More than 300 supporters of Laibar Singh attended a Sikh temple in Abbotsford yesterday to mark his one year in sanctuary.
Yesterday's service capped three days of celebrations in support of Laibar Singh, who holed up in the Abbotsford Sahib Kalgidhar Darbar Gurudwara to prevent deportation to his native India.
While those faced with deportation from Canada have often sought sanctuary in Christian churches, Singh's year-long stay at the temple is believed to be the first time a Sikh temple has been used as a place of sanctuary.
Officials tried to deport paralyzed refugee claimant Laibar Singh in December but more than 1,000 supporters surrounded his cab at Vancouver International Airport and blocked his departure.
Supporter Harsha Walia said the Canadian Border Services Agency hasn't told Singh what is in store for him.
When the CBSA tried to deport Singh in December, more than 1,000 Sikh supporters blocked the ring road at Vancouver International Airport in order to prevent Singh from making his flight back to India.
The CBSA, caught up in the furor over the Taser death of Robert Dziekanski in October, refused to move into the hostile crowd, where Singh was seated in the back of a cab.
When the plane that was to have carried Singh back to India departed, the crowd broke up and Singh returned to his Abbotsford sanctuary.
"Sanctuary is always hard to predict," said Walia. "Different sanctuary scenarios play out differently.
"We held three days of services to recognize the one year in sanctuary."
"It's not an easy task."
The CBSA has had difficulty, in part, because Singh is confined to a wheelchair, and his supporters claim he'll have problems just surviving the plane ride and then won't be able to find adequate medical care in India.
Some members of the public believe the wheelchair-bound Singh should be entitled to compassion, while others can't understand why Canadian tax dollars are paying his huge medical bills.
Walia said CBSA officials have entered the Abbotsford temple to speak with Singh.
"In the past few weeks, Canada Border Services Agency officials have been visiting Laibar Singh in sanctuary without any prior notice or consent," she said.
"While they are not overly threatening removal, the entering of sanctuary is of concern as a potential violation of the integrity of the sanctuary of the gurudwara."
-By Ian Austin, The Province
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