The framing of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s: The power of the media and the conflicts between religion in the public sphere and an assumed national identity

ABSTRACT

This article examines the presentation of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s. It argues that Sikhs are mostly presented as threats to Canadian society and this media framing of Sikihs mostly follows Indian media frames of Sikhs as violent anti-state terrorists. Much of this media framing, however, does not discuss the actual circumstances in India, nor does it allow for the voices of Sikhs to be heard unless they are presented as violent.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 While the term Nishan Sahib does not appear in the article, the stolen flag was very likely a Nishan Sahib.

2 Peel region includes Mississauga and Brampton, two cities that have a larger proportion of South Asians living within them and the location of most of the newspaper stories discussed thus far.

3 In this essay, the Air-India disaster referred to the crash of Air-India flight 182 on June 23, 1985. The crash of the aircraft killed 329 people.

4 I would like to thank Nick Ward, the Communications Officer in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Carleton University for bringing this Vice News article to my attention.