#283 From Komagata Maru To Modern Belonging In Sikh Canada

We trace Sikh Heritage Month in Canada through the hard parts and the breakthroughs, from early migration and exclusionary laws to the RCMP turban fight and Sikh political firsts. Then we pivot into South Asian wedding culture and lay down a primer on why marriage can feel like a community project, plus what the “marriage market” does to people under pressure. 

• Spring energy leading to overcommitting and burning out 
• Marathon training nerves and asking listeners for tips 
• Why April is Sikh Heritage Month and how Vaisakhi fits 
• Early Sikh diaspora routes through empire and military service 
• Anti-Asian sentiment and racist immigration laws in British Columbia 
• Disenfranchisement, land restrictions, and the Continuous Journey rule 
• Komagata Maru as a defining Canadian immigration injustice 
• Postwar policy shifts and the 1960s end of racial quotas 
• Gurdwaras as community hubs and the cost of assimilation pressures 
• RCMP uniform change and the Supreme Court affirmation 
• Sikh Canadian political milestones and what representation signals 
• Why South Asian weddings merge families not just partners 
• The “marriage market” and the constant questions at gatherings 
• Biodata culture and how caste, colourism, and status creep in 
• Arranged marriage versus forced marriage with consent as the line 

Thank you for listening, you can hear Ravia every Thursday on 97.9 FM or through our live-stream at www.theuniversalradio.com

IG: @theuniversalradio

Transcript

Radio Hello And Life Updates

SPEAKER_00 0:14

I get to be your girl on the radio talking to you. This is Rabia. This is DJ, rah rah Rabia, and I get to talk to you tonight about so many things. First of all, I need to apologize for my voice because I don't know what it is about late hockey canes that just really get me so tired. And I feel like the next day I feel sick. My voice is weird. I don't know what's going on. So I apologize for that. Oh man, one of the things I'm really struggling with with like the weather, you know, okay, it's not a struggle, but it is like one of the things I end up doing every year is when spring comes around, I overcommit and I'm like doing all the things, and then I'm like, oh my gosh, the day is so long. I can do all of the things, but really I'm tired. And the today's one of those days where I'm really feeling it. Another thing, I started trading for a marathon. I haven't signed up for anything yet. Okay, so please, please um pray for my ankles, see if my knees are gonna be okay. Like, if anyone has any tips, let me know. I've only ever done a half before, so this is a little bit daunting, but that also takes up a good chunk of time. Like, oh my goodness. I just am such a slow runner, and I think you're supposed to run slow anyways at the start. Okay, well, if anyone has any tips about running long distances, please let me know at DJ Raba Rabia on Instagram. That would be fabulous. And there's just so much going on in the city, and one of the things that is always happening is in the summer, when you know when playoff season starts to hit, is you start getting wedding invites. And that's one of the things I want to talk to y'all about today is how South Asian weddings end up taking up your whole life in a way. So that's one of the things we'll all, you know, do some do some chit-chatting with you about. Another thing I really want to make a point, I guess not a point, that's

Spring Overcommitment And Marathon Training

SPEAKER_00 2:10

not what I'm here to do. I'm up maybe, but what I want to do is go over Stick Heritage Month in Canada and the history of it. Because I found some fascinating details about some local history right here in Edmonton. It's me, DJ from Rabia, and I am talking to you about Sick Heritage Month today, and it is April. So April is Sick Heritage Month, and Vasaki is celebrated in April, which is the birth of the religion. It is the birth of the Khalsa, it is what happens in April. But what I'll be talking about is the Sikh diaspora in Canada. And like I said, uh just now, I said there's like over 500,000 people that identify with the Sikh faith, um, you know, in the census, and um, so those are that is the number of sicks in Canada, and there is we have the largest number of sicks outside of India, um, in Canada, and I think that's significant. And I also I also think about this. So I always like this is just a note on pronunciation. I know a lot of people will say sikh because they don't want it to sound like sick, like sick, like oh, I'm I'm ill or or something like that. But it is pronounced sick, if you were wondering. Um, and there is debates about whether using the word sikhism, like, is it an ism? I don't I don't really know about the religious studies behind this, but most of the like scholars and people that are you know in this space, and what's linguistically accurate in my brain is calling it siki, siki as the religion. So instead of saying sikhism, I will refer to it as siki. So it's just one of the things I'll be I'll be using throughout throughout tonight. So keep keep it right here, and you'll hear me say that a lot. So, like I said, over 500,000 people that are sick or you know, um identify with sick key in in Canada. And up next we have the UK, which has a much older diaspora, and by older I mean there's like generations, like far more generations of sick families and sick community in the UK. Um, and then

