Each time I sing the national anthem, I experience a profound and overwhelming joy stemming from the conviction that I belong to a nation the ethos of which comprises of equality, fairness and freedom. Each time I hear the lines, “God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,” my heart fills up with pride, and a deep sense of responsibility to guard the values that make Canada a glorious and free land. It is with this sense of responsibility that I am writing about the incessant attacks that the recently appointed chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Birju Dattani, has been subject to.
I was appalled at what appeared to be utter impetuousness and callousness in a recent letter that referred to Dattani’s appointment as “curious.” The letter, which was a list of disgruntlements (which the author would’ve learned have already been exhaustively answered, if a simple Google search was done), is symptomatic of a recent trend where people are being stigmatized, and in several cases, intimidated and threatened with their livelihoods for merely expressing opinions that are critical of the policies of foreign states. An article by David Thurton, published by CBC News on July 5, addresses most of the concerns raised in the letter.
Hate, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and terrorism should have no place in Canada. To conflate any of these crimes with objective criticism of any state, ideology, belief, etc. is an abject assault on the freedoms of thought, opinions and expression, enshrined in the guarantee of rights and freedoms to all Canadians under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Truth, no matter how much and how long it be constricted, concealed or corroded, always comes out.
Lastly, irrespective of whether one is from Uganda, Europe or Asia, we’re all privileged to call home this land of the First Nations.
Israr Ahmed
Whitehorse
