Tara Hayer - Respected Journalist?
This morning, the Vancouver Sun ran an article quoting Dave Hayer, the son of Tara Hayer, upset over the chanting of Khalistan slogans at the Nagar Keertan (reported a couple of posts down). Dave was also upset about Sukhpreet Singh referring to Baba Jarnail Singh as a "shaheed" or a martyr.
Let me share some little known facts about Tara Hayer, the beloved "moderate Sikh" journalist, the one who was supposedly killed for his moderate activism.
Before and after 1984, Tara Hayer was a devout supporter of the "Khalistani" movement. He wrote a book, and this might be shocking, about how GREAT a Sikh Baba Jarnail Singh was. The entire book was devoted to the idea that Baba Jarnail Singh was one of the greatest Sikhs in history. His praise of Baba Jarnail Singh in that book, some might say, is even over the top.
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, does anyone think he condemned "Sikh militancy"? No. From what I've heard, he handed out sweets to random strangers out of joy.
Does the media report any of this? No.
Yes, in the late 1980s he supposedly turned against the movement, but many community members, "moderate" and "fundamentalist" alike were suspicious of his change of heart. Hayer was brilliant at sensing change and recognizing the appropriate time for offering a pro-Indian government message to the Sikh community.
His newspaper tended to consist of little more than gossip and rumours. He was a poor reporter, by any standard. He slandered people regularly, including numerous political candidates for very immature and petty reasons.
Yes, obviously, it was wrong for anyone to have both paralyzed (in 1988) and killed him (in 1998), but being murdered doesn't instantaneously turn a poor journalist into a martyr. Killing an obnoxious journalist is not only completely wrong, but it also helped no one.
Update: Salim Jiwa of the Vancouver Province newspaper has done some excellent reporting about Tara Hayer's little known past, but unfortunately, I'm unable to find any of his articles at the moment.
Upperdate: Found something on Salim Jiwa's book site:
Another key supporter was Vancouver area Punjabi-language newspaper editor Tara Singh Hayer. The newspaper Hayer ran provided a vital propaganda tool for the Sikh separatist movement. Hayer is acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of Sikh militancy in Canada. In a June 1985 speech, Hayer called for a violent and widespread war against India.
Let me share some little known facts about Tara Hayer, the beloved "moderate Sikh" journalist, the one who was supposedly killed for his moderate activism.
Before and after 1984, Tara Hayer was a devout supporter of the "Khalistani" movement. He wrote a book, and this might be shocking, about how GREAT a Sikh Baba Jarnail Singh was. The entire book was devoted to the idea that Baba Jarnail Singh was one of the greatest Sikhs in history. His praise of Baba Jarnail Singh in that book, some might say, is even over the top.
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, does anyone think he condemned "Sikh militancy"? No. From what I've heard, he handed out sweets to random strangers out of joy.
Does the media report any of this? No.
Yes, in the late 1980s he supposedly turned against the movement, but many community members, "moderate" and "fundamentalist" alike were suspicious of his change of heart. Hayer was brilliant at sensing change and recognizing the appropriate time for offering a pro-Indian government message to the Sikh community.
His newspaper tended to consist of little more than gossip and rumours. He was a poor reporter, by any standard. He slandered people regularly, including numerous political candidates for very immature and petty reasons.
Yes, obviously, it was wrong for anyone to have both paralyzed (in 1988) and killed him (in 1998), but being murdered doesn't instantaneously turn a poor journalist into a martyr. Killing an obnoxious journalist is not only completely wrong, but it also helped no one.
Update: Salim Jiwa of the Vancouver Province newspaper has done some excellent reporting about Tara Hayer's little known past, but unfortunately, I'm unable to find any of his articles at the moment.
Upperdate: Found something on Salim Jiwa's book site:
Another key supporter was Vancouver area Punjabi-language newspaper editor Tara Singh Hayer. The newspaper Hayer ran provided a vital propaganda tool for the Sikh separatist movement. Hayer is acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of Sikh militancy in Canada. In a June 1985 speech, Hayer called for a violent and widespread war against India.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
12:01 AM
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