ELECTION 99
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Sikh Moderates Wonder If Militants Were Behind Firebomb Attack On Politician's Office

A P Kamath

When a powerful politician's office is firebombed, there could be dozens of suspects, especially when the man happens to be tough on crime and endearing to immigrant causes.

And while the police have no suspects in the Molotov cocktail attack on Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh's office in Vancouver on Sunday, many of his Sikh supporters were reminded of a 1985 attack on him.

A successful lawyer and an upcoming politician, Dosanjh began speaking out against extremist Sikh violence in 1985. He was nearly killed by a terrorist who bludgeoned him with an iron bar. His wounds required more than 80 stitches.

No one was convicted of the assault.

Dosanjh continued to be an outspoken critic of Khalistanis, and an ally of moderates.

But fundamentalists are not the only ones who dislike him. As the attorney general for nearly five years, he has also attracted attention for his tough line on crime. Recently he called on Ottawa to require courts to impose tougher sentences for some crimes, especially those directed at women and teenagers. He also wants the age limit for sexual consent be raised from 14 to 16 years. He hopes it would make it difficult for pimps into luring young girls into sex. British Columbia has a high rate of sexual offenses against teens.

But many of his supporters think the firebombing is an effort by the militants to scare him.

Dosanjh, who had worked as an editor of a Punjabi publication in England before migrating to Canada, has seen several of his election meetings disrupted by Sikh fundamentalists. Following the attack on him, his wife had received a note: 'We know how to shut him up. Tell him'.

Traditionalist Sikhs have sided with his opponent, Moe Sihota, a cabinet minister, who like Dosanjh is a clean-shaven Sikh. Sihota, who is not in the leadership run, nevertheless caused embarrassment to Dosanjh last month. He criticized Dosanjh for mass drafting of Indo-Canadians into New Democratic Party, charging that Dosanjh had done so to boost his chances at the leadership convention in February. But party leaders refused to expel the new entrants, though several of the names on the list were proved to be fraudulent. There was no mass fraud, NDP leaders said.

Dosanjh, who is also the minister responsible for multiculturalism, human rights and immigration, is considered a front-runner in the race for leadership of the New Democratic Party. If elected, he will be the first Indo-Canadian premier in Canada.

Balwant Singh, president of a Surrey gurdwara that is fiercely opposed to the fundamentalists, told reporters on Monday, the day after the attack: "You just go look at what happened before in the community."

One of Dosanjh's key advisors and finance agent in the last election is Jarnail Bhandal, who was excommunicated by the then Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh for defying an order to remove tables and chairs from the temple.

Dosanjh said he did not know who the attackers were and when he heard the news he was more concerned about the people who lived above his office.

"I have no reason to believe in any particular theory, nor to speculate about it," he said. "But this is something you don't want to wake up to," the 52-year-old politician said.

None was injured. A few weeks ago the police ended special surveillance of his home undertaken because of perceived threats. According to British Columbian news sources, Dosanjh's home had been under special police watch for months but it is not known how much of surveillance the office was under. His home was to be visited by the police at least five times a day, every day. The surveillance could be reinstituted now that his office has been firebombed.

Education Minister Gordon Wilson, who is running second in the leadership race, said he seriously doubts that the firebombing has anything to do with the contest or factions within the Indo-Canadian community. Wilson's Calcutta-born wife, Judi Tyabji, is also seeking votes for her husband from the Indian Canadian community.

"I think it was probably a person with an axe to grind against [Dosanjh], a person who was hard done by a Crown counsel and seeking revenge," he said.

Previous: Parents Seek To Send Warnings On Child Safety With $20 Million Suit

Tell us what you think of this report