NEW WESTMINSTER – It is not every day that you’re driving on the Queenbourgh Bridge and you see a large billboard with a Sikh man, laying on the ground, his turban knocked off his head and he is being brutally kicked by Indian Police Officers.
As part of the awareness of the 1984 Sikh Genocide, that takes place each year at Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar in New Westminster, this year the focus is on education and informing the community of the events that took place against Sikhs in 1984. What makes this year’s campaign different from previous years, is that the Gurdwara Sahib is reaching out to the wider Community through a massive media campaign.
For one week, a large Billboard on the South side of Queensborough Bridge will be displayed, informing the Community of the atrocities of the 1984 Sikh Genocide.
When asked about the purpose of this Campaign, Gurdwara Sahib Treasurer, Jaspal Singh stated, “The Sikh Genocide that took place is a Canadian issue – it aligns with core Canadian values of upholding Human Rights, upholding Liberty and Freedoms. This billboard is not only for the wider community but also to ensure our children are more aware of these recent events and be strong and stand up for their own Religion and upload the beliefs of others just like Guru Tegh Bahdur Sahib Ji who sacrificed himself for the Hindu religion.”
Similar to the denial of the World War Two, Holocaust against Jews, there are still elements in our Community that deny these events ever took place in 1984, and that Sikhs are making this up.
With so much information available through interviews, photographs and videos on the Internet today, this campaign aims to get people talking about the Sikh Genocide and for them to research and learn the truth of the extent and severity of these acts against Sikhs for themselves, so that they never occur again anywhere in the world, and to bring those responsible to justice.
