New Westminster gurdwara honours Sikh assassin who murdered Canadian official

From the website of the Sikh Youth of BC (Commemorating the Sacrifice Made by Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh Ji ):

Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar, New Westminster will be celebrating the sacrifice made to the community by Shaheed (Martyr) Bhai Mewa Singh on January 12th to 14th 2007, who was the first and only Sikh to be executed in Canada.

[Hyphenated Canadian: One community's "martyr" is another community's terrorist, I guess.]

He sacrificed his own life for his beliefs to fight against injustice to the poor and community.

[. . .]

The last straw in these discriminatory incidents came on Sunday September 6, 1914 when Bela Singh Jain an informer and agent of Inspector Hopkinson, pulled out two guns and started shooting at the Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara Sahib on West 2nd Avenue. He murdered Bhai Bhag Singh, President of the Society and Battan Singh and Bela Singh was charged with murder, but Hopkinson decided to appear as a witness in his case and made up much of his testimony at his trail and subsequently Bela Singh was acquitted.

On October 21, 1914, Bhai Mewa Singh, Granthi of Khalsa Diwan Society shot William Hopkinson in the Assize court corridor with two revolvers because he believed him to be unscrupulous and corrupt, using informers to spy on Indian immigrants.

At the trail in the court of Judge Morrison, Mr. Wood the attorney of Mewa Singh in his statement said, “The Sikh community felt that Hopkinson was in part responsible for the failure of the plans to land the Sikhs aboard the Komagata Maru. He was born in India (English Father and East Indian mother). He could speak Indian languages fluently. He established a ring of informers to report about the activities of the Sikh community. Bela Singh Jain was his chief informer and an employee of Immigration department. He acted as a victorious lord over his community and was backed by his boss Hopkinson”. Mewa Singh made a historical statement in the Court:

“My religion does not teach me to bear enmity with anybody, nor had I any enmity with Mr. Hopkinson.

[Hyphenated Canadian: He loved Mr. Hopkinson so much he just had to kill him.]

He was oppressing poor people very much. I, being a staunch Sikh, could no longer bear to see the wrong done both to my countrymen and Dominion of Canada. This is what led me to take Hopkinson’s life and sacrifice my own life. And I, performing the duty of a true Sikh and remembering the name of God, will proceed towards the scaffold with the same amount of pleasure as a hungry babe goes towards his mother. I am sure God will take me into His blissful arms.”

[. . .]

Read the whole article.

Wow. If a minority group doesn't like Canadian immigration policy, it is justified in murdering the government officials charged with enforcing it. Now that's multiculturalism with a vengeance! Let's be clear. If this article is accurate, the gurdwara is teaching its members to despise the British Canadians who built Canada. I don't believe in "hate speech" laws, but I do note the inconsistency with which they are enforced. It seems to me saying a murdered Canadian official deserved to die is hateful speech. Assassinating a government official is a terrorist act whatever the circumstances. In honouring this assassin, the Sikhs at this gurdwara are honouring a terrorist.

Does the gurdwara believe Sikhs today would be justified in assassinating a CSIS agent who was using informants to monitor Sikh extremists in Canada? Would a Muslim who objected to Canada's treatment of Maher Arar be justified in murdering government officials?

This last question isn't entirely theoretical. In July, 2005 Aly Hindy, head of head of Scarborough's Salaheddin Islamic Centre, caused a controversy with some remarks directed at CSIS. From a Globe and Mail article (Imam warns Ottawa to back off Muslims by Colin Freeze, July 25, 2005):

A controversial Toronto imam warned Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan at a closed-door meeting to stop "terrorizing" Canadian Muslims.

"If you try to cross the line I can't guarantee what is going to happen. Our young people, we can't control," Aly Hindy, the head of Scarborough's Salaheddin Islamic Centre, recalls telling the minister at the May meeting she held in Toronto with dozens of Muslim leaders.

[. . .]

Mr. Hindy, who has long complained that CSIS is spying on him, his family and his mosque, told Ms. McLellan that a young Muslim woman complained to him she was roughed up by Canadian spies while her husband was away at prayers. This allegation could spur reprisals because "our women are the most valuable thing to us" and "for a Muslim, honour is more important than his life," Mr. Hindy said in a recent interview.

More on Jihad Watch

See also:

Sikh extremists in Canada: a culture of fear and intimidation

Layton says Canada should apologize for Komagata Maru incident. Conservatives agree

Khalsa Community School - Brampton Sikh-only institution expanding

Technorati tags: Canada Canadian history British Columbia BC New Westminster Sikhs multiculturalism immigration terrorism Khalsa Diwan Society Komagata Maru