What a sad, tragic story:A girl's quick swine flu death
One minute she had a tummy ache, the next she was dying of swine flu
RAVEENA AULAKH
STAFF REPORTER
Within minutes, 6-year-old Rubjit Thindal went from happily chatting in the backseat of the car to collapsing and dying in her father's arms.
"If we had known it was so serious, we would have called 911," Kuldip Thindal, Rubjit's distraught mother, said in Punjabi yesterday. "She just had a stomach ache – she wasn't even crying."
Rubjit was pronounced dead at hospital barely 24 hours after showing signs of a fever. Later, doctors told her parents she had the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu. She is believed to be the youngest person in Canada with the virus to have died.
On the evening of June 14, Rubjit had a bit of a fever and complained that her legs and arms hurt. The next morning, Kuldip took her to a walk-in clinic on McLaughlin Rd. and the doctor prescribed the pain reliever Advil.
By the afternoon, the little girl's fever was gone but she was complaining of a stomach ache.
Kuldip took her to the clinic again at about 2 p.m. The doctor gave her pills and told the Grade 1 student at Roberta Bondar School in Brampton to take it easy. She was fine for a bit, said Kuldip, but she kept asking "me to massage her arms and legs."
In the evening, when Rubjit said her stomach was still hurting, Kuldip and her husband, Gurmukh, decided to take her immediately to Georgetown Hospital.
Kuldip was driving. It was about 8 p.m. and they were five minutes from the hospital. Rubjit sat in the backseat with her dad, talking – as usual – and sipping apple juice.
A minute later, Rubjit suddenly put her hand on her chest and said it was hurting.
The next minute, her body went limp and she stopped breathing.
Gurmukh performed CPR while Kuldip raced into the hospital's parking lot.
It was about 8:05 p.m. when they arrived, Kuldip remembers. Two hours later, doctors confirmed their little girl was dead.
The exact cause of her death has not yet been determined, but the virus is known to have been a contributing factor, Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference Monday.
The H1N1 virus is having a greater impact on young people. The average age of the 2,665 Ontarians infected with the virus is 21.
Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital, explained that older people are more likely to have built up antibodies to fight the virus by having been infected with or vaccinated against similar strains in the past.
Rubjit's parents say they don't know where the little girl contracted the virus. The entire family has been tested and Kuldip said doctors have told them no one else has it.
Yesterday, Kuldip's daughter, Harmeen, 13, sat next to her. Her son, Gagan, 10, was on the computer watching videos of his sister singing and dancing to Punjabi music.
"She loved dressing up and having her photograph taken," he said.
The little girl would have turned 7 on Aug. 29. She asked her aunt in India to send her a blue salwar-kameez, a traditional Punjabi dress, and blue bangles for her birthday.
On the weekend, Kuldip bought a blue salwar-kameez and matching bangles for her daughter's funeral.
With files from Theresa Boyle
Toronto Star
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 06/23/09 -- The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) pays tribute to all victims of the Air India airplane tragedy that claimed 329 innocent lives and caused pain and hardship to many more. This year marks the 24th anniversary of the downing of Flight 182, off the coast of Ireland.
"The loss of 329 lives is a loss for all of society, and not just a loss for the victims' families," said Ram Raghbir Singh Chahal, President of the World Sikh Organization. "Amongst the victims were accomplished humanitarians, scientists, artists and community activists, from many different faiths: Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian. The incomprehensible criminal act that resulted in the loss of their lives is an affront to all right thinking Canadians."
Speaking about the political aftermath of the Air India tragedy, Gian Singh Sandhu, Senior Policy Advisor for the World Sikh Organization, stated, "Tragically, the Sikh community has been doubly victimized from this tragedy. Not only were there significant numbers of Sikhs amongst the victims, but the Sikh community of Canada has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since. Sikhs routinely faced interrogation, harassment and intimidation, by Canadian authorities in the first decade following the Air India tragedy. While the harassment has dissipated over time, the wounds left in its wake have not. Sikhs continue to face widespread public hostility, and are still largely misunderstood due to the very successful anti-Sikh media campaign launched against them throughout the 1980's and 1990's."
