Study suggests “turban effect” as a source of Islamophobia

Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service Published: Sunday, June 29, 2008

A Muslim-style turban is perceived as a threat, according to a new study, even by people who don’t realize they hold the prejudice, dubbed “the turban effect” by researchers.

Research volunteers played a computer game that showed apartment balconies on which different figures appeared, some wearing Muslim-style turbans or hijabs and others bare-headed. They were told to shoot at the targets carrying guns and spare those who were unarmed, with points awarded accordingly.

People were much more likely to shoot Muslim-looking characters — men or women — even if they were carrying an innocent item instead of a weapon, the researchers found.

“Whether they’re holding a steel coffee mug or a gun, people are just more likely to shoot at someone who is wearing a turban,” says author Christian Unkelbach, a visiting scholar at Australia’s University of New South Wales. “Just putting on this piece of clothing changes people’s behaviour.”

Mr. Unkelbach largely blames one-sided media portrayals for the bias.

The results would almost certainly be the same if this study was conducted in Canada, says Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

“I’m hoping that Canadian Muslims one day become invisible,” says Mr. Elmasry. “As such, Canadians will treat them like any others.”

Islamophobia — “latent” before 9/11 — is on the rise, he says, but there is very little research on the issue in Canada.

The new study “does confirm our biggest fear that there is discrimination and prejudice within our society, and unfortunately people don’t recognize it or don’t admit it,” says Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal.

“Sometimes they really don’t know that it does exist.”

Beyond a turban or hijab, someone’s name, skin colour or a long beard may also identify them as a Muslim and make them a target of prejudice, he says. Mr. Elmenyawi wears a head-covering and long beard and says he struggles between recognizing that negative stereotypes exist and not becoming “paranoid” that he might fall prey to them.

In fact, the Australian study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, confirmed that people don’t even realize they hold these biased views. When the true intention of the experiment was revealed, Mr. Unkelbach says participants insisted they were not prejudiced and must have reacted differently from everyone else.

“The most common response was, ‘I’m sure I didn’t show that effect,’” he says.”They’re uncomfortable and I believe them — people are not doing this willingly. If they could, they would control that. Here, people are almost the victims of what they are fed by their environment.”

A quick sampling of news items related to Muslims and the Middle East confirmed this, he says, with a focus on violence and terrorism almost obliterating more balanced stories about the culture and people.

“If everything about Middle Easterners is associated with terrorism, people tend to form stereotypes in their head,” confirms Rima Wilkes, a sociology professor studying media at the University of British Columbia.

Even fictional media feed these biases, she says. One study showed that movies tend to feature “socially acceptable” villain stereotypes that have evolved over time, from evil Germans in the post-war years to vaguely Muslim bad guys more recently. Even swarthy, pixelated video game adversaries send the message that “ethnic others are bad,” Ms. Wilkes says.

Seeing as how a good number of Sikhs have felt the brunt of this turbanized islam-o-phobia it would be nice if they added ‘non’ muslim turbans to this study.

The underlying story is about the same, Ram Rahim was in Bombay, and a group of Sikhs showed up to protest. Someone in the babas entourage opened fire, prefixing Bhai Balkar Singh, with the honary title of Shaheed. This off course led to even more riots and more protests, and for the most part that’s where things have been since Friday it would seem.

I really got nothing to add to the story, and like most others in the dark, I’m just trying to piece together what’s what. All the same, as is customary when crisis like this happens the news is often slow to trickle out, especially from reliable sources.

Here are some vids I pulled off of youtube that highlight just some of the agitation that’s going on and check out Panthic.org for updates. Also while the blogsphere is pretty dead on the whole thing there is one blog in particular - http://gururamdass.blogspot.com/, which seems ahead of the curb on the happenings.

Anywyas here are some of the vids I scoured from youtube, and I noticed there are even a few others on facebook in addition to groups that seem to be filling up quick with updates, pics and other tid bits so if you’re on that check those out.

BTW Police ball tourny is this weekend so check that out, more details on that in the next minute..

So this Saturday June 28th, while watching Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi, or as you sit back and catch the possible game between the Lakers and Spurs, or even if you choose to catch the premiere of Saturday Night Fights on CBS, (where Kimbo will viciously rip through another spoon fed opponent), be sure keep Khalsa Pizza in mind for all your feasting needs.

Also goto their website KhalsaPizza.com and sign up for their newsletter to get word on special promotions and other updates.

Looks like the CBC’s tuning into the fact that there is a huge punjabi population in Canada and is offering up game one of tonights NHL playoffs in Punjabi. Thats right, you can now listen to play by play in Punjabi. Whether you’d really want to or not is something on its own, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot of, “Oh Crosby Laigiya”, “shot mari tey GOOOAL…”  or other such antidotes that many may have become accustomed to hearing after having watched Playoff games with family in the past. All the same it’s a good development for the community on the national scene, especially when you consider both broadcasters (Parminder and Harnarayan Singh) are both gursikhs.

