Mob rule? Angry Sikhs protest against deportation

[204]

Angry Sikhs protest against deportation
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, December 10, 2007

A crowd of about 1,300 angry supporters of a paralyzed failed refugee claimant who was to be deported to India Monday surrounded the Yellow Cab carrying him at the airport.
Chanting and yelling, the crowd refused to let the taxi driver drop Laibar Singh at the doors of Vancouver International Airport.
His supporters, mainly fellow Sikhs from Metro Vancouver, say they will boycott any airline that takes him back to India.
Singh entered Canada from India travelling on phoney documents, and later suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. He is a failed refugee claimant who briefly sought refuge in a Sikh temple in Abbotsford. Despite an outpouring of support from Abbotsford's Sikh community, he lost all subsequent appeals to remain in Canada.

[mr.x]

While I do sympathize his handicapped state, he did enter the country illegally. I have little sympathy for people who choose to come here with fake documents.

I don't know why the Indo-Canadian community is taking this so personally. Fact is, if you came here illegally and we find you, you're sent home regardless of culture.

The RCMP should've got together an army of officers in riot gear....then they should've brought out the tasers , pepper spray (led by Sergeant Pepper from APEC '97), and the tear gas (Stanley Cup Riot).


Also, this so called "peaceful protest" isn't peaceful when a road is blocked.

[phesto]

This wouldn't bother me so much if it was not for the fact that the Federal Gov't has covered close to $500,000 of his medical expenses while he has been here illegally.

Also, is the CBSA really incapable of handling this? I would expect that they would show a little more discretion than merely having a yellow cab drop him off in the middle of the day given the media attention surrounding this case.

[bils]

i guess after spending $500k on his medical expenses, all we had left was $10 for a cab ride

[Distill3d]

Singh entered Canada from India travelling on phoney documents

lets ring up all these Sikhs supporting him and see how many of them entered into Canada on false documents as well. i'm sure in India this man would be executed and accused of spying, so us deporting him, thats a light punishment. and besides, he's lost all his appeals to stay here, meaning he had to mess up pretty damn bad that we don't want him....

[Jacques]

lets ring up all these Sikhs supporting him and see how many of them entered into Canada on false documents as well. i'm sure in India this man would be executed and accused of spying, so us deporting him, thats a light punishment. and besides, he's lost all his appeals to stay here, meaning he had to mess up pretty damn bad that we don't want him....

I have nothing against them, however as you stated you that person entered illegally in this country if we give him a free pass to stay, its like saying well its open door for anyone to do the same.
send him back why is it that these people always support their own, but if that was to happen lets say to an oriental immigrant would they go and support him, come to think of it we are Canadians and as such races shouldn't play an issue but it does!

[Nutterbug]

Does it also bother you that all these ethnic groups only rally in support of their own kind, when incidents like this take place?

[Jacques]

Does it also bother you that all these ethnic groups only rally in support of their own kind, when incidents like this take place?

The only incident I recall in years to have had a positive impact was the Robert Dziekanski rally, sure there were many polish decent, however also was Chinese, Hindus, Russians, French, and first Nation
other then that even it always seemed to be very segregated, shame

[zivan56]

Does it also bother you that all these ethnic groups only rally in support of their own kind, when incidents like this take place?

Because, like it or not, most ethnic groups only care about themselves and other people in their group. While there may be complete tolerance of other groups, there is usually apathy towards their plight. The diaspora of any ethnic group is more violent/militant/idealogical/you name it, especially the ones who "ghetto-ize" themselves in exclusive communities. That being said, there are large numbers of people who aren't like this, but they are usually not vocal and prefer not to be confrontational.

[mr.x]

it's safe to say that Canada isn't multicultural, it's multiethic.

[SpongeG]

i hope he is deported secretly somehow and soon

pisses me off when i know people who went through the legitimate way and waited for years and years to try get in and ended up going to australia as it was much easier

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This blog (http://roadtokhalistan.blogspot.com/2007/12/laibar-singhs-foiled-deportation-next.html), in support of him asks; "Should Rosa Parks have obeyed the law and given her seat to the white man? Should those who hid Anne Frank and her family have turned them in to the Nazis?"

Anne Frank? Anne Frank? Anne Frank? This is serious delusion on these people's part.

Airport rally crosses line between lawful protest and mob rule

The Province

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Protesters who blocked the deportation of failed refugee claimant Labair Singh from Vancouver on Monday claimed "a big victory for all of us." Who is it, we wonder, that they have in mind?

Not the general public, that's for sure.

The estimated 1,500 demonstrators succeeded in seriously inconveniencing travellers at the international airport. No victory there. But there are broader issues.

Mob rule is anathema to Canadian society. Yet that is essentially the tactic that was used to subvert the course of justice.

A placard-waving throng was allowed to form a barricade blocking the progress of the taxi in which Singh was riding.

Protesters were seen leaping on to the vehicle itself.

Perhaps the strategy of the Canadian Border Services Agency should be questioned. Surely, the relevant officials could have anticipated such scenes and organized themselves differently.

We have said before, and repeat now, that a case can be made on humanitarian grounds for the wheelchair-confined Singh to stay in Canada.

The B.C. Sikh community has pledged to provide the resources for his future care. But whatever the perceived rights and wrongs of the decision to send Singh home, the law must prevail.

Singh's supporters threaten that any further attempt to deport him will result in an even larger demo. This, in a free society, is their right.

But, there is huge difference between peaceful protest and open defiance of society's rules.
© The Vancouver Province 2007

[zivan56]

^^ There is nothing wrong with forming an angry mob when there is an injustice done or the government tries to take way rights or freedoms. Unlike North America, in most other countries the government is scared of the people and not the other way around...which is a good thing.

That being said, I don't see any reason why someone who illegally came to this country and is now hiding from authorities should be allowed to stay...it's a slap in the face for people waiting a decade to come here.