www.theasianstar.com Vol 14
WIN tickets
P
Magna urges steps to keep auto assembly in Canada
02
Page
Bollywood section
Prime Minister Harper hosts Ramadan dinner for Muslim leaders
Check Inside for Details
All the news you need and more...
Issue 22 Saturday, June 27, 2015
M Stephen Harper may have made Canadian history Monday night, inviting Muslim leaders to 24 Sussex to break the Ramadan fast. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast daily between dawn and sunset and the break-the-fast dinner, called the iftar, is traditionally a festive and spiritual event. U.S. President Barack Obama hosts an iftar annually at the White House. But Harper’s office says Monday is the first time one has been held at 24 Sussex. In his speech to the dinner, Harper says his house ultimately belongs to all Canadians and hopes everyone can share in the blessings of the month. He also notes tradition is that those who host an iftar bring goodness upon themselves. The Conservative government’s relationship with the Muslim community has been tense, with Continued on page 7
33
Page
09
Page
Air India bombing victims remembered
F
amilies and friends still mourn for victims of bombing 30 years ago. Friends and families went to a memorial held for victims of the Air India Flight 182 bombing in Vancouver’s Stanley Park on Tuesday night. The attack, which was planned by a group of B.C. Sikh separatFamily members of Air India vicitims gathered at the Air India ists, killed 329 people off the Memorial in Stanley Park on June 23 to remember those who died in coast of Ireland 30 years ago. the terrorist attack. In the picture are Major Singh Sidhu, who lost his sister, and the widow of Sam Madon, one of the victims. Naveen Girn, the organizer Photo: Chandra Bodalia of the Vancouver memoOthers, such as Saffrin Granby and rial, said the tragedy is still fresh in people’s Chris Slatter, who weren’t alive at the minds and that it’s important to remember time, went to honour the victims. A the victims. “This is the largest terrorist act small group of B.C. Sikh separatists ever committed against Canadians,” Girn plotted to bomb two Air India planes in said. “Remembering it as something that their campaign against the Indian govaffects all of us is important.” Milan Singh ernment. Some of those in attendance read the names of all the lives lost on the called for action to bring the Air India flight. Those names are also on the memo- bombers to justice despite the passage rial in Ceperley Park. Harjit Sajjan brought of time. Others said they are resigned to his two young children to see the name of the fact most of those in B.C. who plothis friend’s dad, the captain of Air India, on ted the June 23, 1985 bombing that killed the memorial. Honouring the victims Continued on page 6
Punjab’s Satnam Singh becomes 1st Indianborn basketball player picked in NBA draft
M
aking it big in basketball had long been a dearly held dream for Satnam Singh. Making it happen was another matter. Growing up in a remote village in India’s Punjab province, he was
What do Punjab and the Po Valley have in common?
Satnam Singh at the NBA draft
destined to become a farmer -- like his father and his father’s father. But that’s the thing about dreams. With hard work -- and, in Singh’s case, a ginormous frame -they sometimes come Continued on page 9
Cab driver stabbed
S
hortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, Satnam Bahia was sitting in his taxi outside the 7 Eleven at the intersection of 144th Street and 108th Avenue in Surrey and reading a newspaper. A young man smoking a cigarette rapped on his window to see whether he was available for a cab ride. He indicated he was, and the man gestured to his cigarette, indicating that he would get in when he finished smoking. Less than 10 minutes later, Bahia was bleeding from three stab wounds. The young man had stolen everything Bahia had on his person, incthe keys Continued on page 7
Tel: 604-591-5423