Intolerance thrashed at Turban Eh! event
A poster meant to incite hate on the University of Alberta campus may have succeeded in doing the opposite Tuesday.
The university’s student centre building was packed with people of all backgrounds for a studentorganized turban tying.
The event, called Turban, Eh! was the brainchild of Arundeep Singh, an Edmonton businessman who was moved to take the high road in the face of intolerance.
“I saw the reaction to the online posting and it was really negative and I thought this isn’t going to be a really good outcome for anybody,” said Singh.
He was referring to a poster depicting a Sikh man in a turban along with derogatory and xenophobic language put up around the university campus in mid-September.
Singh said it presented the perfect chance to show what the word “Sikh” actually means — in short, student or learner. “It was a great opportunity to teach people and help them learn,” he said.
Aylish Anglin, 18, was one of the students to take part.
“I felt compelled to visit because I feel like I should be involved in this sort of stuff especially when there’s been an act that’s nothing but rage,” said Anglin, a general studies student at the University of Alberta.
“It’s nice to see people fighting back with love and showing acceptance of people instead of trying to fight back using more angry and hateful words.”
Along with the actual turban tying, participants were able to ask questions of the volunteers tying them, much like a person would chat from a barber’s chair.
Anglin said she learned the turban, which she said feels like a “tight tuque,” can be tied differently depending on a how a person feels or whether it is being worn for a specific ceremony.
Others learned the turban was, at one point, only worn by aristocracy, but has since become a symbol of equality in the Sikh community as it can be worn by anyone.
‘“Discussion is key,” said Sharan Aulakh, a fourth-year biology student at the U of A who chalked up the “disappointing” poster to “a lack of education.”
“The turban is worn by Sikhs out of respect to God,” said Aulakh, vice-president of the Sikh Students Association. “Turbans can be worn by both men and women so it creates a sense of equality.”
For Singh, the positive turnout gave a pretty clear message to the makers of the racist poster as well.
“They had their statement, they said something and they put forward their vision for Canada. Now we’re putting forward ours and we’ll let people decide which one they like better,” he said.
“So far, I feel like we’re winning.”