Why April Marks Sikh Heritage Month

SPEAKER_00 4:40

after that we have the USA, then we have the EU just broadly, and then we have Australia, Australia, like you know, Aoeterra, New Zealand, and like involved in there, and then we have the Gulf regions, we have Africa, and we also have Latin America, so that's kind of Canada ends up being at the very top of that um population number. So shout out to us for being so amazing and hospitable and fun. But I'll be talking about the things that maybe weren't so hospitable and fun. So this is I'm gonna go back to when the British were in India. So the British Indian Army was largely made up of a lot of sick soldiers, and a lot of sicks began to leave Punjab after its annexation to serve in the British Indian Army and on police forces. So the British had police forces in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and East Africa when what is now Uganda and Kenya. So sick soldiers were enlisted in the British Army, and they actually, at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, they were traveling. So that moment, like I just need to talk about how Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, that event and all of the festivities that happened along it, the like butterfly effect that could be studied from like that moment to now is is so interesting. So I will be actually doing an event and a whole like I'm planning on doing around Victoria Day, because that's when the Diamond Jubilee is celebrated, um, about Jubilee and the song Jugni G and the connection there. So you've probably seen something about that already, but keep it tuned here. I'll be having about something fun like that. So those who stayed in London, so those soldiers that traveled to London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, those who made it to London, some traveled further to North America, and those who stayed in London joined the already growing diaspora in the UK. And one of the first documented Jeby Sick people who came to Canada were sick soldiers that were employed by the British in East Asia. So this was uh found by Larson um in 2006. This is one of the studies I'm citing today, which is really exciting. And these soldiers arrived in British Columbia at the turn of the 20th century, and they secured employment and sent word to family and friends to come join them. And the number of Indians in Canada grew. So from there was about 45 people in 1904, 1905, that number grew to 5,185 people in 1908. And this from that 5,000 Indians in Canada. So keep in mind that these people are not all identifying with Sikki, but there are 5,185

Early Sikh Diaspora To Canada

SPEAKER_00 7:40

number of Indians in Canada, but that number only included 15 women and 12 children. What? Like that is that is just the way that like, you know, travel, military service, and all of that worked, and like honestly, racist immigration laws worked. So and and we'll talk a little bit about racist immigration laws. So during this time, intensified anti-Asian sentiment towards Japanese and Chinese Canadians was growing, and that was you know, gave birth to racist policies that barred immigrants entering Canada. So this increase of immigration could not have come at a worse time. So in September 1907, anti-Asiatic rotting in Seattle, Everett, and Bellingham, so this is in the US, um, had culminated in the forced departure of 200 immigrants from the town of Bellingham in the US. So, and then they ended up coming to Canada. So there was like all of these various things happening at the same time. And you know what? I'm gonna get more into these policies right here. I've been talking for a while, so stay right here, and I'm gonna get more into these policies and what that looks like. So, majority of sick migrants were coming from Punjab, so you'll hear me say that. But there is, you know, distinctions that will that people make between sick and Punjabi, but oftentimes there's more overlap than we think. But what I'm gonna talk about is those migrant experiences in Canada, the UK, and the US with a focus on Canada, of course, because that's where we are, you know. So in 1907, there was a lot of racism happening in North America. So I if you went to school around the time I did, um, and you probably learned about racist immigration acts that did not allow Chinese immigrants come to Canada. And there was a lot of, you know, internment camps, there was a dark history of Canada involved around this time. And those policies did not just impact Asian, Japanese, or Chinese like people, they also impacted the South Asian population, which included the six people of Canada. So um six were disenfranchised in British Columbia on racial grounds in 1907. And so this disenfranchisement, so disenfranchisement means that they weren't allowed to vote, so or like, you know, pay, you know, be a part of the society. So that that is part of that. So previous to this, because they were British subjects, there were some rooms to, you know, have that like ability to make to make those like um what do you call it, like case to vote or like participated society, all of that. A year later, the BC government raised landowning requirements so that immigrants must have almost twice as much money in their possessions as Europeans to purchase land. So that was a uh policy that was put in that you actually did have to have, you did have to be twice as rich as a European um in order to purchase land. So this was like banks and the government getting together to be like, we don't want you to set roots here. But despite that, here we are with pretty, pretty strong words here, I would say, right? So this discrimination that happened with land possession also included that the $200 they had in possession when they landed, and that migrants had to have to arrive through the quote unquote continuous journey from their country of origin. You might have heard of this continuous journey act, especially if you watched films like Grunatic Jahaz, if you've heard of the Comagata Maru, um to challenge this, you know, to challenge this continuous journey act, um, the Comagata Maru was chartered in 1914. And when it landed on Canada's shores, it was denied entry. And after a legal battle in the British Columbia Court of Appeal, which found no principle in Canadian or British law that gave passengers a right to entry. So this was a dark part of Canadian history. There's a lot of anti-immigration sentiment. And this is not something that I'm saying was a dark part because you know I'm part of this community. This has been recognized by leaders. There's been formal apologies made, there's memorial projects put on, there's people doing archival research on this just to figure out why Canada would do this, since we have this reputation of being such a welcoming place for immigrants, for migrants for years. And that same, and I'm saying this now just because it's relevant to our current landscape with changing immigration laws. These these like immigration laws that are switching on people that are like here, there's this like real feel of unbelonging I'm sensing from a lot of sick people living in Canada, a lot of people that are, you know, of Indian origin or that are migrants that are living in Canada, that are, you know, not feeling as accepted as the Canadian PR kind of, you know, friendliness idea that we we we put out to the world. So I don't want to say, you know, I listen to one history podcast and they always say history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Racist Policies And The Continuous Journey

