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Canada’s raspberry capital approves
fourth Sikh gurdwara
WSN Network
ABBOTSFORD: The need to protect and nurture regional and
religious identities only grows more acute if one is far removed
from one's native moorings. Similar efforts of the expatriate Sikh
community in
Abbotsford, British
Columbia in Canada have gotten another shot in the arm with the city
council granting approval for a fourth Sikh gurdwara in the city.
The city council decided to grant the community a property
situated in the South Fraser Way assembly zone status after a
spirited public hearing on Monday night, where the gathered
audience, both Sikh and non-Sikh debated the merits of having a
fourth gurdwara in the city.
Around 200 people filled the Matsqui Centennial as people
stepped to the mike in support of the Gurdwara Baba Banda Singh
Bahadar Sikh Society's application for rezoning.
In a move unheard of in
India, which is
home to an exponentially higher number of Sikhs, at the public
hearing all but one of the 11 speakers who addressed the city
council backed the proposal by the Gurdwara Baba Banda Singh Bahadur
Society. The council unanimously voted in favour of the application.
Earlier, Abbotsford pastor Laurie Van Kleek, one of the many
non-Sikhs present in the audience stepped forward and offered his
support by saying, “This evening it would be good to remind
ourselves that in
Canada, in this
province, and in this city, we have the legal freedom of religion.”
In
India, we too legally have the freedom, but as history is witness –
there have been numerous occasions when this freedom has been curbed
and the rights of minorities like Sikhs have been blatantly
transgressed upon.
“Christians have dozens of churches but the Sikhs are limited
to just three temples. If tens of thousands of Christians had just
three churches there would be an outrage, so why should we expect
tens of thousands of Sikhs to meet in three temples?” Kleek added.
Abbotsford resident Rajbinder Atwal also stressed a desire
for the Sikh community at the new temple to “go to each church” and
create stronger bonds between the Sikh and Christian communities.
1 April 2009
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