Villagers make beeline to greet Shergill’s family
My brother Amritpal Singh called me up in the morning to share the good news. Since then it’s carnivallike atmosphere in my house as relatives and villagers are pouring in to greet us.
SBS NAGAR With national television (TV) channels flashing the news of Palbinder Kaur Shergill, 48, becoming the first turbaned (amritdhari) Sikh woman judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster, Canada, local residents and scribes have started making a beeline for the native Jagatpur village of Palbinder Kaur here.
“My brother Amritpal Singh Shergill, 52, called me up in the morning to share this proud moment with me. The situation is like a fair in my house since morning. As our relatives and villagers are coming to greet us after they got to know that my
(sister-in-law) Palbinder has become a judge in Canada,” Gurpreet Pal Singh, brother-inlaw of Shergill, said. He said that they have a joint family and the family stays in the house whenever they visit the village. She had visited the village in February last year with the family.
“Shergill has brought laurels to the village. I hope her elevation as a Canadian judge will help strengthen Punjabis, especially Sikhs, on foreign shores,” Gurpreet, a farmer, said.
The family distributed sweets to celebrate her feat. “We will organise an ‘akhand path’ in village gurdwaras on Sunday to thank ‘Waheguru’ for fulfilling her dream and making the family proud,” said her aunt Joginder Kaur, 62.
A human rights advocate, Palbinder, was born at Rurka Kalan in Jalandhar district and was married in a family of Jagatpur village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr).
She immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of four and grew up in Williams Lake, BC, and did her law degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
Her husband Amritpal went to Canada 40 years ago.