SPEAKER_00 13:30

And I really hope that in this case, history is not repeating itself, and that we do learn from how like these types of policies that bar immigrants from coming that do not let, you know, that have different standards for different migrants, what like what impact that can have. I really hope we can do better. And I do choose to believe in a better world, but this is getting back to the plot here. So the Kamagata Maru charted in 1914, it was denied entry after a legal battle. They the British Court of Appeal said, yeah, you don't have you don't you don't get to come in, basically. In 1919, so uh that was a few years later, there was pressure from Indians and Canadian citizens, which allowed men in Canada to send for their wife and minor children. But by this time in 1919, so keeping in mind a lot of these migrants came in like 1904, 1905, 1908, a lot of their children were no longer minors, or a lot of these men had returned to India or moved to California. So even with this policy being created, there were less than a thousand Indians in Canada in 1925, with a good portion of those Indians being sick. And, you know, to be honest, a lot of our communities are multi, you know, I don't want to say multi-faith, but like, you know, there's people will be in the same community, they'll show up to each other, especially in these early, early communities where people were, you know, they they saw more things in common than not. Do you know anyone that's obsessed with like World War history? I used to be one of those people and I've listened to so many podcasts, I read so many books about it, and I honestly sometimes wish I did like a history degree just because I love that that part, like using that brain, that part of my brain. Like I in my master's, I ended up like looking at a lot of like history and memory stuff, and it just fascinates me to no end. I'm getting into the interwar period. So during between World War I and World War II, immigration was shadowed by restrictionist mindsets as a part of the war efforts. Like, you know, war's going on, we don't have capacity to take on immigrants, we are focused on war right now. So this happens a lot, you know, internationally. It seems like a pretty standard policy throughout, like, you know, centuries. So in 1947, that that that is a key date. And I've done, you know, a lot of conversations on 1947 partition, what that looked like um for India, for British India to be split into India and Pakistan and East Pakistan later Bangladesh, um, and you know, other various changes that happened. In 1947, India gained independence from the British, which caused Indians in Canada to quote unquote regain their right to vote and gain political and legal rights in part because of local Indian and political pressure. So during this time, Canada had agreements with India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, which allowed annual quotas of about 50 to 150 immigrants into Canada, respectively. So India, they had 150 people could come in, Pakistan 100, and Sri Lanka 50 people could come in. By 1951, there was documented 2,148 South Asians living in Canada, with over 90% of them living in British Columbia. So, because of that, the six were like a prominent ethnic group in British Columbia, but also a lot of them found work in the sawmill and longing industries of British Columbia, you know, one of the major economic like resources that Canada had at the time and continues to be a quite a significant part of British Columbia's economy. So almost immediately after the arrival in Canada, the initial arrival in Canada of Punjabis of six, there was a prominent community working in sawmills. And in fact, early sick immigrants in Canada in the early 1900s sought employment in the British Columbia's forestry and railroad sectors, where they comprised of 98% of the East Indian workforce by 1907. So there's a pretty significant history there on building this country and being a part of the history and fabric of the nation of Canada. And I think it's important to understand about these early years, which I think many of us do, is that, you know, there weren't easy times. There wasn't a lot of acceptance. And at the time, the Canadian government was, you know, restricting Chinese-Japanese immigration. And so the early sick migrants were went relatively unnoticed between those years. But however, that would not last long. So one of the things I want to get into is how a lot of our struggles that we faced as a community were actually intertwined with the struggles of the Japanese and Chinese workers that were also facing discrimination from the, you know, the white immigrants that lived here, maybe from like, you know, policies, etc. So it was it was a dark time. There's a lot of discrimination, a lot of hardship happening. So the year 1906, 700 immigrant South Asian migrants arrived to Canada, their disenfranchisement started going up. The social climate that had earlier like turned you know earlier welcomed some visitors turned hostile. So Indian immigrants to Canada was were facing a lot more racism and hostility. As with, like I said, a large number of Japanese and Chinese people already present in Canada. So many white workers resented these immigrants and directed their ill will towards six, who were easily recognized

