has helped
him train for 10
miles every day
since he turned
100. Fauja Singh
took up marathon
running after his
89th birthday and
has now completed
seven races. He
holds the world
record for the men's
over-90 category
after completing
the 2003 Toronto
marathon in five
hours and 40 min-
utes.
The 100-year-old
now hopes to take
part in the Edin-
burgh 26.2-mile
race as part of a
four-man relay
team with an aver-
age age of 86.
Launching the
opening of entries
for the Edinburgh
Marathon Festival
2012, he said: "I am
not a learned per-
son in any shape or
form. To me, the
secret is being
happy, doing char-
ity work, staying
healthy and being
positive. "If some-
one says I must
stop running I ig-
nore them - invari-
ably they're
younger than me.
The secret to a long
and healthy life is
to be stress-free. If
there's something
you can't change
then why worry
about it? Be grate-
ful for everything
you have, stay
away from people
who are negative,
stay smiling and
keep running."
Born in India on
April 1 1911, Fauja
was a farmer in the
Punjab when he
first developed a
love for running,
but he only took the
sport seriously
when he moved to
the UK 50 years
later. He started
challenging other
pensioners to races
and has now run
five marathons in
London, one in
Toronto and one in
New York.
The 10th Edin-
burgh Marathon
Festival weekend
will be held in May
next year with or-
ganisers hoping to
break all previous
records and raise
more than £4.5 mil-
lion in 2012. Race
director Neil Kil-
gour said: "Edin-
burgh Marathon
Festival has it all -
a great city that acts
as a stunning back-
drop to the event's
proceedings and a
programme of
races that means
that everyone is
catered for, from
children to
marathon veter-
ans."
C H A N D I G A R H :
Sukhbir Singh Badal,
President Shiromani
Akali Dal today con-
gratulated the Sikh
community and all pan-
thic forces for unitedly
foiling the designs of
Congress party through
its henchmen like Cap-
tain Amarinder Singh
and his coterie to make
their backdoor entry in
the SGPC, the Parlia-
ment of Sikhs. He said
that conspiracy of Con-
gress party to postpone
the SGPC elections in-
definitely has been
nipped in the bud.
Addressing the media here today,
the SAD President lashed at Cap-
tain Amarinder Singh and his Anti-
Panthic coterie Sarna, Barnala and
Ravi Inder for unsuccessfully try-
ing to scuttle SGPC elections fear-
ing their complete wipe out. He
said that Amarinder had been since
2002 hatching conspiracies to gain
control over SGPC through its
proxy Anti-Panthic forces of
Sarna, Barnala and Ravi Inder and
now with the statement of Union
Home Minister, Amarinder stands
fully exposed in the full glare of
public.
Badal said that congress party was
rattled with the unprecedented
support of Sikhs and all Punjabis
to Shiromani Akali Dal candidates
and Amarinder seeing writing on
the wall for ensuing Vidhan Sabha
elections, decided to scuttle this
process to create confusion
amongst the masses.
He said that petition in High
Court for voting right to Sehajdari
was part of this conspiracy and in
during his tenure as CM
Amarinder even forcibly try to
kidnap SAD SGPC members to
coerce and lure them to back anti-
panthic forces of Sarna, Barnala
and Ravi Inder that fell on their
face as no body agreed to backstab
Shiromani Akali Dal.
The SAD President said that now
after delaying the SGPC elections
for more than two years, now fear-
ing clean sweep by SAD in these
elections, Amarinder influenced
his former Advocate General
Chaudhary Harbhagwan, who is
also standing counsel for union
government to give statement tak-
ing back 2003 notification, to cre-
ate confusion and scuttle the
smooth process of SGPC elec-
tions.
Sukhbir Singh Badal said that
fearing onslaught by Sikhs from
across the globe for this atrocious
interference in the internal reli-
gious affairs of Sikhs, Union
Home Minister Mr. P Chi-
dambram was forced to bow to
anger of Sikhs and clarify in the
parliament matter that Union
Home Ministry has not taken back
the notification of 2003 regarding
voting rights of Sikhs and had not
authorized anyone to give state-
ment in this regard. He said that in
view of this clarification by Union
Home Minister, a High Level en-
quiry should be ordered to expose
the nexus of Chaudhary Harbhag-
wan with anti-panthic forces.