Anyways the broadcasts will be on the following channels:

• Shaw Digital Cable (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) on channel 291
• Bell ExpressVu subscribers on channels 249 and 724;
• Rogers Digital Cable customers in Ontario and New Brunswick on channel 460;
• Star Choice subscribers on channel 238.

Brampton bridegroom murdered in Punjab

May 18, 2008 04:30 AM

Sonya Fatah
Special to the Star
MOGA, INDIA–Jasvir Singh Dhaliwal’s wedding was meant to be a splendid countryside affair.

The deep-red cards were lettered in gold, a sign of the family’s new-found wealth and status in Canada.

Dhaliwal, a 27-year-old Brampton resident, returned to his family’s native village in India’s western state of Punjab to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day.

He had broken off with his girlfriend of four years in Canada to wed a young Punjabi woman who lived near his family’s village home.

The wedding never took place.

On Feb. 13, as Dhaliwal left a pre-wedding party with five of his relatives, a car screeched to a halt in front of his vehicle. One of its occupants emerged and sprayed Dhaliwal and a male cousin with bullets, killing both.

Dhaliwal’s death was another example, Punjab police allege, of Indo-Canadians and other Indians living abroad hiring assassins back in India to settle scores – ranging from broken hearts to perceived stains on honour and property disputes.

Indian police have issued a warrant for the arrest of the victim’s former Brampton girlfriend, Amanpal Gill, charging her with conspiracy to murder.

They have also arrested the jilted girlfriend’s Punjab-based parents, charging them with conspiracy to murder, and have issued a warrant for the arrest of her brother, Gurusewak Singh of Brampton, on a charge of murder.

Police records show he entered India shortly before the shooting and left the country shortly after.

Gurusewak Singh and the victim worked together at one time in Brampton as drivers for a trucking company.

Attempts to reach Amanpal Gill in Brampton by the Star were unsuccessful.

Ashwini Kumar, a police constable with the Indian Reserve Battalion, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
CONTRACT KILLINGS, called supari, have long been standard fare in Mumbai’s underworld.

Increasingly, however, ordinary non-resident Indians are turning to hired assassins to settle their scores.

“India today is a very different place,” said Gurpreet Singh Bhuller, senior superintendent of police for rural Ludhiana.

“Doaba (in central Punjab) has a long history of supari killings that started because many people from that area settled overseas, in the U.K., in America or in Canada.

“Later, when people from other parts of Punjab started going overseas, supari killings spread to those areas as well.”

In June 2000, Jassi Kaur Sidhu, an Indo-Canadian, was found with her throat slit in Punjab when her family refused to accept her love affair and marriage to a rickshaw driver.

Last month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court sentenced four of those accused in the case to life imprisonment, including the victim’s maternal uncle in Punjab and a police officer.

The victim’s mother, Malkiat Kaur, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, remain free in Canada. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Indian police say, and warrants for their arrests have been issued.

The police say they have made an extradition request to Canada. Ottawa says it does not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

Attempts by the Star to reach Kaur and Badesha in Maple Ridge, B.C., were unsuccessful.

Hired killers are relatively easy to find in Punjab, where unemployment, access to weapons and a sudden growth in local wealth as a result of rising property value, have fostered an underground trade in murder.

“The basic fact is there is plenty of unemployment, and we see so many luxurious things on television and cinema, and a lot of young kids are desperate to acquire those things,” noted Bhuller.

Drug use, in particular crack cocaine, is also on the rise.

Police estimate that assassins are hired for prices that run the gamut from $5,000 to $150,000.

They estimate that there have been about two dozen contract killings here since 2005.

“This sort of thing is hardly new here,” according to a Ludhiana businessman and former Sikh militant who did not want to be identified.

“People have killed in the name of honour for centuries. It’s just that now it’s not done directly by family members.”
CRIMES COMMITTED in India on behalf of non-resident Indians continue to grow in number.

One reason for such killings is a belief that the long arm of the law won’t reach perpetrators when the crimes are committed in far-off villages oceans away from the contractors’ new homes.

Canada’s Department of Justice received about 150 extradition requests from around the world last year for various types of cases but won’t give a breakdown.

The department uses a three-step process in deciding the case of a citizen or permanent resident for whom it receives an extradition request.

“After the minister of justice has made a decision based on the evidence, there is still an appeal stage,” said Christian Girouard, the department’s manager of public and media relations.

But because extradition procedures between the two countries can be so painfully slow-moving, people with a score to settle are increasingly resorting to Punjab-based killers, Indian police say.

“A lot of (non-resident Indians) feel very secure that extradition is not possible because it’s such a bureaucratic and delayed process,” said Bhuller.