Komagata Maru And Rights Denied

SPEAKER_00 19:40

by their turbans and beards. And the discrimination, I believe, was was like another level, right? So in 1907, there were riots led by the League, uh, demonstrative of the challenges these immigrant communities faced as their homes, businesses, and livelihoods were destroyed. So the working conditions of these people, of these communities at the time were also brutal. So laborers endured discriminate discriminatory wage gaps, earning half the pay of their white counterparts and exclusion from skilled roles. So there wasn't upward mobility, it wasn't a thing. More specifically, they received lower pay, like so that you know, they got one dollar per day versus the two dollars and fifty cents for others. So this reflects a systemic discrimination that combined, confined people to these like really tough conditions. But the sick community refused to be broken, despite the great deal of discrimination and abuse that South Asian men for the large part dealt with, because men were the only ones really able or allowed to immigrate to Canada. And the community still forged on as they, you know, started their first gordwara with the Khalsa devan Society in 1907. The work of this, you know, committee followed the building of the first, you know, Sikh Temple in North America, Sick Temple, I say Gordwara, um, in North America, which was on West 2nd Ave in Vancouver, which provided a place for communal, you know, gathering consciousness and practical house help by providing food and even housing. So in fact, the early settlers that came to Golden Betweet built the first Gordwara in Canada in 1905. What? Which was unfortunately later destroyed by a fire in 1926. But in 1908, the first Nugakirthan took place to celebrate the opening of the Gordwara in Vancouver. So even as the community was building these institutions, the during these early years, there was a lot of you know things happening that kept people out. So we did touch on the the Kamagata Maru just a little bit, and we talked about like lumber and then. Right now, we just went back to you know breaking barriers of what it looked like in the early years. Because I think those early years really did help build like this idea of what it what that like hardship and what being a sick in Canada looks like. So I I think it's relevant. So we're gonna go back to the 1950s. So for decades, 1950s, the community in Canada has remained relatively small. So, you know, there's the same like racist um immigration and like war conditions that Canada and the rest of the world were in means that there was little immigration of Six or South Asians coming to Canada. And after World War II, there was a gradual opening of Canadian immigration policy. So Sikki in Canada began to change its community face after the 1950s as immigration resumed. So throughout the 1960s, there were more sick people living in Canada, their immigration laws were more open, and this was the first time that racial quotas were removed from Canadian immigration. This was transformative. So the Democratic control over Gordware soon reflected this division between immigrant Gordwara and the like um populations that were living in Canada as well. So there was also the community itself. So sorry, I'm backtracking here. So like basically the democratic control over temples, meaning there was like the older community here, and then there was a newer community here, and there was different ideas, different places, different immigration patterns. There was evolve evolvement of the faith in Canada, and there was also diversity in how members practice their faith. So a lot of people that had been here for a while, they came here and they cut their hair to feel more like they could fit in and they wouldn't face as much, as many barriers. Um, and and that's an important note is because keeping case, keeping your hair in sequis is one of is a very important part of following the faith. So losing your hair is quite a, it could be traumatic, it could be very difficult, it could be like it's a it's you're losing a part of your identity, you're losing a part of your connection to your faith. So that that that is one of those like quite like personal moments that I think a lot of people reflect on because even through the 60s, 70s, and even to this day, having your hair cut as a sick becomes a difficult part of like um navigating your faith, but then you're also navigating the world. So that this is one of those conversations that I think is continuing to happen, especially as there has been a rise of you know discrimination

Postwar Immigration And Community Growth

SPEAKER_00 24:50

against sick and people who look a little bit different. So, and in the 1960s and 1970s, this was when there was a big kind of move to Canada. So tens of thousands of sick skilled six came highly educated, settled across Canada, especially in the urban corridor from Toronto to Windsor. So that was the GTA, the was growing at the time, and so was the sick population there. And as their numbers grew, there was even the in Montreal, there was a big community, and there was followed by many instances where there was permanent gorduras being set up across the country. So this just means that the sick population was growing, it moved into cities, people started businesses, people were studying at universities, and the community that had largely been confined to lumber camps and rural British Columbia was now present in urban centers across the Canada, across the country and across Canada, right? What changed? Post-World War II, six transitioned into entrepreneurship, acquiring sawmills, driving expansion in British Columbia's lumber industry in the 1950s. So at this time, they were no longer workers, they were becoming business owners, professionals, and community leaders. And crucially, figures suggest that there was nearly 700,000 Sikhs in Canada in 2021, so almost 800,000 actually. And this is compared to the under 150,000 in the 1991 census. So the community has grown exponentially in just three decades, and today the largest populations of Sikhs live in Ontario, British Columbia, and third right here in Alberta. One of the most symbolic moments in Sikh Canadian history occurred in 1990, and I would even argue Canadian history. And it might seem something that is like small, you know, it might seem something like very sorry, that was a long pause. I just realized, but it might seem like it's insignificant. But it represented enormous progress for Sikhs in Canada to feel like they were part of the country. Oh, sorry, what this actually means for six in in Canada and what it means as a part of the faith, and what does it mean to be a part of, you know, a settler colonial nation, um, you know, from being part of a community that was once a um that like, you know, as Indians of in Punjab ended up, you know, kicking out the colonial forces, but now we are engaging in the settler colonialism. These are some things that scholars are talking about, and I'd be curious if you had any thoughts on that. But in 1990, Norman Inkster, then commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, recommended to the federal government that sick mounties should be allowed to wear turbans as a part of their uniform. So this is part of that, you know, Canadian Sikhs being part of that Canadian southern colonial, like, you know, history world. And at the time, according to media reports, fewer than a dozen mounties were of Sikh descent, and none had pushed for reform that sought to bring the RCMP's policies into compliance with the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So now you might think that this like administrative, like the simple administrative change would be straightforward, but it was it was not. This proposal ignited a lot of racist backlash, with one anti-turban petition attracting tens of thousands of signatures in Alberta and tens of thousands of Canadians signed petitions saying that six should not be allowed to wear their articles of faith while serving in the RCMP. And this is something that is relevant today, considering that there are, you know, things going on in the Supreme Court. We should look at bills, what's happening, that are considering this very, you know, this topic of wearing articles of faith while representing the government. What does that mean? What does that mean in Quebec? What does that mean in Canada? These are questions that are continuing to show up. So interestingly, at the time, something remarkable happened. The progressive conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney and his solicitor general, Pierre Cadeau, held their ground. Mulroney called out the backlash as racist. And he made this um comparison in the Toronto Star where he said there used to be lawn signs saying no Irish and Catholics need apply. And he really made that connection between, you know, the discrimination that Irish and Catholics faced in Toronto, because it was known as a Protestant city back in the day. Um, that there needs to be inclusion and religious inclusion and cultural inclusion. So this right here reminds me of um that scene from uh

