By INDIRA PRAHST, Instructor of Race and Ethic Relations, Department of Sociology, Langara College, Vancouver
It's been a year since the two violent attacks on Mewa Singh Bains and Shingara Singh Thandi in July of 2005 by two young offenders in Surrey's Bear Creek Park occurred. The case is coming to its final stages in the prosecution of the two youths accused (13 and 15 at the time) who have pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of Thandi, 76, and the aggravated assault and robbery of Bains, 84, who died two months after the attack.
Last week I attended court to follow up on this tragedy because of my personal interest in the case due to its high social significance within the South Asian community. What I felt at the time (and still do today) is, that it is too easy to dismiss this brutal violence as "random" or "isolated" rather than "patterned." When attacking for goods, it is obvious to target the weakest group. Therefore, "ethnic profile" should not be overlooked in the selection of a target because a "visible minority" and "the elderly" have fewer resources, less power, English literacy and means for self-defence. Therefore "ethnic and cohort profile" are also relevant in considering the punishment of the crime.
When I met Jhalman S. Thandi (one of the four sons of Shingara S.Thandi) I asked him how his family was coping and it was both his and his children's responses that inspired me to write this piece.
Thandi bluntly said: "We are going through this alone, and the community has ignored us." How are the grandchildren making sense of this brutal crime? What message is the community sending to the youth or the society about the meaning of this tragedy if there is little or no community representation in court or support for this family?
I felt and observed the immense tension and grief at last week's (Friday) court hearing which began with one of the accused family members being cross examined and asked to identify one of the baseball bats used in the attacks. "Was this the bat?" "Yes" said the witness bursting into tears. As the witness left the stand and looking at the accused youth, she cried out to B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Grist, who is hearing the case without a jury, "He is a good boy." Meanwhile the family members of the victims sat quietly in tears and listened attentively.
Outside the courtroom I spoke with Jhalman S. Thandi and he told me that now is the time they need both moral and visible support. He said: "The community doesn't realize what happened to our family, kids and grandkids. They have left us alone during the trials and not even phoning us to see how we are feeling. The people in the community who helped us from the beginning until now are the police and the doctors. Most of the politicians are not doing a good job giving us support now, except for Nina Grewal's other and family."
Thandi told me that Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts personally told him that they would agree to some kind of memorial plaque and they would contact him within a few weeks. It has been almost six months and no response.
I phoned the mayor this week to follow up on the memorial plaque and this was the response I got from the mayor's office: "The city staff met with the Thandi and Bain's family last fall and they offered a memorial bench, which the Bain's family accepted but which the Thandi family rejected. It is still a "work in progress" and they are still trying to come up with something to satisfy the Thandi family but are waiting to hear back from the Thandi family whom they have contacted."
This was a surprise to me, and I followed up with Mr. Thandi and asked for his response to this. First of all, he claims HE is waiting for a response from city hall. Also, Mr. Thandi rejected the offer of the bench as a memorial site in respect to his father's legacy because it was a murder that occurred in a city park. Therefore, the commemoration should stand apart from the death of someone with no connection to the park (anyone can get a plaque on a bench). The Thandi family wanted a landmark that is more conspicuous like a fountain (he offered to chip in some of his own money) to convey a message that this violent attack was not and will not be tolerated or forgotten.
However, it is important to acknowledge, that the City of Surrey did respond very quickly in beefing up the security in the park. One of the mayor's representatives told me this week that the city spent $16,000 in vegetation removal, $33,285 for security cameras and other devices to monitor the pavilion, picnic grounds and parking lot. These costs exclude the hiring of two fulltime park patrol by-law officers. Hopefully these safety measures can appease the minds of some people regarding their safety.
Unfortunately, a year later this incident still resonates deeply in people's minds. Sixteen-year-old Ravir Thandi said: "This attack should not have happened, it leaves everyone in the park with a bad feeling knowing that they can't be safe, older and young people, still today."
I asked Jhalman Thandi what he would accept as justice today, he said: "Maximum sentence (which is life term) because the punishment should fit the crime not the age - they killed my father. They took an innocent defenseless old man; they did not just do it once, but twice. It cannot be accidental and it was not just a robbery; they could have asked for the money. They were looking for a fight, and spent time looking for East Indian old men as their targets because they thought they could get away with it knowing that they don't speak English."
Some people, including Thandi, thought that if the community were more united, many of these elderly men would not fall prey to such victimization because the unity within the community would be a deterrent. Thandi said: "If more people would attend the court it would send a message that this is not acceptable, but we cannot ask the community to come; they have to want to come."
How are the youth making sense of this? Thandi's 16-year-old grandson Ravir Thandi expressed his disappointment outside the court room and said: "They should show people like us support or that they care, especially knowing that we were traumatized…first they cared and now they don't." He shook his head and looked away and appeared very bitter and perplexed.
This sparked a memory of my own daughter's confusion at the vigil last fall for the victim's families which I wrote about last October in The VOICE: "Upon leaving that night from the vigil, my eight-year-old daughter asked me: "WHY did the boys have to beat the elderly men so badly? Why did they not take the money and go? Why did the elderly men not fight back?" WHY? These are LOADED QUESTIONS and difficult to answer - especially to a child."
These questions were surely on 12-year-old Jessica's mind when she too was wondering about what motivated the brutal assault of her grandfather, Mr. Thandi. Outside the courthouse she told me: "At first I thought the act was racism and did not know why. So at school I wrote a speech about racism and then everyone wanted to come and learn what happened."
Here is part of Jessica's speech with a clear message to the community and which was inspired by the memory of her grandfather:
"If you see someone acting or talking racially, put a stop to it immediately. Not doing anything is the same as doing it - you can be either part of the problem or part of the solution. You can make a difference by taking a stand. Don't be afraid to make our world a better place so take a stand and make a change."
As a community it is important to be united and to send a message to society at large that this kind of crime is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This was the exact message that community activist Sukhi Sandhu wanted to convey at the vigil he organized last fall for the Thandi and Bain's families at Bear Creek Park. I recently asked him, "Where is everyone now?" He too expressed disappointment and said: "As a community there have to be certain times to bring people in the community together despite "issues" and these brutal deaths are enough of a common ground. The principles our pioneers fought for are to take responsibility to protect our identity, culture and religion. If parents are too busy making money and have forgotten their values - then who is going to teach them?"
Instead the community has left not only the adult members, but the youth bitter, disappointed and ALONE. We owe it to our future generations to set an example of unity and standing for something we believe in and that violence against anyone will not be tolerated. We also have a moral duty to preserve this legacy (as it is an important shield that protects our community, young and old) and to rekindle the erosion of some of our cultural values that our forefathers fought so hard to protect.
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