VANCOUVER -A group of B.C. Sikh students who wore controversial T-shirts to school have sparked a debate within their community and left some wondering why a group of youths would latch onto a divisive movement dating from before they were born.The students showed up to Surrey's Princess Margaret Secondary School earlier this month wearing shirts emblazoned with the word Khalistan, referring to a Sikh separatist movement advocating for a Sikh homeland in India's Punjab region that was often linked to violence in the 1980s.On the back was a quote from Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a Khalistan advocate who was killed during India's 1984 raid on the Golden Temple.School administrators told the students not to wear the shirts again.Some have brushed off the T-shirts as youthful rebellion or dismissed the students as naive and uninformed.The teens, however, insist they know the history and wanted to make a statement that would be heard.âWhen people see this, they'll look at it and be like, âWow, there's people still out there that still believe in this stuff. And it's not just the older generation, it's the youthâ,â one of the boys said last week during a call-in show on a local multicultural radio station.Another student - they didn't provide their names - made it clear the group was, in fact, advocating for an independent Sikh state.âWe want freedom in Punjabâ, he said. Students at Surrey's Princess Margaret High School wear T-shirts some say are controversial, Friday, April 18th, 2008. The Canadian Press. April 27 2008 12:53 PM ETView full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17448727.2011.561609
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