Turbans In The RCMP Showdown

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Bendit Like Beckham where you know the coach is like she's like facing discrimination or something, and he's like, Jess, I'm Irish. He's like, you don't understand, you won't understand. She's like, Jess, I'm Irish, I understand. And while we laugh, while we laugh at that, because that's hilarious, because do you understand? Um, I I think looking into how Irish and Catholics are discriminated to discriminated against throughout the history would would allow us to know that maybe maybe he did understand. So this was this was one of the the like points that was made that was standing up for religious inclusion, which I don't know if the like a conservative party member would necessarily like I don't know what that would look like right now. I I'm curious, and that's all I'm gonna say is I'm curious is what that would look like right now is would there be a strong say on this? I'm I'm I wonder, I wonder, I actually don't know. So if y'all know more than me, please let me know. So and the RCMP ended up actually changing its uniform regulations the following year, and Botej Singtilo, a Malaysian-born sick who moved with his family to the lower mainland in 1983, became the first Royal Canadian mounted police mountie to wear a turban while on duty. This move what was like that must have required like a lot of courage, just giving there's like a lot of, you know, all these ups and downs that we saw. But he had, you know, a part of he's been a part of many like Sick Heritage Month events. Um, and he's you know, he's now retired, but he had a career that included stints on the task force that re-investigated Air India 182 bombing, and he became a symbol that six like look look up to and you know see as like one of those firsts that you can serve Canada while maintaining your faith and identity. And that courage opens doors for others, you know, it opens doors to feeling like like you belong in a way, right? In 1996, um, on February 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed this and said sick officers have the right to wear their turban. And the courts affirmed that what Delon had demonstrated through his actions, that the turban doesn't actually prevent from their duties, it doesn't actually prevent from serving their country with distinction. So this was a turning point that the image of a Sikh and the red, you know, get up of the RCMP wearing the turban with pride, it became iconic and sent a message across Canada to young Sikhs that your identity does not have to be an obstacle to your success. It can be and is a source of pride. A lot of when we talk about Sikh heritage or South Asian heritage, Indian heritage, uh Pakistani heritage, what that looks like is talking about breaking glass ceilings, about breaking barriers. What does that mean? Because a lot of us had to, not a lot of us, but a lot of our communities had to really fight um against a system of oppression that really didn't see them as a part of their community. And I think there was a real like carving out of space for ourselves to be able to have, you know, the presence of a radio station like this, to be able to be openly talking about issues that affect our community and what that looks like. So this is this is, you know, one of my final segments on talking about sick history and sick heritage month, because I'm gonna get into talking about weddings soon. So let's let's get into that. But as we move into more recent history, we see Sik Canadians achieving positions of prominence and power across Canadian society. So these weren't just career achievements, they were historic breakthroughs that continue to impact Sikhs across Canada. So one of the first turban Sikhs to sit in federal legislature in the global north and the Western world happened right here in Canada in 1993, and it was the Honorable Girbaksh Singh Malli. First turban Sikh to sit in any Western parliament was in 1993. It's not very long ago. And one Herb Thaliwal or Herbance Thaliwal became Canada's first Indian origin cabinet minister in 1997, and Udjil Desange, a Sikh born in Pakistan, in Punjab, uh, became the first Indo-Canadian provincial leader in 2000. So these are fairly, fairly recent. And let's talk a little bit more about Udjil Desange. So his story is particularly interesting and significant because he is a Canadian lawyer and politician, and he served as the 33rd Premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001, and as the Liberal Party of Canada MP, so member of parliament from 2004 to 2011, but he was the Minister of Health from 2004 to 2006. And so this, like, you know, star-sided career was was like very, very interesting. So his path was not, was not easy. He was a prominent sick in Vancouver, and there was a few times where within the sick community he disagreed on certain topics with the sick community, and he spoke up against violence um in in different ways. And there was like he was assaulted in 1985 of his law office with an assailant wielding an iron bar, um, where he suffered a broken hand and 80 stitches on his head. So he was assaulted because of his political beliefs, but he continued to do what he wanted to do, and he continued to lead. And this is one thing I want to say is it was not a this this instance was not a crime that was like based upon him being sick, him being Punjabi, uh arguable, but uh of like what that looks like, but it was based on his political beliefs. So he continued to be like, no, I want to show up in the way that I want to be. I'm gonna be continuing to do this. So this is one of those things that you know a lot of politicians I think have to think

