Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sikh Martyrdom Day Parade June 5, 2011 Brampton Ont
A major feature of this years parade which began at the Guru Nanak Sikh Centre was the remembrance of the 1984 slaughter of Sikhs by Indian troops. Loudspeakers mounted on the floats played tribute songs punctuated by sounds of machine gun fire.
On May 25th 1984 Indian Army troops surround the Golden Temple in Punjab India. On June 1st several thousand devotees convene at the Temple, considered a holy place, by Sikhs, to commemorate the June 3rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev . A seven hour barrage of shooting occurs during the night, killing 11 and wounding 25.
On June 3rd Indian Army troupes impose a curfew shooting dead any who violate it. Ten thousand Sikh devotees are A major trapped within the Golden Temple complex .
On June 4th the Indian Army fires on the Golden Temple with machine guns and mortars. A five hour battle ensues resulting in 100 deaths.
On June 5th the Indian Government sends tanks to surround and invade the temple complex. Heavy crossfire results in many casualties.
June 6th Armored vehicles and tanks break through and pummel the Akal Takhat resulting in the massacre of thousands of innocent worshipers and damage to the entire complex, defacing the temple, destroying the Akal Takhat, and desecrating holy scriptures and sacred texts.
On June 7th Indian army soldiers trample the grounds without removing their boots, swaggering through the temple complex drinking and smoking. The Golden Temple complex is looted and ancient scriptures are burnt. The sarovar is filled with thousands floating corpses. Relatives are refused the rights to claim their dead. The Bodies of dead devotees are collected, stripped of valuables, loaded onto garbage trucks and cremated without ceremonial rites, before an official count can be made.
Last year days before the annual Khalsa Parade, the event celebrating the founding of the Khalsa order of Sikhism , an armed brawl broke out at the Guru Nanak Sikh Centre in Brampton . Combatants wielded hammers, knives and small axes .
A well-known Sikh lawyer was stabbed with a kirpan - a ceremonial dagger - at the nearby Sikh Lehar Centre in Brampton. He survived the attack.
On May 25th 1984 Indian Army troops surround the Golden Temple in Punjab India. On June 1st several thousand devotees convene at the Temple, considered a holy place, by Sikhs, to commemorate the June 3rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev . A seven hour barrage of shooting occurs during the night, killing 11 and wounding 25.
On June 3rd Indian Army troupes impose a curfew shooting dead any who violate it. Ten thousand Sikh devotees are A major trapped within the Golden Temple complex .
On June 4th the Indian Army fires on the Golden Temple with machine guns and mortars. A five hour battle ensues resulting in 100 deaths.
On June 5th the Indian Government sends tanks to surround and invade the temple complex. Heavy crossfire results in many casualties.
June 6th Armored vehicles and tanks break through and pummel the Akal Takhat resulting in the massacre of thousands of innocent worshipers and damage to the entire complex, defacing the temple, destroying the Akal Takhat, and desecrating holy scriptures and sacred texts.
On June 7th Indian army soldiers trample the grounds without removing their boots, swaggering through the temple complex drinking and smoking. The Golden Temple complex is looted and ancient scriptures are burnt. The sarovar is filled with thousands floating corpses. Relatives are refused the rights to claim their dead. The Bodies of dead devotees are collected, stripped of valuables, loaded onto garbage trucks and cremated without ceremonial rites, before an official count can be made.
Last year days before the annual Khalsa Parade, the event celebrating the founding of the Khalsa order of Sikhism , an armed brawl broke out at the Guru Nanak Sikh Centre in Brampton . Combatants wielded hammers, knives and small axes .
A well-known Sikh lawyer was stabbed with a kirpan - a ceremonial dagger - at the nearby Sikh Lehar Centre in Brampton. He survived the attack.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Last Log Drive On The Mississagi
The Log Drivers
At the Mill Pond
The Mississagi River
Aubrey Falls
I was 10 years old when I arrived in Elliot Lake. It was a rough tough mining town and such a great place to grow up in.
Shortly after we arrived there my father took me to Blind River to watch the last log drive on the Mississagi River. The giant Aubrey Falls hydro electric dam was being built and would eventually block the natural flow of the old river which flows through the Algoma wilderness from Biscotasing (the land of Grey Owl) north of Sudbury, 165 miles to the North Channel of Lake Huron near Blind River.
What a fantasting sight! It was one of the last of the old time log drives in Ontario.
A number of years later - in 1979 to be exact - I heard for the first time, the ‘Log Driver Watz’ sung by Kate and Anna McGarrigle and the Mountain City Four, in the short animated film from the National Film Board. I was watching Sesame Street with my young sons Chris and Jody at the time. I rediscoved it the other day.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
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