The Akali Dal warns the congress
and the anti-panthic forces that the
Sikhs under no circumstances
shall not allow their interference in
the internal religious matter of
Sikh community.
Explain deficit in GoldenTemple accounts: Capt
Chandigarh : Punjab Pradesh
Congress Committee presi-
dent Capt Amarinder Singh
today asked the Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbhandhak
Committee (SGPC) to ex-
plain the deficit of Rs 23
crore in the Darbar Sahib ac-
counts, despite the large in-
flow of devotees.
In a statement here today,
Amarinder Singh maintained
that the needle of suspicion
pointed towards those who
were at the helm of affairs
(SGPC). He said there had al-
ways been reports of the
SGPC funds being misappro-
priated.
The former Chief Minister
said he had information that
cable channels, that were
controlled by Sukhbir’s
henchmen, had withheld
about Rs 12 crore due to Dar-
bar Sahib for the live telecast
of kirtan. “It is shameful that
the owners of these channels
are minting money in the
name of the Guru, but are not
ready to pay their dues to the
shrine,” he observed.
Maintaining that the issue
was scandalous, he said it
showed how poor the SGPC
management was. Of the 86
gurdwaras, 42 had deficit ac-
counts.
He said, this was because the
SGPC had failed in its
Dharam Parchar mission. The
SGPC elections had alienated
the Sahajdharis whose num-
ber was up to 62 lakh. He
asked the SGPC to explain as
to how much money had been
spent on Dharam Parchar in
the last budget. The PCC
president welcomed the Cab-
inet approval of a “farmer
friendly” Land Acquisition
Bill. He said,when the Con-
gress government came to
power, the Bill would be im-
plemented in letter and spirit
and the Gobindpura farmers
would also be given compen-
sation accordingly. He said
the farmers could not expect
much from Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal, who
was only buying time to en-
sure that the farmers called
off their stir.
He lashed out at the Chief
Minister and the Deputy
Chief Minister for not paying
enough attention to those af-
fected by the recent floods
and being too busy with cam-
paigning for the SGPC elec-
tions. “When people are
clamouring for relief, the fa-
ther-son duo is busy seeking
votes for the SGPC”, he
pointed out, while asking the
government to take immedi-
ate flood relief measures
Congress attempt top stage backdoor entry into SGPCthrough Amarinder and his coetrie: Sukhbir Badal
100-yr-old Sikh world'soldest marathon runner
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10 September 08, 2011 Courageous Journalism
Less than four months after a
mysterious bomb went off in its
parking lot, a powerful blast
ripped through the reception
counter of the Delhi High Court
complex in the heart of the capi-
tal on Wednesday, leaving at
least 11 people dead and more
than 75 injured.
Even as a red alert was sounded
in the city, an email sent to vari-
ous media organisations claimed
responsibility for the blast on be-
half of the ‘Harkat-ul-Jihadi.'
The claim, sent from harkatulji-
[email protected], threat-
ened similar blasts at the
Supreme Court and other major
High Courts if Parliament attack
case convict Afzal Guru's death
sentence was not “repealed.”
(sic).
While 57 of the injured have
been admitted to the Ram
Manohar Lohia Hospital, others
have been referred to the Sir
Ganga Ram Hospital, Apollo
Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital,
Moolchand Hospital and JPNA
Trauma Centre of the AIIMS.
The identity of all the deceased,
including a 55-year-old woman
and three elderly men, has been
established.
Compensation
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dik-
shit announced that Rs. 4 lakh in
compensation would be paid to
the families of the deceased, Rs.
2 lakh to the injured for perma-
nent incapacitation, Rs. 1 lakh to
those with serious injury, and Rs.
10,000 for those who suffered
minor injury.
Preliminary analysis of the sam-
ples collected from the spot has
suggested that a mixture of some
plastic explosive, such as PETN,
and ammonium nitrate had been
used to configure the bomb kept
in a briefcase.
“However, the exact composition
will be established through
proper laboratory tests,” said a
senior officer.
It all happened at 10.14 a.m.
when scores of litigants had
queued up at the reception desk
counters, adjacent to Gate No. 5
of the complex, to collect entry
passes. The deafening explosion
created a two-foot crater on the
cemented platform, blew off the
tin roof and sent splinters flying
in all directions. All those stand-
ing in a five-metre radius were
knocked off their feet.
