The assassination of Tara Singh Hayer
Ten years ago today B.C. newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer was gunned down, becoming the first journalist killed in Canada for doing his work.
It’s been a decade now since Tara Singh Hayer was shot dead.
The first most significant thing about Hayer’s assassination, seems to
me, is the fact that he was publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times and a
rabble-rouser. The second most significant thing is that he did these things in a South Asian community in B.C. roiled by the Air India
terrorism bombings and the religious wars between Sikh fundamentalists
and moderates.
The case remains open. I think that says far too
much about the state of Canada’s press freedoms, especially in some
areas outside mainstream media. I’m not the only one who is concerned.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Executive Director Annie Game
said in a press release today,
“The murder of Hayer was the greatest test, and, indeed, the greatest
failure of press freedom in Canada.” (The CJFE press release has
details of a panel discussion on Hayer’s death tonight in Vancouver.)
The report of a candlelight vigil earlier this month is here in the South Asian Post
