REXDALE KHALSA DAY PARADE: HABIB YOUSAFZAI, CHAIRMAN KASHMIR DIASPORA ALLIANCE
ASSALAM-O-ALAIKUM!
The annual Khalsa Day parade started around 1:00 pm on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at the Malton Gurduwara at 7280 Airport Road in Mississauga. The parade concluded at around 8:00 pm at the Sikh Spiritual Centre located at 9 Carrier Drive in Toronto. Over a 100,000 people participated in the parade from all different walks of life. Extensive preparations were made for the distribution of food and culturally special dishes.
The Sikh religion was originally created by Guru Nanak Sahib on 1469, the first of the 10 Gurus, and followed by Guru Angad Sahib, Guru Amardas Sahib, Guru Ramdass Sahib, Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Hargobind Sahib, Guru Har Rai Sahib, Guru Harkrishan Sahib, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, and lastly Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. The final Guru completed the teachings of the religion in 1708, however, thereafter, the Sikh Holy Scripture was left behind in the form of the Guru Granth Sahib in order to provide guidance.
The Sikh nation, or the followers of Sikhism are unique in that they assert not only responsibility to cleanse and purify oneself internally by mediating and providing for oneself, but also accepting a duty to improving society at large. It is a historical fact that the Sikhs have always emphasized sovereignty for themselves as a distinct religion and nation. In the contemporary period, due to much strategic misguidance which took places in the events of the past specifically in the partition of India in 1947, the Sikh nation was defrauded and are now a landless people. Just 6 weeks after partition, and after all the sacrifices that were made by the Sikh nation, the Indian government announced that the state is one that is secular, and the Sikh nation is a menace to society.
The cause of Khalistan still exists until today in order to attain freedom from the shackles of slavery. In order to suppress their freedom movement, they have been historically oppressed such as the attack on the Darbar Sahib Amritsar (also mistakenly known as Golden Temple) in 1984, and until this day with illegal arrests and judicial murder. Until this day, more than 270,000 Sikhs have died under the banner for freedom.
I was personally at the event for about 7 hours, and I noticed that almost every Sikh was carrying the flag of Khalistan and were chanting phrases for freedom. They are more determined than ever to attain freedom from Indian occupation.
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