“Moreover, most such transactions take place through (money transfers) leaving no proof and making it difficult to get them.”
OUTSIDE THE VIKRAJ marriage palace, a kilometre from where Jasvir Singh Dhaliwal was shot and killed, his parents talked about how they had been looking forward to back-to-back wedding ceremonies for their son, and then his sister – before assassins’ bullets turned their joy to grief.

Harjinder Kaur Dhaliwal, 59, kept her head bowed, occasionally moving a hand to wipe away tears. Her husband, 54-year-old Nirmal Singh, also spoke in hushed tones.

“I still can’t believe this has happened,” he said. “Canadian police should help us out. Our son is gone, but if they don’t catch his killer, he could do it again.”

Apparently the Assassination industry in India is thriving and doing well. Looks like a lot of it has to do with folks not being able to get jobs, and people from around here having a bit to much loot and a few to many sprained egos. Then again maybe the whole industry is starting to grow in Canada also, with the attempted assassination of Kulvir Grewal two months back.

I guess this is just another one of those growing pains and a part of the whole ghetto-ization occurring in the GTA with the South Asian community and its pockets. Reminds me of lyrics spit by Pac though still,

A seven-deuce full of niggaz goes by
Thought I was trippin the second time they rolled, by
Recognized the plates, the faces looked familiar
Everybody swear they know the nigga that’s gonna, kill ya
Don’t murder me murder me, killa a nigga in his sleep
Let me die as I rest in peace, deep
Back to these niggaz in the seven-deuce
A mac-10 out the window bout to let it loose, what could I do?
Run for cover and return fire
DIE MOTHERf**kIN DIE, hope yo’ ass fry, don’t ask why

From talking about kids these days, and the whole ghetto mentality that has engulfed many of them, to the epidemic on the West with the slaying’s of the Bibian by there husbands, and families.

Apparently this video is only a prelude to a bigger and longer documentary or so I’m told that is dropping in July of 2008, so definitely keep an eye out for that.

Either way, check out this freestyle from earlier where he gives a special shout out to the Singhs and 84 its all pretty graphic so the normal disclaimer applies to those with sensitive ears.

It’s not his greatest track by any means, but you got love the shout out he gives..

Got to hand it to sarpanch sahib and his pind for making The Toronto Star and Global TV last year, and and Sun this year. Seems like the Pindu’s are making a real go at Bhatia’s super fan status.

Racist Insults Results In Massive Beat-Down In Montreal.
This was recorded last night in downtown Montreal. Apparently, 2 young men were hurling racist insults at a group of black people. The end result was that they got the crap kicked out of them, and rightly so.
What were they thinking?!?

Check this link that made its way down the grape vines -

National Post Commentary - Ontaraio Khalsa Darbaar looses Charitable Status

I wouldn’t have been surprised if I read this about Malton, or even New Rexdale, but I have to say that the fact it was Dixie that got its charitable status stripped did come as bit of a surprise. A while back I posted wondering where the funds were going, but I was getting the vibe that the new committee had really taken up office and really started to clean things up. Also considering Dixie’s political muscle at both Federal and Provincial levels you would think that they’d be the most immune and well protected when shit hit the proverbial fan.

All the same, when the Feds come a knocking it seems that the biggest are the first to get noticed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is in result to the Conservatives politicking over the whole anti Khalistan up-risal that’s been front and center in the usual papers, merly using this as an opportunity to force the Liberals gambit by either having them stand with the alleged terrorists, or distancing themselves from the community when they know they’ll be looking for support the most. Either way the Liberals won’t be getting out of this one looking like the heroes that they had been in the past.

Also knowing our community, and knowing the political struggle thats been taking place at Dixie for the last little while, this may very well have been a calculated attack at the Guru Ghar and by proxy its current committee by even more internal and nefarious members in an attempt to strike there blow, when they could. Wouldn’t put it past someone to start snitching to the Feds second they got there hands on some accounting. I’m all for accountability within our Guru Ghars, but it needs to come from within and not from without.

Should be interesting to see what happens next, and what cards are played by whom. Especially with the Downtown Nagar Kirtan (a time when Dixie would usually get large donations from Sangat) being only a few days away.

Firstly gotta start with the East because like Bigs said, “If I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East…I live out there, so don’t go there”

East

Celtics - 4 Games
Cavs - 6 Games
Pistons - 4 Games
Raptors - 6 Games

West

Lakers - 6 Games
Jazz - 7 Games
Hornets - 7 Games
Suns - 6 Games

The West without saying will be insane, every series possible is worthy of a conference final in the past. As for the east I think we’ll be looking at a Celtics, Piston domination.

For bonus points I’m giving the finals to the Celtics, even though I’d much rather see the Suns come out on top. If they can’t do it this year, I don’t see them being able to do it in the next 5, at least not with there current who have been making runs at the big show for the last 4 years.

Video linked courtesy of the Rock, title suggested by Sarpanch Sahib.