Collins, Lauren. "Surrey's Baltej Dhillon, first Mountie to wear a turban, speaks about acceptance." Surrey Now Leader [Surrey, BC], 28 Sept. 2019. Surrey Now Leader, www.surreynowleader.com/community/surreys-baltej-dhillon-first-mountie-to-wear-a-turban-speaks-about-acceptance/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020. I used this quote from Baltej Singh Dhillon:
"I want us to make sure, I would like us to be more in our language," said Dhillon, a Surrey resident. "We often hear our politicians say, 'We have to be more tolerant.' No. Tolerate a pimple, tolerate a hangnail, tolerate a headache. You don't need to tolerate me. We are better than that. We are much better than that. Don't diminish my capacity to accept and understand others by telling me that all I can do is tolerate others.
"We don't have to settle for just tolerance. It's not necessary. When we say we have to be more tolerant, it's a cop-out. How we need to be and should be with each other is expecting more from each other and at the very least, at the very minimum, we should be expecting acceptance and the next level from there is understanding."
Dhillon, Baltej Singh. Interview. 7 Jan. 2020.
What gave you the courage to stay in the fight?
The courage came just from being clear about my identity and also having made a promise to my father in maintaining my faith and the requisite identity that comes from being committed to the Sikh faith. So, the courage was just being clear about my own identity and then not allowing the forces at the time to sway me and dissuade me from my faith and my commitment to my way of life.
How did you maintain a living during the court case time?
The court case actually occurred after I was accepted into the RCMP. So, once I got accepted into the RCMP, the issue didn't die. It wasn't settled, there were a group of people that then took the case to first the provincial courts and then the supreme court, arguing that I should not have been allowed into the RCMP to modify the uniform in accommodating the turban, in the Sikh dress code. So there was a chance, that if they had been successful in court that I would have then been dismissed from the RCMP. However, the Canadian constitution and our charter rights prevailed, and I was allowed to continue on with being a police officer.
Were there any personal physical/verbal attacks on you?
Personal, yes, prior to even coming into the RCMP there were a number of times when I had to confront folks that disagreed with the stands that I had taken, and that also occurred when I was in the RCMP and I was doing my training. There were instances where there were comments and remarks that were made, and then once I got into the RCMP while I was doing the job, I certainly had a situation where there had been threats that had been made directly to me. Against my life, and also threats of physical violence while I was going through training, and also when I was out in the field, serving as a police officer. The abuse came when I was on active duty out in the field, and, like many other police officers, who also suffered abuse. However, I got special treatment because I was different than everybody else and I certainly was a magnet for some of that abuse that was racially charged. But there were also very many people that were very supportive of the stands that I had taken. So, I do want to balance the fact that there were a number of folks that were very supportive and were in a place of support when I went through this. It was not just one-sided. There were those who also stepped forward and lent their voice in support of the fact that I had made this decision to maintain my faith.
Are you proud of what you stood for and happy with the outcome of your career?
I'm certainly very proud of what I've accomplished as a police officer and very grateful that I'd had the opportunity to serve in the RCMP over the years. I don't know if I would use the word "proud" to describe how I felt at the time. When I first joined the RCMP, I think what I would say was that I was proud to become an RCMP officer, but I was very much very hopeful in what Canada had to offer, and what Canada stood for when it came through for me. So, I'm certainly very proud of all that I've done in the RCMP and all that I've been able to accomplish with my other mates in the RCMP. But grateful. What I felt at the time was just an incredible sense of gratitude for a country that lived up to its promise of honoring and really protecting individual rights.
Were there any big struggles that you faced other than this uniform service issue?
I think the greatest struggle was simply getting into the RCMP, and the next struggle was proving myself within the RCMP. Because I think, just getting into the RCMP was just part of the challenge. The other challenge was once in the RCMP to ensure that I lived up to the expectations of the organization and then also facing some of the racism entrenched in the institution because there were many police officers that were already in the organization that didn't agree with this particular change and acknowledgment of our chartered rights. So there were times when I was in the organization, I had to face challenges and difficulties from my own colleagues who didn't agree with the change. An example of that was when on my first day when my own superior officer shared that with me and told me that he didn't agree with it. So it was an uphill battle from the get-go, and I certainly had along the way many instances where I was precluded from opportunities, precluded from work, and effort, that other police officers would not have had to even ask for and they were afforded those opportunities. I had to do extra, I had to work and prove myself beyond what any other regular officer would have had to do. So for the first decade at least, there was this continued sort of work and extra effort that was required on my part, just to be treated the same as other police officers in the RCMP.
At your workplace, did you feel more support or more harassment in the initial years after joining?