"For well over two decades, the WSO had been calling for an Inquiry into the botched RCMP and CSIS investigation, which left the victims, their families, and the Sikh community, with no closure or redress. Twenty-four years later, we continue to wait with the Air India Inquiry Report still pending; but with no real hope that the Inquiry will be able to ever redress the wrong that has been done to so many innocent victims, and the Canadian Sikh community," said Sandhu. "A tragedy like this cannot be easily forgotten, and nor should it be. We need to continue to be vigilant as a society in order to prevent such acts of violence, and the demonization of an entire community, from occurring again."
The World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a non-profit international organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status. WSO was granted intervenor status in the Air India Commission of Inquiry.
Contacts:
The World Sikh Organization of Canada
Maj (retd.) Jasbeer Singh
Media Relations
(780)457-3333 or (780)235-6000
magmaint@hotmail.com
The World Sikh Organization of Canada
Gian Singh Sandhu
(250) 305-2440
gian@jackpinegroup.com
The genocide of 1984 demands our attention, for it is in danger of becoming lost in history, buried under communal politics, international relations and the government's emphatic silencing of human rights workers.Lost In History: 1984 Reconstructed by Gunisha Kaur
It is our duty to ensure that the right to life of all persons is upheld, regardless of their age, religion or gender. If a government is particularly tyrannical, then we must call attention to this unjust rule. If we shut our eyes to these atrocities and shut our ears to the anguished cries of our fellow human beings,
we silently acquiesce to inhumanity.
Only worth watching from 6:20.
Independent Rajya Sabha Sikh MP Tarlochan Singh, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities in India addresses forced evactuations of Sikhs in Swat Valley, Operation Bluestar, and Anand Marriage act.
You can tell from the apathy of his fellow MPs that his recommendations won't be getting very far.
For additional analysis check out the World Sikh News article.
In just a few short months, Satinder Sartaj has come out of nowhere and made a huge impact on the Punjabi music scene in Canada. His modern take on Sufi music and his unique appearance (he wears a turban but leaves his hair open underneath) has garnered him a lot of attention. Starting out with just a few shows in high-school auditoriums, he's now selling out concerts across the country. He has yet to release a professional recording, but you'll find lots of videos from his shows online.
I've attached a song here that I've had stuck in my head for days. Its call Sai, and its a benti or supplication to the Creator. Its a very flowing song, which sounds almost like a stream of consciousness. Interestingly enough, in an interview on Des Pardes, he confessed that he sang this song before he wrote it, meaning it just spilled out of him while he was playing like it.
Kulvir Singh Gill still remembers the day he come home from school and saw his parents crying in front of the television screen.
“I was only 7 and remember coming home from school and entering the house and just seeing my entire family, grandparents, uncle and aunts, glued to the TV, crying.”
The day was June 4, 1984. The Indian army had just invaded and attacked the Harminder Sahib, otherwise known as the Golden Temple, in a vicious three-day assault on Sikhism’s holiest shrine in what is now called the “darkest chapter in Sikh and Indian history.”
Gill, 32, now a Brampton resident and one of the founders of Sikhs Serving Canada, understood even as a child the horror of the days that followed.
“It was the most painful, traumatic, tragic days in the life of any Sikh in the world at the time. People look on that day with as much pain as they would with death of their family members.”
Twenty-five years ago this week the Indian army invaded the Golden Temple following a plan known as ‘Operation Bluestar’ to extract Sikh militants who had garrisoned themselves within rooms of the temple. Indian Government officials said their goal was to capture terrorists who had turned the prayer halls and adjacent buildings into an armed fortress after years of deadly conflicts with militant Sikh leaders in the country.
The attack, which began in the early hours of June 4 and lasted several days, included invasions in 42 other Sikh Gurudwaras (temples) and killed up to 2,000, including soldiers, visitors and temple workers and women and children, though no official death toll was ever released.
