Indo-Canadians

Indo-Canadians are a vibrant and vital part of lower Mainland society, occupying prominent positions in academia, business, politics and the legal, medical and other professions, besides forming a key component of the labor force. A rough break-up of Indo-Canadians in the Lower Mainland is 70,000 Punjabis (most of whom are Sikhs but also including members of other religions), 40,000 Fijians, 15,000 Ismailis, 5,000 Gujaratis and 2,000 Tamils and Telegus, as well as a variety of other groups.

Indo-Canadians have come a long way from 1897, when Sikh soldiers, then a part of the British Army, passed through Canada en route to India from London, where they had participated in Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Their stories of this gorgeous land led to 45 Indians in 1904 becoming the first immigrants from the Indian sub-continent.

In 1907 the B.C. legislature disenfranchised all “natives of India not of Anglo-Saxon parents” and barred them from logging on Crown lands and entering the legal and medical professions. The racist atmosphere was highlighted by the infamous Komagata Maru incident in 1914, when a Japanese freighter carrying 376 Indians (12 Hindus, 24 Muslims and 340 Sikhs) anchored in Burrard Inlet on May 23. Most of the passengers were denied entry and forced to depart on July 23.

It was only in 1947 that Indo-Canadians were given the right to vote. Moe Sihota (NDP—Esquimalt-Metchosin) became the first Indo-Canadian in Canada to be elected an MLA in 1986. He also became the first Indo-Canadian to be appointed a cabinet minister. In 1991 as many as four Indo-Canadian MLAs were elected: Sihota, Ujjal Dosanjh (NDP—Vancouver Kensington), who was appointed attorney general, has been a pioneer in the union movement, Harry Singh Lall (ND—Yale-Lillooet) and Judy Tyabji (Liberal—Okanagan East), who later along with former Liberal leader Gordon Wilson (whom she married in 1994) formed the Progressive Democratic Alliance Party.

Among the prominent Liberal Party members are Dr. Gur Singh, former president of the B.C. Medical Association, and Gulzar Cheema, who was first elected as a Manitoba MLA in 1988. Indo-Canadians made their debut in federal politics in 1993, when Herb Dhaliwal was elected as a Liberal in Vancouver South and became a parliamentary secretary. Prem Vinning (Liberal—Surrey North) and Mobina Jaffer (Liberal—North Vancouver), who is also a prominent lawyer and social worker, made powerful though unsuccessful bids in 1993, and remain active in politics.

A slew of Indo-Canadian women play a prominent role in the professions. Suromitra Sanatani is the B.C. and Yukon provincial affairs director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Tazeem Nathoo, senior vice president, operations, VanCity, is well known for community service. Ramin- der Dosanjh, wife of Ujjal Dosanjh, co-founded the India Mahila (Women’s) Association in 1973 and is a famous human rights and women’s rights activist. Shushma Datt established Rim Jhim—Canada’s first Indo-Canadian radio station—in 1987 and broadcasts in Hindi and Punjabi. Another successful Indo-Canadian media venture has been that of Rajesh Gupta and Munish Katyal, who run the Indo-Canadian Voice weekly newspaper in English, Voice Magazine in English, Awaaz weekly newspaper in Punjabi and bring out an annual Indo-Canadian business directory. The Link which in 1978 became the first Indo-Canadian English paper to be published in Vancouver, by Pramod Puri, is a twice-a-week publication. Mehfil, a glossy magazine brought out by Rana and Minto Vig in 1993 was the first of its kind. Among the Punjabi papers the most respected is the Indo-Canadian Times, the first issue of which came out in 1978. Its editor, Tara Singh Hayer, was paralyzed when a Sikh extremist shot him in 1988. Other Punjabi papers include the Charhdi Kala, Punjabi Tribune and Sangarsh.

Indo-Canadians also figure in mainstream media. In TV there are Ian Hanomansingh, CBC national reporter for the past 11 years, Belle Puri, CBC reporter, Simi Sara, UTV associate producer and reporter, and Jaspreet Johal, BCTV reporter. In the print media, the best-known name is that of Salim Jiwa, who has been a reporter with the Province since 1983 and is known for his crime stories. Behind the scenes in the Province is Fabian Dawson, city editor.