Sikh Political Firsts Across Canada

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about is navigating inner community politics and the larger, you know, the the larger people that they are serving politics. So I I I find that interesting. If we want to talk more about that, I would be happy to look into it. And you know, I can't talk about um, you know, six in in politics without not talking about Jadme Singh, who was the leader of the New Democratic Party, the NDP, in and starting in 2017, and he was there for a very long time. So in 2025, he was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the leader from 2017 to 2025, and he was an MP for Burnaby South, uh, so that's in the Vancouver area, from 2019 to 2025. So he was a he is a Canadian-born practicing Sikh of Indian descent. He was the first non-white politician to be elected as to lead a major federal party in Canada. This was historic. So Jagmeet Singh's decisive first ballot victory for the leadership of federal NDP marks the first time in Canadian history a visible minority candidate has been elected a leader of a major federal party. Singh is also the first turban-wearing Sikh to sit in the provincial legislature. So his his brother is also in politics and him, so they they are pretty, you know, involved in their communities. And I think this sent a powerful message not just to Sikhs, but also to Canadians who have been told that, hey, your identity is not compatible to leading this country, to leading, you know, your community or being a part of your community or being a leader, but he saw that it was it was a part. So he made history as the first Sikh that was proudly wearing his articles of faith. And he led the Federal Political Party of Canada. And I remember he was posting pictures of like how to tie your the star, how to, how to tie your bug, how you how to tie a turban on Instagram. And he really opened up those questions for people, and people were really interested in learning more about it. And I think that's a part of that like cultural sharing, religious sharing that happens that that can be can be quite beautiful. So for nearly 120 years, Sik Canadians have made a significant contribution to the socioeconomic, political, and cultural fabric of our society. And one of the things I just talked about were the breaking barriers that Sikh politicians and people like Bodege Singh Delon did in his red, you know, mounty bug and you know, representing sick sick to Canada in that way, and and making young sick people realize that they belong here with their whole selves, including their sick identities. So these are some of the things that I just talked about. We just went through some of those um, you know, details of like what that looks like, but there are there continue to be a lot of sick contributions to Canada in in in many other ways. And and one of the ways we see them are through like members of parliament, through MLAs, and right here, local to us, we have just Vir Dio is our local NDP. Um, he is an MLA here in Edmonton. We have many other people that are also doing MPs, like we have Jagsharin Mahal, Jagshaine Singh Mahal, who is the MP for parts of Edmonton. We even have people like Tim Opal, who has been a long-standing Sikh person representing parts of Edmonton. Um, and as you know, we had our former mayor, Amrajit Sohi, who is a Sikh working in you know parliament for a long time, and then our mayor, um, also a city counselor. And then some of those people also include um Amimbreed Gil, Jisraj Singh Halan, Sukman Gil, Amrajit Sing Gil, and Herbinder Gil. A lot of gills, hey. So a lot of these are Ontario and Alberta, Conservative Party of Canada leaders, and then we have many more that can I could lame, like names that are Andrew de Lombarm Bains, Berthi Strucker, Suk Daliwal, Ruby Sohota, Igwender Gahir, like all across Ontario, BC, that you will hear these these names all over, right? So there's several, several six that are now representing their communities and you know, trying to say, you know, represent their constituents, but also stay true to themselves, um, in their in their identities and their faiths across across Canada. So these are, and I think that's relevant. Like I think these are like, you know, there might be a lot, people might be like, there's too much, there's there's all these feelings people have, right? But with over 700,000 Canadians that identify as sick, I think it makes sense for us to be represented. And one of the things that I I think about is for nearly 120 years, Sick Canadians have created a significant impact here. We are part of the fabric of this country. We live here, we work here, we have families here. Many of us

