13) COMMEMORATE BHAAG SINGH'S MARTYRDOM IN A REAL SENSE
From Radical Desi magazine (abridged)
This fall marks 100 years of the martyrdom of Bhaag Singh, the towering leader of the Sikh community in Canada, who was assassinated on September 5, 1914.
Respectfully known as Bhai Bhaag Singh within the local Sikh community, he headed the Khalsa Deewan Society, the oldest Sikh religious body formed by the community elders to resist racism and discriminatory immigration policies. The Vancouver Sikh temple governed by the body also provided space for political activism. Those who assembled there believed in secularism and a just society. The Khalsa Deewan Society never discriminated against non-Sikhs, and leaders belonging to other faith groups received equal respect.
Bhaag Singh was shot inside the temple by Bela Singh, a government spy. The shootout also claimed the life of Badan Singh, who tried to stop the assassin. The tragedy happened shortly after the Komagata Maru episode. The Japanese vessel carrying over 300 South Asian passengers was forced to return under a racist immigration law on July 23, 1914. The episode led to a bloody conflict between the political activists and pro-establishment elements of the South Asian community. These killings led to the assassination of William Hopkinson, a controversial immigration inspector, by Mewa Singh, who was hanged in 1915. Hopkinson was widely blamed for the temple shootout by the political activists. Bela Singh was acquitted on the grounds of self-defence, but was later killed in India by the revolutionaries. Bhaag Singh was associated with the same network of revolutionaries who murdered Bela Singh in 1933.
Bhaag Singh openly supported the Ghadar Party, a group of radical activists established in 1913 in North America to oppose racism and the British occupation of India. Both India and Canada were British colonies, and people like Bhaag Singh (who had previously served in the British army) migrated to Canada as British subjects. They all believed in the fairness of the British Empire. But they were soon disillusioned when the British Consulates refused to come to their aid in a situation of racial violence.
Men like Bhaag Singh realized that the root cause of their sufferings in North America was "slavery" back home. As a result, the Ghadar Party was formed to launch an armed rebellion against the British Empire. Bhaag Singh had already encouraged former Sikh soldiers to burn their medals and certificates to sever loyalties with the Empire. At a bonfire ceremony organized in 1909, he consigned his own uniform and discharge certificate to the flames. This was a very militant act of its time, as the Sikh clergy in India was largely pro-British. He strongly believed in peoples' unity and often asked the modernist and orthodox Sikhs to work together to fight against the power.
He was in the forefront of the campaign for the right to bring in their families. The Canadian government back then did not let South Asian immigrants bring their families, to discourage them from permanent settlement. To achieve this goal, Indian immigrants were also disfranchised in 1907.
Bhaag Singh also supported the cause of the Komagata Maru passengers. He was arrested in the US for buying weapons for those aboard the vessel, with an idea of engineering an armed revolt in India once they returned. In a nutshell, Bhaag Singh was a targeted man and was assassinated to weaken radical activism in the South Asian community.
100 years later, the struggle he started for social justice must be kept alive. The rights all immigrant communities have received over the years must not be taken for granted. Thanks to the radical activism of Bhaag Singh and his comrades, South Asians now have the right to vote and electoral representation in legislatures and the House of Commons. These rights are under severe attack from a right-wing Conservative government, and political activism is strongly needed to oppose these assaults.
Shamefully, the temple leaders and the gatekeepers in the Sikh community who use the name of the Khalsa Deewan Society for their own survival continue to ignore these real issues. Interestingly, both the camps of the modernist and the orthodox Sikhs are generally on the same page, trying to outdo each other in pleasing the establishment and remaining silent over controversial immigration policies, such as Bill C‑24 which empowers the authorities to take away citizenship. Their sharp ideological fight has not only divided the community, but also the prospects of coming together against discriminatory and draconian laws. It is time that they come together to challenge white supremacy that still exists in this country.
Bhaag Singh and the Ghadar activists believed in international solidarity and worked together with the socialists and revolutionaries from other nations. Today's community leaders must actively participate in campaigns against Israeli aggression in Palestine and the imperial designs of the world powers. The systemic racism against the indigenous peoples in Canada and neo- colonialism on their traditional lands must also be questioned by South Asians. After all, the two communities share a history of colonialism and racism.
Instead of indulging in symbolic commemorations of Bhaag Singh's martyrdom, the community gatekeepers should support initiatives such as Idle No More, a grassroots level movement of the indigenous activists. Lastly, on the occasion of Labour Day, South Asian activists should pay a real tribute to Bhai Bhaag Singh by showing support to the labour movement, standing with striking BC teachers and the Save Canada Post campaign.
(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)