Vaisakhi Parade Controversy
On April 16, 2010, the day prior to the annual Vaisakhi Parade held in Surrey, B.C., one of the parade organizers issued a statement indicating should Dosanjh and BC Liberal backbencher Dave Hayer choose to attend the parade, their safety could not be guaranteed. This was due in part to comments that Dosanjh had made after the parade in 2007, suggesting a police investigation into reports of a parade float that had a picture of Talwinder Singh Parmar on it, the alleged mastermind behind the bombing of Air India Flight 182. Dosanjh also expressed concerns over some attendees wearing International Sikh Youth Federation t-shirts, a terrorist organization that is banned in India, Britain, the United States, and Canada.
At least two complaints were made to RCMP about the comments by one of the parade organizers, Inderjit Singh Bains, on Sher-E-Punjab radio. During part of the show hosted by Gurvinder Dhaliwal, Bains spoke about the importance of honouring the Sikh faith and some logistics of the Surrey, B.C., parade that draws tens of thousands of people.
"Everybody's invited except those who've been excluded," he said of the event that would include security for some participants. "Everyone (is invited) except... two people – Ujjal Dosanjh and Dave Hayer," he said. "We've never invited them. If they come they should bring their own security."
Premier Gordon Campbell called for an apology. None was forthcoming and all three declined to attend the parade.
On April 23, 2010, the RCMP launched an investigation into threats made against Dosanjh on a Facebook site, titled “Ujjal Dosanjh is a Sikh Traitor.” Canada's Parliamentarians condemned any death threats against Mr. Dosanjh.
Read more about this topic: Ujjal Dosanjh
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