Regimental Remembrance Day celebration first time in Toronto Gurudwara

Gurusikh Sabha Canada in partnership with the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada organised this regimental Remembrance Day service, for the first time inside a Sikh Temple.

Gobinder S. Randhwa, President of Gurusikh Sabha Canada says, “We felt it was important to make the commemorations of Remembrance Day more inclusive as we pay tribute to the Canadian Armed Forces, they are our fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters, neighbours, heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of us and our Country.”

More than 200 members of the Canadian Armed Forces gathered together in the Sikh temple. The ceremony commemorated the Canadian soldiers, including the Sikhs, who laid their lives in past wars, and impeached on the lives of all present-day soldiers in the various Canadian regiments.

In India, too, Sikhs have always been valiant to participate in numbers in the army to save the motherland from vicious hands. Their valiancy, dedication towards their country has also gave them recognition in Canada, where they are service members of the Canadian army too.

The 7th Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery gathered in the Gurusikh Sabha Canada, on Middlefield Road to acknowledge the spirit of the Sikhs as well as to honour the fallen angels of the battalion.

Groups of people queued in lines to salute the spirit of the soldiers as the regiment marched down the roads. Young children with Canadian flags greeted the soldiers as they passed by.

The ulterior motif of the regiment was to combat the stereotypes and to represent the Canadian military as an inclusive institution that values culture and principles.

Master Bombardier Jasmin Buccella, in an interview with CBC news told, "It's not what people may think of as just white males. "We have all diversities, females, different cultures and everyone has the opportunity to participate."

In association with the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada, an exhibition, called “War and Faith” was on display at the gurdwara. It brought to light the history of Sikh soldiers who fought bravely in the first and second world wars.

The exhibition also pointed out the role of religion in nurturing the bravery among the men in service.

Lieutenant Hari Singh Bhatti explains, "Especially when times get tough, soldiers tend to start going back to their faith to do whatever they can to stay strong.”

(Reporting by Debarati Mukherjee)