Invitation To Learn And Visit

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don't see ourselves living or playing anywhere else in the world. Canada is that home. And as we go through the month of April, I encourage you to seek out more sick stories that you know in invite, like um, that inspire you and invite you to like think about your place here in a way that's fun. And if you are not from the Sikh community, I want to encourage you to visit a Gurdwara if and and you know be respectful. If you have a friend that can guide you through it, I would be happy to you know let you know what it looks like. See what Lunger looks like. What is a free community meal look like? What does it mean to have free meals that are vegetarian and offered multiple times a day to anyone and everyone? What does that look like? Attend a Vasaki celebration if there's something happening near you. So talk to your sick hair neighbors, um, you know, think about it, watch some films. And I really want to say thank you for listening to this, you know, segment on Sick Heritage Month and letting like hearing me talk about some of the things that I I researched years ago and what I can, you know, you know, when I can put these things into like words, it's really exciting for me. I followed a 120-year journey of Sik Canadians that, you know, moved all the way from 1897 from this first six soldiers that visited Canada, and then those who lived here and worked here and worked through several immigration barriers, systemic barriers, and we saw how Canada ends up becoming more inclusive. And I'm hoping that, you know, with over 700,000 of us here today, that we find our our story as something that is continuing to grow in a positive light. And I say that with the rise of like anti immigration sentiment happening across the world and especially in Canada, seeing that really breaks my heart. And I, you know, as the child of immigrants, I know how important it is to be how how difficult that that journey can be, but also how important it is to be welcoming and. And have an open mind for some of these conversations that we're having. Okay. But one of the things I do want to get into is how if there are over 700,000

South Asian Weddings Take Over Summers

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Sikh in Canada, there is an assumption that the majority of these people get married, and a lot of, and I'm not just gonna talk about Sikh weddings here. I'm gonna talk about broadly South Asian weddings. So over a million people here. Um, and I'm gonna start today off as a series because I want to do a series on South Asian wedding culture, and this is something I am super interested in, not just because I am a professional wedding guest and attend several weddings every year, and I'm getting married next year, so this is something that is, you know, uh on the top of my mind. It's at it it's something that I think about often. But what what I the first thing I want to talk about is this like need, this like family need to. I'm gonna reframe this. I'm gonna say the first thing I want to talk about is that weddings aren't two people marrying each other, it's two families getting together and becoming one. It is two people becoming one, you know, becoming one as in a force, a a coupling, a, you know, they their families are also becoming one family. So I think that's an important distinction that is made. And this this starts way before the wedding planning even begins, is when there's partners being chosen, when there's, you know, different styles of choosing partners, love, marriage, arranged, or you know, uh like butchola or like a matchmaker's brought in or not. These things are brought into consideration way before the wedding, the marriage, and all of these things take place. So I'm gonna give you a little roadmap of things that I want to talk about. And this includes everything from historical foundations of different wedding traditions that happen across South Asia, and then also talking about like different religious considerations that happen, legal recognitions of traditional marriage across the world, what does that look like? And then I also want to talk about like the all of the events that happen, like what are the, you know, what's a roca, what's a karmay, what is a brat, what is a mendy, what do these things mean? But on top of that, despite just like going through each of these events, I want to talk about the social and sociological implications and historical backgrounds and bringing those together to kind of understand. So this is me trying to unpack like what what is the what are these events that we're doing? How are they significant to us? And what what does that look like? And what I want to hear from you is what are you interested in? What do you want to hear about? One of the things that I'm thinking about is like doing this deep dive into like the events, as I was saying, but are you more interested in knowing about like the wedding song, Sitnia, Bolnia? Like what interests you? So give me a shout at DJ Rara Ravia on Instagram. Give me a follow too, and also follow at the Universal Radio Network and on Instagram, and we will be keeping an eye out for what you want to listen to. Playoff

