**5. Discussion**

#### *5.1. Overlooking a Far Greater Crisis: Johal Represents the Problems of South Asian Masculinity*

Johal's legacy is hard to situate within a singular narrative, because it does not clearly fall under the hero or villain category. On the one hand, Johal is perceived as some contemporary folk devil, and his legacy remains harmful for its ability to seduce a new generation of Punjabi boys into gangs. This narrative stands in stark contrast to a more sympathetic view of Johal by highlighting the racial barriers he was able to overcome. Through an exaggerated performance of masculinity, one characterized by displays of aggression and hypersexuality, Johal became an icon for the newly emancipated South Asian male, free them from their subordinated position on the hegemonic masculine hierarchy.

The ambiguous gray area that the legend of Bindy Johal appears to fall under is easier to understand within the context of deviance admiration and the idolization of criminals. For instance, Johal's cult hero status stems from his symbolic resistance to the perceived racial injustices that have plagued Punjabi young men in that region. Duncan (1991) suggests that criminals become admired when their criminal acts are seen as a response to a prior injustice or wrong that has befallen them, which, in Johal's case, would be his many gang-related activities that are attributed to bullying and racism. This is a point Anju makes:

Well it starts o ff with the bullying. Many of the South Asians gangs started because of racism. That they were beaten up, young Sikh boys that had their patkas [Sikh turban for young males] ripped o ff, a 13-year-old would be kicked by a 17-year-old. Total humiliation and so Sikhs wanted to, or South Asians primarily Sikhs, wanted to actually defend themselves and they go<sup>t</sup> together. Initially they were gangs to protect themselves and then you ge<sup>t</sup> into illegal drugs. So, I think there's a big history of that and Bindy Johal.

Racism and bullying against South Asians is clearly framed as the injustice and necessary precursor to gang involvement, which were initially formed out of a need for protection and a line of defense against physical violence. Drug o ffenses and other material benefits for gang involvement are deemed as secondary motivations for gang-involvement, and came after as an added bonus, according to Anju. Anju's account illustrates how some may admire Johal when his actions are born out of an injustice, making it easier to romanticize him and rationalize his actions for the "greater good" of a racialized community. Yet, most are not willing to reconcile the impartible harm he has caused and the violence he has inflicted and continues to inflict after his death. For them, Johal remains a folk devil to pin gang violence on, which appears to be the more dominant of the narratives coming from that region, as it is the most supported by o fficial agents of social control.

This provokes a fundamental question: what is the overall consequence of these competing narratives on his legacy? While both images of Johal's legacy appear contradictory, they do share an important relationship, a connection that is best understood within the context of how crises are policed. In the seminal work by Hall et al. (1978), a moral panic over muggings in 1960s and 1970s Britain was manufactured by o fficial agents, like the police, to divert the attention of the public from the poor economic conditions brought on by the recession. As a consequence, young Black youths were framed as a threat, and the folk devils associated with the "wave of muggings", overshadowing the more pervasive and significant economic crisis of the time.

Under a more nuanced interpretation of Hall et al. (1978), it is apparent that Bindy Johal has also been similarly imagined as a threat to the moral functioning of the community and the source of the community's gang problem. Yet, those who frame Johal as a folk devil might be doing so less purposefully, as Hall et al. (1978) sugges<sup>t</sup> happens when crises develop. In other words, the moral panic over Johal's influence over young Punjabi men might not be a manufactured crisis, but one that has organically developed but still produces the same e ffect. Specifically, this crisis misplaces blame for gang involvement on an individual who is easy to blame, rather than addressing a far greater crisis surrounding Punjabi masculinity. Thus, in this case, a crisis over Punjabi masculinity for working-class

boys serves as the overarching problem that goes unnoticed by central figures in the discourses on gang violence that have emerged in that region. Introspection as to why Johal may have turned to gangs is largely overshadowed by the perceived harm he is believed to have caused and continues to inflict in British Columbia.

Girard's framework on mimetic rivalry and scapegoating can also be used to understand the demonization of Johal in the region. The intra-racial violence among Punjabi young men is indictive of the mimetic rivalry Girard articulates. Essentially, competing conceptions of izzat (honor) and masculinity breeds the violence being witnessed in Western Canada, which at its core is centered on the belief that young men are imitating Bindy Johal. This makes him an easy scapegoa<sup>t</sup> to posthumously blame gang violence on, while downplaying or ignoring how as a social figure, Johal animates notions of masculinity, class, and izzat among disenfranchised Punjabi boys in the region.

#### *5.2. Sikh Warriors: From Terrorism to Gangsterism and Its Long History of British Columbia*

No analysis on Johal would be complete without understanding the local history of the region, and the development of panics that have impacted the sizable Sikh community in British Columbia. A significant number of Sikhs have settled in British Columbia, where they have continued to follow and practice their religion. Indeed, the free practice of one's religion is a fundamental belief of Sikhism, of which Sikhs are willing to protect if threatened. Indeed, Sikhism was founded in the 16th century Northern India as a distinct religion from majority Hindu and Muslim population. While living relatively peacefully, Sikh warriors emerged in the 17th century to fight against the reigning Mughal Empire and their often-violent campaigns of forced conversions to Islam. This signified the transformation of Sikhs from a passive and relatively peaceful religion to that of the, the religious warrior or solider (Razavy 2006). The image of the warrior Sikh became an important symbol, and has been appropriated by some when perceived cultural and religious threats arise. In fact, the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is unique, in that the very image of the warrior Sikh has become a part of that region's history and the source of two moral panics, one over terrorism and the other over gangs.

