VANCOUVER: At a public engagement in Washington DC, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ribbed Indian counterpart Narendra Modi saying, “I have more Sikhs in my Cabinet than Modi does.” True, Modi Cabinet has only two Sikh ministers, Maneka Gandhi (Sikh by birth) and Harsimrat Kaur Badal while, Trudeau inducted four Sikhs in his 30-member cabinet last year.
In his good humoured ribbing, Trudeau reminded the world how he managed to compose the almost flawless representative cabinet; with a minority as well as a gender balance. With a 50-50 distribution of seats amongst men and women, Trudeau's “Because it's 2015” remark won over the world when he was asked about the unmissable balance after elected to power. Sikhs in the Canadian cabinet include Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, Bardish Chagger, and Minister of Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains.
Sajjan and Bains are turbaned Sikhs, and the fact that a bearded, turbaned Sikh heads the military of a western country, an ally and neighbour of the United States, is a matter of pride for many Sikhs, who are having a rough time South of the border.
A Sikh heading the Canadian military should be of no surprise either. The first Sikh settler in Canada is said to be Kesur Singh, a Risaldar Major in the British India Army, who arrived in Vancouver on board Empress of India in 1897.