The Marriage Market And Family Pressure

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season and wedding season converge. The girlies, the boilies, the families are are busy with preparations, with watching hockey games. It just seems like you're working and then you are getting ready for these events. So that is that is like the thing I want to talk about. But before we get into like the wedding part or you know, traditions and like all of that, which I'm really excited to get into, I'm gonna leave those for the following weeks just because it helps us like talk about it a bit more. And there's so much to go into. Today, what I'm gonna talk about is the marriage market. And what is the marriage market? You might be asking, thank you so much for asking this question. I will, you know, answer this for you right now. So that is the it is a lot like Bridgerton. So if you're thinking about, you know, and it's and it's very um, you know, very heterosexual, it's very much like man-woman. That is the idea that I will be talking about today. I do believe in talking about our diversity of relationships, so I can get into that as well. But today, what I'm gonna talk about is a very traditional marriage market that that exists because a lot of the times there's a denial of any diversity in types of relationships that we see, right? So, and I don't want to be denying that though, but what I am talking about here, I just want to make very clear is a experience and just like things that come across. Because this is a primer. This is a primer, and I'm gonna start there is that when there is the person or people are coming of age, they are, you know, finished school, they are working, the family starts to get very much invested, especially if you're reaching the golden age of 30 into your third decade, there is a very real pressure onto people. And I don't want to say just South Asian kids, I think it's like universal, unless, like, there's you know, different families have different values on this situation. Like, yeah, they're like get married, get married, get married is all you ever hear. And I can relate to this: like, there is that pressure, there is a finger on your head that is point like pushing into you, and it's like marriage, marriage, marriage, marriage. And every time you attend an event or you go to a like family gathering, or even something as like someone comes over, they'll ask you, oh, well, have you found someone? Oh, and they'll ask you in very interesting ways. Like, they'll be like, Well, are you seeing someone? Of course, like those classic questions. This one time I was asked by someone, oh, like, what would your mother-in-law think of that? I was like, Girl, I am not, I don't have one of those. And I was like, What do you mean? It was so interesting to see just how people like suss this out, and there is like a community investment in getting people married. Well, it's first of all, weddings are exciting, and second of all, like, you know, when this is the the next thing I'll talk about here is that when people marry, it's not just two people getting together, and you know, a lot like the way the government treats it, like you are now filing your taxes together, you are now each other's next of kin. There's all of these, you know, various legal contingencies that line up once you get married. But what is on top of that is that your families are now one family. You are no longer, you know, this person and that person, you are now one family. And that is an important distinction that I think is unique to South Asian cultures among other cultures, that is important to talk about because this idea of merging families, merging, you know, traditions plays an important role in the type of partner a person is encouraged to choose. So there's all sorts of wedding like videos. There's like videos online that you'll see that are like, you know, like I'm looking for this type of person. Like if you go onto YouTube and you look up like matchmaking services, people will be will have videos of themselves giving what they call their bio data, which is just like information on um quite literally their biodata, like their height, what they do. And unfortunately, because of just the way that society works, they will have specifications for caste and religion and other things. Well, I do understand, you know, wanting to follow uh, you know, your faith in a way that considers like that you want to be together. I do understand that. Um, and I do understand if that's a priority that you put on your, you know, your biodata. But things like cast, things like skin color requirements, things like height requirements, you know, these are all very, we can say they're subjective, but they're very much interladen with power dynamics, what we see as successful. And and there's even like, you know, ideas of like they must have this degree, or there's expectations for aftermarriage, must be ready to have children, must be ready to take care of their in-laws. All of these complications come to a head at the marriage market. And when I say this, I want to say like it is that pressure that a person feels when they are single, or maybe they are with someone but not quite ready to, you know, commit to this marriage in a in a very like meaningful way, or they're just not there yet. Maybe they have other things they want to work on, like career, or they want to get healthier or they want to travel. Those things are not often considered as good enough reason to not want to get married, which is really frustrating because to be a whole and full person, I don't know if you know, being in a marriage is always the answer to that. And it and maybe not for everyone, but the pressure that a South Asian person feels in this environment that they must marry the right person, they must do things a certain way. And this comes up in, you know, like their own education as well. Like me studying arts was a big deal. Like, I was the first person in my family to really like do arts. Everyone else is very STEM focused, very like business, all those things, because those things are encouraged and those things guarantee almost always guarantee financial stability, which is fair. So, me doing this, like you know, MA, BA, blah, blah, blah, was very confuddling for people. So doing things non-traditionally becomes more difficult in this, in this space, but it is also just something that I want to unpack with y'all. One last thing I want to give a little distinction about before, you know, we get into the next few weeks where I'll be giving a primer on South Asian weddings and, you know, the sociological, economic, political implications

Arranged Marriage Versus Forced Marriage

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of wedding cultures as they have evolved from, you know, the homelands to the diaspora, because they sure have. Um, I will give a little primer on the types of like the threads of tradition that continue in the process of like wedding arrangements and like arranged marriages, is what I mean. So, like marriage arranged arranging people together. So, like I said, I was a fajolin once, probably the best thing I've ever done. There is a difference I wanted to bring up between forced marriage and arranged marriage, right? Like there is the people that are being forced into marriages, there is non-consent involved in those situations, and then there is the arranged marriage where there is two people that are chosen for each other, but they often have the choice either before or after to like think about it and be like, okay, is this something I want to do? Do I get it get to know you? It's more of like going on a blind date with someone and figuring out if you like them or not. And honestly, I have to make a case for arranged marriages because there it's almost like you get a background check for someone and kind of a vibe check. But you just have to make sure that the person is doing that background and vibe check understands your vibes. So that's a key component to figuring out if this arranged vibe will be something that works out because it can get quite complicated. Like I feel for the people that are Vachole, like matchmakers, like you could get stuck in a really muddy place if it doesn't work out. And and that is that is like you know the gist of it. And I just want to get into like more things in the next few weeks. But what I want to hear for you is what do you want to hear about? What kind of wedding traditions or you know, things that you think are fake? What what kind of things like are you interested in? Like there's you know, new parties that we have that didn't really exist before. Like now there's this thing called a bakrah party or a goat party that happens in a lot of traditional Punjabi weddings happening in the diaspora. What what does that mean? What does that look like? What does it mean to have new, you know, events, new celebrations? It is it is really exciting for me to talk about this stuff. So give me a shout at DJ Ra Ra Ravia on the Universal Radio Network, um, on

Closing Thoughts And How To Reach

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Instagram at the Universal Radio Network. You can find me there on Instagram, or you can set send us, you know, a text, an email, a call also at theuniversal radio.com and reach out to us and have a great Thursday evening. And while the wind was blowing you away today, I hope I was able to blow you away with some of the fun facts I gave you right here at the Universal Radio Network.