“In Canada, we were crying as a community. It didn’t matter how religious you were, or how often you prayed. All the divisions within the community were erased, and that day, it felt like the heart of the Sikhs had been attacked,” said Gill, whose cousin was also killed in the attack.
The aftermath of the attack left the Harminder Sahib riddled with over three hundred bullets holes. The Sikh library with precious manuscripts and historical arefacts dating back hundreds of years from the Sikh Gurus were burnt to the ground. The Akal Takht, a white majestic building wrapped around the Harminder Sahib and the seat of Sikh temporal power, was reduced to rubble. The continuous reading of the Sikh holy scripture, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, was interrupted for the first time in hundreds years as bullets flew outside.
In November that same year several thousand more Sikhs in the capital of New Delhi were raped, burned alive and killed in organized riots that lasted for days in the country following Prime Minister Indira Ghandi’s assassination.
“We saw the attack as a holocaust, a genocide. It was an attempt to severely affect the Sikh psyche in a negative way. It destroyed our cultural and historical artefacts, not to mention killing innocent people on a day known to attract large numbers of worshippers,” said Jagtaran Singh, President of the Sikh Students Association at the University of Toronto and a political science graduate.
Situated on the north-western border of India, the Golden Temple lies in the city of Amritsar and is in the centre of a complex of prayer halls, community kitchens, libraries and administrative offices. The construction was initially started by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and it was completed by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs in 1588. In 1830, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, then ruler of the Sikh empire, gold-plated the main prayer site hence giving it its nickname of the ‘Golden Temple’.
Today, much of the buildings destroyed in the attack have been restored after a concerted reconstruction effort that saw donations flow in from Sikh disapora communities from all over the world.
“Sikhs consider all places of worship to be equal. However, in terms of importance the Harminder Sahib has a very special place in Sikh’s hearts and minds, and the attack absolutely devastated every Sikh family around the world when they found out,” Singh said.
“Almost every Sikh family hangs a picture of the Harminder Sahib in their homes. It’s been a defining moment in every Sikh’s life, even those born after 1984,” says Gill.
Bullet holes can still be seen in the walls of the temple, some impossible to restore, others purposely left as a stark reminder of the blood shed decades ago.
On this 25th anniversary of the attacks, the emotions still run deep in the Sikh-Canadian community. Several candle-light vigils and commemoration events have been planned across the entire country from Vancouver, Toronto, to Montreal, including an event last night in Brampton that attracted up to 1,000 Sikh youth using spoken word, rap and hip-hop to commemorate the event.
“As a young Sikh, the 25th anniversary of these attack is a reminder for myself, and should be all for all Sikhs that we can’t forget this event, nor can we allow other genocides to happen to any community. It’s a part of our history and now our responsibility,” said Singh.
“The wounds are still fresh in the community. But we’ve been healing together. It took Jews a long time to come out and talk about their holocaust. For Sikhs, it’s going to take a while before we are able to relive the horror, but its something we can’t ever forget.”
Jasmeet Sidhu
“The initial crime was celebrated and indeed had been planned a year before hand. The army went into Darbar Sahib not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress a culture of people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and self confidence.... The army which had suffered a heavy toll in the 3 days of battle went berserk and killed every Sikh man, women and child who could be found inside the temple complex. They were hauled out of the rooms, brought to corridors on the circumference of the temple and with their hands tied behind their backs, were shot in cold blood." Pettigrew, Joyce. "The Sikhs of the Punjab: Unheard Voices of the State and Guerilla Violence" (1995), p. 8.
Listen to this audio documentary by Pops from Tigerstyle looks at the effect the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar had on British Sikhs
CIJA, UJA announce 2009 award winner
The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto announced that a leading figure in Canada's Indo-Canadian community, Sarabjit S. (Sabi) Marwah, vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Scotiabank, is the recipient of the 2009 Words and Deeds Leadership Award.
