That doesn't make him a Sikh...
This isn't really that big of a deal, but I was slightly annoyed when someone showed me a copy of today's Globe and Mail article on the Judy Sgro incident:
Harjit Singh, a 49-year-old Sikh pizza-parlour owner from Amritsar, accused Ms. Sgro of reneging on a promise to help him resolve his immigration problems in exchange for free pizza and garlic bread from his Brampton, Ont., business, and for providing Ms. Sgro with campaign volunteers.
Harjit Singh is not a Sikh. Couldn't they do some very basic fact checking? His last name doesn't neccesarily make him a Sikh. He's someone from the Punjab region of India (where almost all of the world's Sikhs are concentrated). There are a handful of Punjabi churches throughout the country, and there's a handful of small "White" Gurdvaras (Temples) as well. Being Punjabi does not make someone a Sikh. There are Punjabi Hindus, Muslims and Christians as well. Harjit Singh used to be a Sikh, until he converted to Christianity years ago. Fortunately, the Toronto Star was factual and responsible enough to look into that:
Sarwar Din, pastor at Evangelical Asian Church in Toronto, says Singh and his family, converts to Christianity, have been regular churchgoers for years. "He is a very nice guy," Din said yesterday. "From time to time, I would pray with him. His whole family used to come to church."
Again, its not that big of a deal. Being a Christian or a Sikh doesn't make him any more or less likely to have done what he's done... but the Globe and Mail should be more careful anyway. And plus, its not like they referred to Judy Sgro, or the other people in the story as "Judy Sgro, a 60-year-old Christian woman..." Yes.. not a big deal, but it still shows that the Globe and Mail should be more responsible when it comes to baselessly assuming people's religious affiliations.
So just to sum that all up - firstly, he's not a Sikh, and secondly, listing his religious affiliation is entirely useless and unneccesary anyway.
Harjit Singh, a 49-year-old Sikh pizza-parlour owner from Amritsar, accused Ms. Sgro of reneging on a promise to help him resolve his immigration problems in exchange for free pizza and garlic bread from his Brampton, Ont., business, and for providing Ms. Sgro with campaign volunteers.
Harjit Singh is not a Sikh. Couldn't they do some very basic fact checking? His last name doesn't neccesarily make him a Sikh. He's someone from the Punjab region of India (where almost all of the world's Sikhs are concentrated). There are a handful of Punjabi churches throughout the country, and there's a handful of small "White" Gurdvaras (Temples) as well. Being Punjabi does not make someone a Sikh. There are Punjabi Hindus, Muslims and Christians as well. Harjit Singh used to be a Sikh, until he converted to Christianity years ago. Fortunately, the Toronto Star was factual and responsible enough to look into that:
Sarwar Din, pastor at Evangelical Asian Church in Toronto, says Singh and his family, converts to Christianity, have been regular churchgoers for years. "He is a very nice guy," Din said yesterday. "From time to time, I would pray with him. His whole family used to come to church."
Again, its not that big of a deal. Being a Christian or a Sikh doesn't make him any more or less likely to have done what he's done... but the Globe and Mail should be more careful anyway. And plus, its not like they referred to Judy Sgro, or the other people in the story as "Judy Sgro, a 60-year-old Christian woman..." Yes.. not a big deal, but it still shows that the Globe and Mail should be more responsible when it comes to baselessly assuming people's religious affiliations.
So just to sum that all up - firstly, he's not a Sikh, and secondly, listing his religious affiliation is entirely useless and unneccesary anyway.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
1:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home