Scores of Indians are now established in business. Many who started as laborers in saw and pulp mills or worked long hours picking berries now run their own mills and businesses. In the top rung are Herb Doman, Kewal Khosla, Asa Johal, who is also known for his charitable works, and Mohan Jawl, a Victoria-based businessman who was chair of the Pacific Racing Association (1993-95) that runs Hastings Park Race Course. Among other prominent businessmen are Firoz Rasul, who is also president of the Ismaili Council for B.C., Paul Dusanj, Sadru Ahmed and Amir Ahamed.

Indo-Canadians have also made their mark in the world of higher learning and there are many Indo-Canadian professors at UBC and SFU. Prof. K.D. Srivatsava was vice president of UBC until 1994. Setty Pendakur, UBC professor of transportation planning, was a Vancouver city councillor in 1973-74. The UBC chair of Sikh and Punjabi Studies was established in 1987 and Dr. Harjot Oberoi is the first incumbent. There is a Gandhi study section in the Institute for Humanity at SFU to which the Indian government donated 100 volumes and books of Mahatma Gandhi’s writings and related works in 1995.

Two of the many Indo-Canadian doctors and dentists, Dr. Gur Singh and Dr. Arun Garg, have been presidents of the B.C. Medical Association. Among the many Indo-Canadian lawyers are two B.C. Supreme Court judges: Justice Wallace J. Oppal and Justice Tim Singh. Justice Oppal was commissioner of B.C.’s Royal Inquiry into Policing in 1992. The sole Indo-Canadian on the Provincial Court is Justice Gurmel Singh Gill.

With such a large Indo-Canadian labor force, there have been many Indo-Canadians in the forefront of the labor movement, Besides Ujjal Dosanjh, other well-known frgures are Raj Chouhan, Harinder Mahil, chair of the B.C. Council of Human Rights, and Charan Gill. Aziz Khaki has been president of the Committee for Racial Justice for the past 11 years.

Catering to a fast growing community are hundreds of Indo-Canadian restaurants and stores. Two main Indo-Canadian shopping complexes have appeared in South Vancouver—on Main Street from 48th to 51st avenues—and on the Surrey-Delta border—on Scott Road between 92nd and 96th avenues.

With Sikhs forming the majority of Indo-Canadians along with other Punjabis belonging to different religions, the Punjabi culture is naturally dominant. The latest craze in the pop culture scene is Bhangra Fusion. Bhangra is a Punjabi folk dance. Punjabi poets and writers include Ajmer Rode and his wife Surjit Kalsey, Ravinder Ravi, Kesar Singh, Gurcharan Rampuri, Sadhu Bining, R. Paul Dhillon and Phinder Dulai. Indo-Canadians are great fans of Hindi movies and Vancouver is constantly hosting dance and music shows of Hindi film personalities from India. In 1993 Salim Samji and Bob Jessa leased the Regal Theatre in Vancouver to start daily screening of Hindi movies.

Vancouver’s first gurdwara (Sikh temple), built by the Khalsa Diwan Society, opened in 1908. Famous gurdwaras include the Nanak Sar Gursikh Temple and the Indian Cultural Centre of Canada, both in Richmond. The main religious event is the Baisakhi procession in South Vancouver organized by the Ross Street Gurdwara, built in 1969. Since 1994 the Sikhs.in Surrey have an annual procession from the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple to mark Miri Piri. The Satnam Education Society of B.C. started the Khalsa School in Vancouver in 1986 and opened a branch in Surrey in 1992.

Surrey’s Guru Nanak Temple was the scene January 11, 1997 of a riot between two opposing temple factions, described in the media as “moderates” and “fundamentalists.” The RCMP had to be called in to quell the disturbance. An agreement was reached by the opposing factions a few days later to share the Temple’s space, but in March 1997 the moderates announced plans to establish a temple of their own.

Hindus, the second-largest religious group, have several temples, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad Temple in Burnaby, which was built in 1973, the Hare Krishna Temple in Burnaby and the Mahalakhshmi Temple in Vancouver. The Ismailis have their own places of worship called Jamatkhanas, the main one being in Burnaby.