More than 700 people, including political dignitaries, business, academic, and community leaders, attended the Words and Deeds Leadership Award Dinner Wednesday, June 10 at the Royal York Hotel. The national award recognizes Canadian leaders whose contribution to humanitarian causes, tolerance and inclusion in Canadian society has been outstanding. The Words and Deeds Leadership Award is presented to those who show - through their words and deeds - that the work of few can benefit an entire community.
Previous recipients include Gordon M. Nixon, CEO of RBC Financial Group; the late Ted Rogers, the extended Richardson family of Winnipeg working through the Richardson Family Foundation, and Tony Gagliano, Executive Chairman and CEO of St. Joseph Communications.
"This award exemplifies the Jewish community's long-standing relationship and shared values with the Indo-Canadian community," said CIJA Co-Chair.
Brent Belzberg in a statement. "Mr. Marwah is an outstanding example of how one individual can make a positive difference in the entire Canadian community."
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto Chair David Koschitzky called Marwah's contribution to the rich fabric of our city "a source of pride for both the Jewish and Indo-Canadian communities."
Marwah's extensive community efforts include his leadership role with The United Way Toronto, and his fundraising efforts on behalf of those with physical disabilities and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He is the past Chair of Humber River Regional Hospital, currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and has served on the Board of Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. He is a founding member of the Sikh Foundation of Canada, a community organization dedicated to promoting Sikh arts and culture. He has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and the Sewa Award for professional achievement and community service, by the Centennial Foundation. He was awarded "Professional of the Year" by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and was recently honoured by the Ontario Sikh and Gurdwara Council.
It is often said that a revolution begins not with the sword but with the pen. However, last Friday night in a packed banquet hall in the Toronto suburb of Malton, I witnessed a revolution begin with the microphone.
At an event entitled "When Lions Roar", fantastically organized by the Sikh Activist Network, one young artist after another got on to the mike and paid homage to the lives destroyed in 1984. I was blown away by the talent and passion displayed by the performers. Through the art of spoken word, music, and action, each of the 26 acts put a different face on the impact of June 1984. They were all unique in their perspective, but all shared one common thread: 1984 is just too important to forget.
Over 1000 people gathered to attend the 4+ hour event. They covered the entire spectrum of Sikh life. This was not your typical retreat and kirtan crowd. In fact, the diversity of performers and audience has challenged me to rethink my stereotypes about who cares about 1984 and the future of the Sikh panth. Individuals that I would have never suspected of having even a passing interest in Sikhi or the Sikh community, would come up to the mike and speak with such energy, insight and emotion. They often reduced me to tears. And most amazing was the fact that almost all of them weren’t even alive in June 1984.
For a thirty-something guy like me who has always considered myself part of the “youth”, it was indeed a little bit humbling to realize that, while I’d probably still be the youngest guy at a Youth Akali Dal meeting, I’m now probably a generation or two above the youngest Sikh leaders. Which means me and my fellow Generation X-ers need to spend less time trying to do it all ourselves, and more time using our resources to enable the next wave of younger Sikhs to establish their own voice and institutions. We were the first generation coming through the diaspora, with little support from our elders. However, we can make it easier on our younger brothers and sisters. We can provide them seed funding to start their dreams, connect them those that can help them along the path, and help coach them through their challenges.
As you’ll see from the videos and photos, the next generation has indeed stepped up, their language of change is hip-hop and I think they’re gonna be alright.
View more pictures on the SAN Facebook page.
(Fremont, CA, June 5, 2009) Operation "Blue Star" marked the beginning of the Government of India's systematic policy in Punjab of destroying fundamental human rights in the name of "national security," and launched a new era of impunity and the erosions of the rule of law in India.
View our photo essay on Blue Star, containing images from the assault and eyewitness accounts. For a detailed account, read Chapter 1 of Ensaaf's report Twenty Years of Impunity.
