Toronto (KP) -- On Sunday, April 27th, thousands of Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike came together to celebrate Vaisakhi in the form of the downtown Toronto Nagar Keertan. Yet, to everyone's surprise, the management of Ontario Khalsa Darbar, also known as Dixie Gurdwara Sahib, forbid the entry of a float commemorating the 13 Martyrs of Vaisakhi 1978 and other Shaheeds.
The Sangat had prepared the float in honour of the Singhs who obtained Shaheedi in 1978 in the standoff against the Nirankari group. The float was present in the Nagar Keertan the previous week at Malton gurdwara to Rexdale gurdwara. The Police escorted this float out of the Nagar Keertan and the Singhs were suspended from taking part in the Nagar Keertan. Even after being forced out of the Nagar Keertan by Police escort the Singh bravely raised Jaikaray and slogans calling for Khalistan.
Even though the Management removed a float honouring great shaheeds they allowed a Khalistan banner to be held by sangat at the front of the Nagar Keertan. Once the procession arrived at Nathan Philips Square, the banner was held by sangat in front of the stage, clearly in view of the politicians who took part in the event. In response to the Vancouver Nagar Keertan, one Singh beautifully stated, “You can take away our floats, you can take away our banners, you can even take away our Nagar Keertan. But you can’t take away our demand for Khalistan and Justice.”
As readers may know, in 1978 a peaceful protest was held by Sikhs in Amritsar Sahib against a government funded cult. The cult was armed with machine guns and opened fire on the unarmed crowd. The pictures of the martyrs who innocently died that day have not been controversial in the past.
Aside from the above controversy, many different people joined together and celebrated this event as a socio-cultural activity. As always, sangat came in floods to walk with the Nagar Keertan from far and wide. Many different Youth Organizations came together and represented such as: Sikh Activist Network, Yudh Gatka Akhara, Kaurs United, and various other groups. The Guru Gobind Singh Children’s Foundation took on the sevaa of organizing the shuttle busses which took sangat from Nathan Philips Square to the CNE, which for the first time in many years, ran smoothly due to the organizational efforts of the youth.
Although the youth showed a lot of support, sangat at large was left disappointed at the lack of support from the Management Committee. “The Nagar Keertan is supposed to be for the Sikh community to come together and showcase their skills in Gatka and Keertan,” said a Gatka Ustaad from the Yudh Gatka Akhara martial arts club.
“It’s very important for the youth to celebrate their rich heritage and do proper parchaar. It’s just a waste to have politicians come and give speeches.” Many youth were appalled at the way the committee stopped the Gatka demonstration, even after promising the teams time to do Gatka, the Sikh martial art. “What’s the point of having a Nagar Keertan without Gatka? Speeches are just boring,” said a local youth after the Gatka was cancelled.
After not being given permission to do Gatka in front of the stage the Singhs found their own spot on the side to do Gatka. Once the Management found out about this, they sent security to stop the Singhs from doing Gatka. Even though the Singhs were not allowed to do Gatka they allowed the younger kids to do Gatka so that they would not be disappointed.