That lessened over the years. I think as time went on, as I proved myself to be a competent police officer, as I established my own space, and also abilities and demonstrated that I was no different than anybody else. The harassment, the discrimination, that question, that doubt, lessened over the years. And then as I went into specialized areas within policing, I was a member of an elite interrogation team, I was led an intelligence team and created the first intelligence structure in British Colombia at the Provincial and the Federal level, so once I was able to demonstrate and prove my competence as a police officer, the harassment lessened, the questions and the doubt lessened, and I established a strong position and a strong reputation, and that then opened up other opportunities and then I had many people, many members, and colleagues and other folks that stood by me and spoke on my behalf. And if I had have achieved the success I have in the RCMP, retiring as a senior officer, then it's because of the fact that I was able to demonstrate that I was no less and actually more than any other police officer and that my faith and what I wore on my head, and my adherence to my principles and discipline actually made me a better police officer and that that was a plus, not a minus.
What is your message to the current generation of Sikh children?
My message to not to compromise who you are. To first be clear about your own identity, recognize your own self, and develop strong principles and discipline through that you would not compromise, that they would not compromise, for anyone. Once you are settled in that and once you understand it, then you know to pursue whatever you choose to pursue and not to be moved away from who you are and your own identity. And to understand your identity, it's also important to understand your history and your legacy. It's really difficult to establish an identity if you don't know where you came from, who you connect with, and who your forefathers were, and what they have already established as a foundation for you. And now, you simply need to take advantage of that, take what is already been left behind as a legacy, claim it as our birthright, and from there, collect and take advantage of that courage and strength that's already inherent within that identity and allow that to open up pathways and roads ahead. So my simple message to the youth and generation today is first, know who you are. And when you know that, then stay steadfast.
Dhillon, Baltej Singh. Uniform Image and Anti-Turban Pin. .bmp & .jpg file. I got these images from Baltej Singh Dhillon from his scrapbook via email. I used them on the "Thesis/home" and "Barrier" pages of my website.
Mattis, Jim. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis meets with Canada's Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 9, 2017. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr). 9 Nov. 2017. flickr, 9 Nov. 2017, www.flickr.com/photos/secdef/37569965574/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020. I used this image in one of my webpages.
"RCMP Staff Sgt. Baltej S. Dhillon Says Canadians Have a Right to Be Free from Persecution." YouTube, uploaded by Vancouver Sun, Google, 28 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wbavOM1l8I&feature=youtu.be. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. I used this video on the "impact" page of my website.
Aulakh, Gurmit Singh. "For Sikh Independence." New York Times [New York City], 14 Feb. 1992, Opinion sec. New York Times, www.nytimes.com/1992/02/14/opinion/l-for-sikh-independence-367792.html. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020. From this article, I found out that in 1947 (when British left India), Sikhs made up 50 percent of Indian Army officers, 38 percent of the air force, and 33 percent of combat soldiers.
Baker, Rafferty. "As He Readies for New Role, 1st Mountie to Wear Turban Reflects on RCMP Career." CBC News, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 5 Aug. 2019, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/baltej-dhillon-1st-turban-wearing-rcmp-officer-retires-1.5233535. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. I used this quote:
"I'll dress up in my coat of red / And wear my laundry on my head," part of the poem reads. "It's much better, they'll decide / If we ride camels in the musical ride."
I also used two images on the "Barrier" page of my website.
Dao, James. "Taking On Rules to Ease Sikhs' Path to the Army." The New York Times, 7 July 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/us/taking-on-rules-so-other-sikhs-join-the-army.html. Accessed 26 Jan. 2020. I used two images and some text on the "relevance" page.
Dutt, Ela. "California town changes policy to accommodate articles of faith on duty." News India Times, 3 Jan. 2020, www.newsindiatimes.com/california-town-changes-policy-to-accommodate-articles-of-faith-on-duty/. Accessed 26 Jan. 2020. On the "relevance" page, I used one image and the information about Irvine, CA Police Department Policy.
Foot, Richard. "Baltej Dhillon Case." The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, 6 Aug. 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/baltej-dhillon-case. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. This article reaffirmed freedom of religion as enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada. The courts upheld the modifications in uniform policy as changes had previously been made in 1974 to accommodate women officers. Officer Dhillon lived up to the expectations of a mountie with a distinguished career of 30 years in the force.
Jain, Ajit. "Today, nobody notices my turban, says RCMP's first turbaned cop." Rediff. Rediff, news.rediff.com/report/2010/may/12/baltej-dhillon-rcmp-on-20-years-in-the-force.htm. Accessed 25 Jan. 2020. I just used the title of this article: "Today, nobody notices my turban, says RCMP's first turbaned cop".
Madra, Amandeep Singh, and Parmjit Singh. Warrior Saints: Three Centuries of the Sikh Military Tradition. New Delhi, Timeless Books, 1999. The Battle of Saragarhi is one of the eight stories of collective bravery published by UNESCO and is rated as one of the most courageous actions in the annals of military history (page 105).
Even 20 years after the British left India, Sikhs accounted for 20% of the commissioned officers, and 40% of India's brigadiers and 45% of majors-general were Sikh (page 166).
I also used 3 images on the "context" page.
The National. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 15 Mar. 1990. CBC Digital Archives, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1990-sikh-mounties-permitted-to-wear-turbans. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. I used the video and information about the court case on the "Breaking the Barrier" page of my website.