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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Kaur and Singh - What to Do?

I suggest that Canadian Sikhs who have children should follow the tenets of the religion and give their children only the surname Singh or Kaur. You are legally allowed in Canada to give your child a surname different than your own for religious reasons, it's just a tick box on the form (Statement of Live Birth) as a reason in Ontario at least. More than that, it is a fundamental human right that a parent should be free to name their child as they choose without state (government) interference. Sikhs should exercise that legal and moral right and throw the government for a loop in the process.

If you want to you can always give your child a middle name that signifies your clan. ie: Jaspinder Sidhu Kaur or Kharak Bhangu Singh.

Who does the government think it is fooling with one representative saying one thing and another saying something else to cover their policy up? Why shouldn't Sikhs immigrate to Canada with the last name Singh or Kaur? They aren't doing this to any other community.
A Canadian Sikh organization is protesting a 10-year-old Canadian policy of requiring would-be immigrants with the surname of Singh to use their third name.

The Citizenship and Immigration department policy is used only for men applying for visas in New Delhi, and also women with the name of Kaur, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.

I would encourage anyone who has had this policy applied to them over the past years to sue the government for the violation and abuse of their charter rights.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nobody is putting a gun to your turban and forcing you to immigrate to Canada. If would be migrants don't like the policy, then they should shut up and stay home or find another country willing to take them in on their terms.

Kaptaan said...

The comment by anonymous would make more sense if the Canadian government policy was extended to ALL common surnames including Smith, Johnson, O'Brien, Wong, Lee, Kim, Khan, Patel, Kumar, Mohamed etc... Otherwise Sikhs are quite right to protest this arbitrary and discriminatory policy.