Baltej Dhillon
There was a report this week that Baltej Dhillon, the first Sikh Mountie to wear the turban has retired. During his career of nearly 30 years he rose to the rank of inspector in the RCMP, taking part in high-profile cases, including the investigations into serial killer Robert Pickton and the Air India bombing. Along the way he dealt with suspicion, racism, death threats and a partner who told others he wouldn't back him up because of the turban. 90,000 Canadians signed a petition opposing the change. Despite all this Dhillion succeeded.
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Anti-Sikh turban pin
When I think back I realize that I was annoyed at the time that someone had the temerity to challenge the traditional uniform of the Mounties. I didn't know much about Sikhism, so I was ignorant and my "who does he think he is?" attitude was uncalled for. In fact, Sikhs have long been one of Canada's largest religious groups, currently comprising 1.4% of the country's population (the current federal Cabinet has more Sikh members than in India, where Sikhism originated.)
It's obvious that he has been an asset to the RCMP and that had nothing to do with what he wore on his head.
Perhaps our entire country needs to revisit Dhillon's story as a reminder of the stupidity of prejudices based on ethnicity and religion. As bigots continue with their lame "go back where you came from" taunts and Quebec passes religious discrimination into law we could "do right" and learn a thing or two from a courageous Canadian who was determined to follow his passion to serve.
2 comments:
Good for Dhillon - it sounds like he had a rewarding career. I can only imagine the challenges he faced during those 30 years.
I remember being in self defense class just weeks before graduating from the police training academy. My troopmates and I had been given our first postings at this point. I was called over to meet a police officer who was on course at the academy, but worked at my first detachment. We were introduced, and I'll never forget his first words to me. He said, "we're glad to have a straight, white male coming to us."
As I finish off my final few months in the police before retirement, I can say that I've met many, many police officers who are good people. They weren't racist and they were fair. I'm happy to say the majority of the officers with whom I've worked were in that category, contrary to what the media would like us to believe. However, I've also met some that I would not want to spend one second with outside the job. And unfortunately, those morons can do a lot of damage in this job. They can tarnish the police service's reputation and reduce trust in the police.
Dhillon started in the police a few years before me. I, too, was skeptical at the time that he was hired. But over the years, I have worked with so many excellent officers from all religions, faiths and cultures, and ultimately what matters is not whether or not the person is wearing a turban, but that the person has the maturity, compassion and respect that is required to be a good police officer.
I really appreciate your first-hand, thoughtful, and generous perspective Roger. Now I'm trying to imagine you in a turban and red serge...not working...
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