According to eyewitnesses, the
bomb was probably planted in a
briefcase placed near a stone
bench on the right side of the re-
ception desk. Based on the de-
scriptions provided by two
eyewitnesses, the police prepared
two sketches of the suspects. A
witness claimed that he saw one
of the suspects, wearing kurta-
pyjama, fleeing towards Purana
Qila and he tried to chase him,
but he escaped.
Rahul Gupta, a visibly shaken
public interest litigation litigant,
said: “I was about to collect my
pass when I heard a loud explo-
sion that shook the earth. There
was smoke all around. I saw peo-
ple lying on the ground, some
piled up on each other. They
were all covered in blood, their
clothes torn into shreds. Pieces of
clothes were hanging from a tree
over the reception desk. Some
had lost their limbs. I escaped
with splinter injuries on the right
hand.”
As many as 22 police control
room vans reached the spot and
swiftly removed the injured to
hospitals with the help of
lawyers and volunteers. The area
was cordoned off and the site
covered with a plastic sheet to
protect the evidence from the
rain.
Officers of the National Investi-
gation Agency and the Delhi Po-
lice, personnel of the National
Disaster Response Force and
bomb experts of the National Se-
curity Guard rushed to the site to
gather evidence.
No CCTVs
The police found that no closed-
circuit television cameras had
been installed at any of the entry
gates.
Union Home Minister P. Chi-
dambaram visited the site around
1 p.m. Later in the evening,
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh went to the Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital to enquire about
the injured.
A case has been registered by the
Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
While efforts are on to identify
those behind the attack, the blast
is being perceived as a sequel to
an ammonium nitrate-fuelled,
low-intensity explosion outside
Gate No.7 of the High Court on
May 25. No one was injured in
that incident. The case remains
unsolved.
Sketches of two suspects releasedPolice on Wednesday released
sketches of two persons sus-
pected of planting the bomb
outside Delhi High Court
which killed at least 11 people
and injured over 60.
The sketches of the duo -- one
believed to be in his 50s and
the other in his mid-20s --
were prepared following de-
scriptions provided by eyewit-
nesses who claimed they saw
someone with a briefcase
standing in the queue.
“We have released sketches of
two suspects based on the de-
scriptions given by eyewit-
nesses,” a senior police official
said.The younger of the two
suspects could be a couple of
inches shorter than 6 feet with
a middle parting of the hair
while the other man was de-
scribed as stout and having a
light beard and shallow com-
plexion.
“We may also release a third
sketch depending upon the
eyewitness accounts,” the offi-
cial said.
Police are also investigating
whether the person who
planted the bomb was among
the injured.
According to some eyewit-
nesses, a man clad in a white
shirt and carrying a briefcase
was seen in the queue in front
of the reception of the high
court complex on Shershah
Road just before the explosion.
Investigators said they are yet
to ascertain whether there was
a timer in the device.
“It may be possible that the
bomb planter could not escape
from the spot before the explo-
sion took place. If there was a
timer, he would have had
ample time. There is also a
possibility that the suspect
could not manage to escape
from the scene,” a senior po-
lice official said.
Blast in Delhi High Court complex kills 11
The reception area of the Delhi High Court complex soon after a blast on Wednesday. (Right) A sketch of the suspects released by the police.
Over 75 injured; red alert sounded in capital; Harkat-ul-Jihadi claims responsibility
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September 08, 2011 11Courageous Journalism
B-Town's taken to Ganesh
Chaturthi celebrations in a big way this
year, but if there's any one actor for
whom it's been a tradition, it's actor Neil
Nitin Mukesh. The actor makes it a point
to be home for his most favourite festival
in the year — getting Ganesha home is
now a tradition for his family for the last
18 years. "The Mukesh household is
brimming with people and activity right
now. It's always been my favourite festi-
val, the mood of people is generally dif-
ferent around this time. It's also a time
when my entire family comes together —
we all eat, live and have fun for the 10
days that Ganeshji is home," beams Neil.
The actor is more than happy
this year, as his shooting sched-
ules could be worked out as that
he could be home for all the 10
days. Till date, he rues the fact
that he missed the celebrations
two years ago, when he was
shooting for film New York
abroad.
Neil explains the preparations
that goes into bringing the idol
home. The preparations start
months in advance and everyone
loves to pitch in.
