Punjab Shocked by Canada's Same Sex Marriage Law

[Guest guest]

Canada's same-sex bill is Punjab's hot debate now

Akal Takht issues directive, says won't allow it in gurdwaras, asks

Canadian Sikh MPs to oppose move

MANRAJ GREWAL

Send Feedback E-mail this story Print this story

Posted online: Friday, January 28, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

 

CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 27: Given the large number of Punjabis in Canada,

it's only natural that when Canada sneezes, Punjab catches a cold. But

this time, it seems to have caught pneumonia. The heated debate over

same-sex marriages in Canada only got hotter last week when Jathedar

Joginder Singh Vedanti, head priest of the Akal Takht, the highest

temporal seat of the Sikhs, issued a stinging edict against it.

 

Coming two days before the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Paul

Martin, the harshly-worded directive urged the Sikhs to stop such

``anti-human tendencies,'' saying ``the idea of same-sex marriages

originates from sick minds.'' The Takht also asked Canada's six Sikh

MPs (four Liberals and two Conservatives) to ``take a stand against

same-sex marriage.''

 

Advertisement

Little wonder the Premier, who's been spearheading the legislation,

cancelled his visit to the Golden Temple at the last minute even

though Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, who was accompanying

him, was at pains to blame it on the tsunami.

 

While agreeing that the cancellation could have been a fallout of his

edict, Vedanti says he did not time it to coincide with Martin's

visit. ``I issued the directive after reading about the Bill in

newspapers. I thought it was my duty to warn the Sikh sangat against

any such union. It is unnatural, even birds and animals don't indulge

in it. We will certainly not allow it in gurdwaras.'' But he is quick

to clarify that his message was for the Sikhs, not the Canadian

government.

 

P S Sandhu, his personal assistant, says the Takht also received a

rash of mails from Sikhs in Canada who were concerned about the Bill,

which will be tabled in the country's Parliament next week.

 

Bibi Jagir Kaur, chief of the SGPC, is more direct in her attack on

the legislation. ``People of the same sex should be allowed to live

together, but their relationship should not be termed as marriage. And

why make a law on it?''

 

But not all Sikhs in Canada second her views. Navdeep Singh Bains and

Gurbax Singh Malhi, both Liberal MPs, hold diametrically opposite

views on it with Malhi saying he will oppose it on grounds of his

religion, and Bains choosing to support it.

 

Even Dosanjh has come out openly in its support, while MP Ruby Dhalla

has gone on record to say that she will not impose her religious views

on anyone. This Monday, Malhi met the jathedar at the Golden Temple

and asked him not to give siropas to MPs favouring the Bill.

 

Prof D S Cheema, spokesperson of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B), said all

the units of the party here and in Canada will abide by the edict, and

work against the legislation.

 

But there are many like Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian of the Institute of

Sikh Studies, who feel it's a social and ethical issue that should not

be given a religious tinge.

 

Calling it a hypothetical issue, Gurpreet Singh, a broadcaster with

Radio India in Canada, who is here on vacation, said to date, no such

couple had approached any gurdwara. ``The Bill has divided all the

parties and communities, Sikhs are no different,'' he said, adding

that even the supreme court, which had asked the government to

redefine marriage, had also ruled that no religious institution can be

forced to give sanction to such a union.

 

But the Takht may have been alarmed by the same-sex marriage of two

Sikh girls in Ajnala, near Amritsar, in December last year.

 

The girls, one a Jat Sikh and the other a Balmiki, had tied the knot

at a temple in Delhi, and had refused to annul the marriage despite

opposition from their parents who even approached the court.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler announced on

Wednesday that draft legislation on same-sex marriage will be

introduced next week.

 

He clarified that it will in no way curb religious freedom of those

who choose not to perform same-sex ceremonies. But back home, the

debate rages on

 

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=63551&headline=Takht~dire\

cts~Sikhs~to~shun~Canada