Twenty-five years ago, on June 2, 1984, the Indian government declared Punjab a "restricted area," banning travel to Punjab and the Indian Army assumed police functions. On June 3, the government imposed a statewide shoot-on-sight curfew, forbade news coverage of the attack, and cut phone lines across Punjab. Eyewitnesses reported that over 10,000 pilgrims and 1300 workers had gathered inside the Harminder Sahib complex (popularly known as the Golden Temple) by June 3 to join a civil disobedience campaign or to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of the fifth Sikh Guru. The Harmandir Sahib complex—the center of Sikh religious and political life—is located in Amritsar city.
Beginning on June 4, the Indian army launched a full-scale military assault upon on the complex and attacked 41 other gurdwaras (Sikh house of worship) on the pretext of removing armed militants quartered in these gurdwaras. During the three-day assault, the military employed cannons, tanks, helicopters, and special forces to target those trapped inside the gurdwara complex. Inside the complex, the Akal Takht suffered destruction of its first floor; bullets punctured the Harmandir Sahib; and the Army looted and burned down the Sikh Reference Library, housing rare manuscripts and Sikh artifacts.
After the initial military operations ended, military personnel detained and executed civilians and non-combatants captured alive in the gurdwara complex, including women and children. One eyewitness reported military personnel executing 150 Sikhs at point blank range, after tying their hands behind their backs with their turbans.
The Army never released a list of the dead. To destroy the evidence of its crimes, the military secretly cremated en mass the bodies of its victims. Security forces would continue to use secret mass cremations for more than a decade after Operation Blue Star to destroy the bodies of victims of its "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions, extensively discussed in Ensaaf's recent reports.
Twenty-five years later, the government continues to refuse to hold accountable senior military officials, civilian leaders, or lower level military personnel responsible for targeting civilians and the excessive use of force during the military operation. International humanitarian law (IHL), or the law of war, requires the military to make a distinction at all times between military targets and civilian life and property, and strictly prohibits military from targeting civilians. Targeting civilians during a conflict constitutes a grave breach of IHL. International humanitarian law further requires the use of force to be proportionate to an actual threat. Given the large number of civilians killed and the extent of damage caused to the Harmandir Sahib complex during the operation, the Indian army's use of force was excessive and violates the principal of proportionality.
Without a true accounting of the abuses perpetrated by the government, as well as justice and reparations for victims and survivors, impunity will continue to prevail in India. Ensaaf's joint report with Human Rights Watch suggests a comprehensive framework to address the institutionalized impunity that has prevented accountability in Punjab from 1984 to 1995. The detailed recommendations include establishing a commission of inquiry, a special prosecutor's office, and an extensive reparations program.
Canadian Sikhs - Putting The Past In Perspective As We Focus On The Future
On June 4th, Sikhs around the world will mark the 25th anniversary of the tragic developments that culminated in the Indian army's military assault against the Sikh people. On this day in 1984, the Indian army launched its offensive against the Sikhs of Punjab, systematically killing thousands of innocent men, women and children, desecrating Sikh places of worship, and abrogating their fundamental rights.
In remembrance of this tragic day, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) has invited renowned researchers, scholars and journalists to put the past quarter century of developments in the Sikh world in perspective, and identify the challenges that will define our shared global future.
This commemorative event continues a 25-year annual tradition on Parliament Hill and across Canadian cities by the WSO. The event provides an evening of social interaction between elected officials, parliamentarians, community leaders, and members of the Sikh community.
The 25th Annual WSO Parliamentary Dinner is scheduled for Thursday, June 04, 2009, between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, in Room 200, West Block, Parliament Hill.
The theme for this year's gathering is: "Past in Perspective...Future in Focus"
The proceedings are expected to be reflective and thought-provoking. They will provide a chance for those gathered to gain insight into how the events of June 1984 have shaped the Sikh community worldwide, with a look into the short and long term future of the global Sikh community.
To mark this important occasion and to initiate dialogue among Canadian Sikhs and non-Sikhs about present and upcoming challenges, WSO is holding similar events in Mississauga on June 6th, Surrey on June 14th, Edmonton on June 19th and Calgary on June 21st.
The World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a non-profit international organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of the Sikh Diaspora, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status.
