Surrey mayor 'very disappointed' that images of martyrs linked to terrorist groups will be on display at event

Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER - Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says she won't participate in formal events at this weekend's Vaisakhi parade after organizers said they will continue to have images condoning violent acts at the religious celebration.

Watts said she is "very disappointed" that the committee from the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple has indicated that some so-called martyrs linked to terrorist groups or acts of violence in India will still be depicted on parade floats.

"I will not be participating in any of the stage events," she said of the parade, which is expected to attract 100,000 people. "We are very disappointed that this has got political overtones to it because the broad community really wants just a cultural celebration."

Surrey city manager Murray Dinwoodie sent B.C. politicians a copy of a letter written to the temple's lawyer Monday, expressing "disappointment" at the impasse over the controversial images.

The letter says parade organizers admitted at an April 2 meeting that they intended to include images "of people who have been involved acts of violence.

"It is our understanding, based on discussions that took place during the above-referenced meeting, that your committee expects that some of the controversial pictures that were displayed in the Vaisakhi parade in April 2007... will be displayed on floats as part of the 2008 Vaisakhi parade," Dinwoodie wrote.

"The City of Surrey is very disappointed that the Vaisakhi Parade Organizing Committee is not able to take more direct action with regard to eliminating controversial content."

The meeting last week followed a Vancouver Sun article in which temple trustee Satinderpal Singh Gill said the temple would pay tribute to "shaheeds," or martyrs, including the assassins of Indira Gandhi and two other killers, dubbed Jinda and Sukha, who gunned down a retired Indian army general.

Gill is a former world leader of the now-banned International Sikh Youth Federation.

Since last weekend, Sukha's and Jinda's photos, as well as that of a dead leader of the banned Babbar Khalsa, have been displayed on the stage put up in the temple parking lot for Vaisakhi.
Also, a tent has been erected containing photos of mutilated bodies said to be victims of Indian government "Sikh genocide."

Temple president Sudager Singh Sandhu refused to comment Thursday about the city's decision to warn politicians about the event.

Earlier, he defended portraying Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar as a martyr, saying putting his picture on a float is no different to Christians putting up a picture of Jesus Christ in a church.

"Whoever is working for their countries or religion, people kill them because they are terrorists. But they are not terrorists for everybody," Sandhu said.

Aside from the controversial martyrs in last year's event, some in the crowd wore clothing emblazoned with the logo of the terrorist group ISYF.

Surrey-Tynehead MLA Dave Hayer said a small group of organizers are misusing Vaisakhi for political ends to glorify terrorist leaders of the Sikh separatist movement.

"We should not be showing any support for any criminal, any terrorist, any person that promotes hate or violence," Hayer said. "We can celebrate peace, harmony, respect and democracy in our culture and our religion without showing killers as heroes."

Other Vaisakhi parades are being held in Abbotsford April 13 and Vancouver April 19 without the controversial images.

The Sun has learned that, like Watts, several politicians will walk among the parade participants Saturday but steer clear of the stage and the event organizers. The mayor said: "I will be there among the children and the women and the community people who want to celebrate."