"The idol is made to order three
months before and painted to
perfection with the right colours.
The mukut (crown) is especially
brought in from Vrindavan for
the idol," he informs, adding
that the arrangements in terms
of the decoration are done by
him and his close friends.
"I have designed the pandal,
while my mom has chosen the
background. A lot of women
from our area come and tie
rakhis to Bappa. It's become a
tradition over the years. Even
children from the neighbouring
societies and lanes also gather
for the morning pooja's and
aarti's," he says.
For Neil, Ganpati is also a time to give
full attention to his family, every one of
them who come visiting. "Our Ganpati
celebrations are bigger than a wedding in
the family and it goes on for 10 days. I
normally work throughout the year with-
out breaks, but this is one time of the year
I request my team to juggle my schedules
as I want to be home and serve Ganeshji,"
he says.But the one thing he does not wait
for is the visarjan. He recalls the time he
cried at a visarjan. "The first year that we
got Him, He was only there for a day and
a half. I remember crying when He left
the house and since then I love getting
Him home for 10 days," says Neil.
Star dancer-filmmaker Prabhudeva is
planning a quiet meeting with Madhuri
Dixit in her hometown Denver, which
sources say is a bid to convince her to
dance with him in his comeback film.
Prabhudeva, after his controversial mar-
riage with South actor Nayanthara, will
star again in a film after a long gap. The
film is said to be inspired by the Holly-
wood hit Just Dance. Sources say that it
might be his last Bollywood film in
which he plays the lead.
"Prabhu will have a quiet meeting with
Madhuri next month, where they are
planning to discuss as well as recount the
song that they danced in (Que Sera Kera
in Pukaar) 11 years back. He wants to re-
vive the same magic on screen once
again," says a source.
Madhuri has apparently told that she 'will
think about it' and in all probabilities,
might make a cameo appearance in the
film. "Prabhu will be auditioning the
original heroines of Step Up (Briana Evi-
gan of Step Up 2 and Sharni Vinson of
Step Up 3). At the same time, it will be
great if Prabhu gets to dance in a number
with Madhuri Dixit. He's also scheduled
to hold some dance class workshops
there. In between the auditions and the
workshops, he will take a two-day break
to travel to Denver," says the source.
Sources say that the film is probably
going to his last acting assignment.
"Prabhu is leaving no stone unturned for
the film as he knows that his opportuni-
ties as a hero has become limited," says
the source.
Losing your mind over what to wear on
your wedding day? Well, if the style
statements our celebs have set on their
big day, of late, are anything to go by,
then you needn't look further than the
humble sari for inspiration.
Actor Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan had
donned a traditional Kanjeevaram sari on
the wedding day, a few years ago, and
many more seem to be doing the same
lately. Actor Lara Dutta draped a cream
and gold traditional sari for her court
marriage, actor Kalki Koelchin took her
saat pheras in a white silk sari with an
elaborate border to match. More recently,
actor Celina Jaitly got hitched in a figure
hugging, flowy sari.
Designers say that a sari can never go out
of style for a variety of reasons. "A tradi-
tional sari has his own charm. But nowa-
days people are opting for ready-to-wear
saris and are experimenting with fusion
styles among other things," says designer
Archana Kochchar. She adds that saris in
flowy fabrics are more preferred, because
they cling to the body exuding a more
sexy look. "One can also opt for kalis in-
stead of regular pleats and shorter
and structured pallus. This will en-
sure that the bride doesn't have to
worry about the drape coming off
at the function and can just enjoy
her big day," says Archana.
Designer Mandira Wirk is all for
pre-stitched saris. "That way the
drape stays intact and looks flawless, ac-
centuating curves just as the wearer wants
it. The sari is one of the most attractive
garments we have and the best part is that
a pre-stitched one suits everybody. One
can work on what to highlight and what
to camoflage," states Mandira.
Designer Rimi Nayak says that though
the options are endless, materials like
French lace, soft silks, Jamevars and
Kalamkaris accentuated with buttas, zar-
dosi, crystals and the like are the front-
runners in sari trends this season.
Bappa celebrations bigger than wedding
What's brewing Prabhudeva?
Proud that it'sa sari situation
…says actor Neil Nitin Mukesh about the ongoingGanesh celebrations at the Mukesh household
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12 September 08, 2011 Courageous Journalism
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