The fear of religious extremism centres on the Khalistani movement, a collective of individuals advocating for a separate Sikh state in Northern Punjab, India. The separatist movement caused significant political violence and turmoil in India including three important watershed moments: (1) the storming of the Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple and the Sikh's holiest site, by the Indian army; (2) the revenge assassination of India's Prime Minster, Indira Gandhi, in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguard; and (3) the retaliatory violence against Sikhs by Hindu nationalists upset over Gandhi's killing. Noteworthy is that British Columbia has the largest Sikh population outside of India, where they tend to form dense ethnic enclaves in cities like Surrey, Richmond, Delta, and Abbotsford (Todd 2012).

While drawing on support across the globe, including in Ontario, the UK and the United States, British Columbia appears to have been the epicenter of the West's engagemen<sup>t</sup> with the pro-separatist Khalistani movement, becoming a part of the local culture and Sikh diaspora. With political violence in India against their people, coupled with a profound sense of isolation and a feeling of not belonging to Canada, the movement may have o ffered disenfranchised Khalistanis, who are generally more traditionally dressed turbaned-Sikhs, a sense of community and purpose (Chakraborty 2015).

Activist Harjit notes the regions connection to the Khalistani movement:

The Khalistani movement is still very prevalent in the mentality around here. In a lot of the Gurdwaras around here, they worship guys like Bhindranwale. That whole Khalistani movement is big here, where they want a separatist mentality from India. They want their own Sikh Khalistan right. (Harjit, interview, 29 August 2016)

As a result, the Khalistani movement flourished in British Columbia and local figures emerged to contribute to the fight for an independent Sikh state in India. Consequently, Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) in Vancouver, Surrey, West Minister and Abbotsford were taken over by pro-separatist groups as sources of fundraising (Razavy 2006). This culminated in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, killing all 329 passengers, the majority of which were Indo-Canadians. This attack was believed to be planned and carried out by members of the Babbar Khalsa, a leading Khalistani group in British Columbia as a message to India's governmen<sup>t</sup> (Singh and Singh 2008). Acts of violence in the name of a free-Khalistan are often celebrated, admired, or respected as warriors by supporters sympathetic to the cause (Dorn and Gucciardi 2017). Thus, those who carry out political violence are likely perceived as more modern-day soldiers fighting against threats to Sikh sovereignty akin to the religion's early leaders who fought against Islamic rule.

Although Sikhism encourages carrying on the warrior tradition, typically as soldiers, it does not support criminal gang membership (Dorn and Gucciardi 2017). Interestingly, despite this, the Sikh warrior or solider label has been appropriated by gangsters or those sympathetic to figures like Bindy Johal to frame their criminality. First, as Anju notes above, Punjabi youth initially joined gangs because of bullying, particularly turbaned Sikh boys who had their "patkas ripped o ff". Thus, in the face of threats to their religion by racist bullies, gangs were formed by people like Johal from a sense of solidarity, protection, and fighting against racial and religious bigotry. Former gangster Diljit explains the connection between gangs and the image of the Sikh warrior: "I think even for a lot of your young people, we're looking for something to fight. And you know, Sikhism, it's go<sup>t</sup> a brave warrior tradition." (Diljit, interview, 15 August 2016) For Diljit, the warrior mentality that gang members like him developed stems from religious notions of the brave warrior fending o ff threats to individual liberty and cultural identity.

O fficer Scott makes a related statement: "I think Sikhism talks about the Sikh as the warrior, right? And I think that many of the youth are misinterpreting the teachings of the temple, right? They're not hearing the full message of the guru, right?" (Scott, interview, 29 September 2016). O fficer Scott attributes the gang involvement of young Punjabi men to a misguided interpretation of Sikh scripture and the purpose of warriorhood. Harjit expands a bit on Scott's statement:

I think the whole Khalistani, we're warriors, we come from a Sikh background. When words don't work, pick up swords, that kind of Guru Gobind Singh mentality. They carry that around. That might come from a religious standpoint or just their cultural upbringing, but I don't think it's a huge factor. (Harjit, interview, 29 August 2016)

For Harjit, the warrior mentality plays some role in the gang involvement of Punjabi boys in the region, albeit acknowledging that it may not be as influential as other factors. Nevertheless, these narratives sugges<sup>t</sup> that Sikh tradition and the image of the warrior/solider/sant has been especially potent in British Columbia and connected to the moral panics around gangs and terrorism. Johal, the warrior, was a symbolic figure who stood up to racial bullying Sikh's experienced, while those involved in the Khalistani movement are similarly admired by some for their fight against perceived injustices related to a lack of true homeland. A main issue of the Sikh diaspora is local integration and the loss of the Sikh identity and living on the outside of the homeland (Kalra et al. 2005). Considering the challenges posed by integration and identity loss, with the added experience of bullying and racism, disenfranchised Punjabi-Sikhs in Canada may attach themselves to figures that fight perceived injustices, whether that be a lack of true homeland or threats to their masculinity.

This produces a local cultural phenomenon where the image of the warrior is appropriated mostly by disenfranchised Sikh men, and they engage in behavior that is otherwise deemed deviant and criminal by society at large. In some ways, the principle of "fighting for the homeland" is adopted by the Punjabi gangster, who imagines the home/nation quite di fferently than the Separatist. For some second-generation youth born and raised in British Columbia, there may be a lack of connection to Punjab and Khalistan as the true Sikh homeland. Further, on account of racial discrimination and feelings of social exclusion from Western society, Canada may not truly feel like home either for those young men. This creates an interesting tension where competing conceptions of masculinity, honor, and finding a "home" play out in the form of gang violence and o ffending in British Columbia.
