WSO Condemns The Racist Posters And Organizes Turban Eh! Event In Response To The Hate Mongering

“Similar posters appeared two years ago in Ontario and are a pathetic attempt at drawing the spotlight to deplorable views that have been rejected in Canada,” WSO president Mukhbir Singh said. David Turpin, president of the University of Alberta, said all posters brought to their attention had been taken down and any new ones would be removed. In light of this incident, the Sikh Students Association and World Sikh Organization of Canada, in collaboration with the local Sikh community  of Edmonton, will be holding the event "Turban, Eh!" On Tuesday September 27, 2016 Turban, Eh! will be held at the University of Alberta' SUBstage (main floor of the Students' Union Building) where guests will be invited to have turbans tied for free. 

By PD Raj

EDMONTON – Racists in Calgary put up hateful posters targeting Sikhs with the wording FUCK YOUR TURBAN at the University of Alberta, one of Canada’s largest research-intensive universities.

The posters showed the image of a man wearing a turban with a racist message: , "If you're so obsessed with your third-world culture, go the fuck back to where you came from!"

The World Sikh Organisation (WSO) of Canada condemned the racist posters distributed by the group “Immigration Watch Canada”, a well known hate-mongering anti-immigrant group that have targeted Muslims and other minorities in the past.

“Similar posters appeared two years ago in Ontario and are a pathetic attempt at drawing the spotlight to deplorable views that have been rejected in Canada,” WSO president Mukhbir Singh said. David Turpin, president of the University of Alberta, said all posters brought to their attention had been taken down and any new ones would be removed.

“It is shameful that people in Canada are doing this,” said Yadvinder Bhardwaj, president of the Indian Students’ Association at the University of Alberta.

Approximately a dozen posters appeared earlier today on the University of Alberta campus but have now been taken down by campus security.

The racist website ImmigrationWatchCanada.org has been behind similar posters which previously appeared at York University in Toronto and in Brampton, Ontario in 2014.

WSO Vice-President for Alberta Tejinder Singh Sidhu said, “We are in communication with the University of Alberta and we have been told that there is an ongoing investigation into the posters and they are being removed wherever they are found.  These racist posters don't reflect the inclusiveness Canada is renowned for and we know that the University of Alberta and the larger Edmonton community stand in solidarity with Sikh Canadians in saying that this type of messaging is not welcome.”

In light of this incident, the Sikh Students Association and World Sikh Organization of Canada, in collaboration with the local Sikh community  of Edmonton, will be holding the event "Turban, Eh!"

On Tuesday September 27, 2016 Turban, Eh! will be held at the University of Alberta' SUBstage (main floor of the Students' Union Building) where guests will be invited to have turbans tied for free. 

Volunteers will wrap turbans on participants to promote and celebrate diversity and to stand in solidarity against racism and xenophobia.  Guests will not only catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirrors set up around the tent, but also have an opportunity to take their turbans home. Information will be available on the turban, Sikh articles of faith and on the history of Sikhs in Canada.

Similar events have successfully been held in the past across Canada, including Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver. 

Event Details:

When:  11am-2pm Tuesday September 28, 2016

Where:  Main Floor,  Students' Union Building, University of Alberta, 8900 – 114 Street NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2J7

The World Sikh Organization of Canada is a national non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of Canadian Sikhs 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.