Thousands showed up in Burnaby to participate in the annual parade to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas, a revolutionary saint of India – who had raised his voice against the caste based oppression against Dalits or the so called Untouchables.

Defying drizzling, people came out in big number on Saturday to attend 636th birth celebrations organized under the aegis of the Burnaby based Sri Guru Ravidas Sabha. The speakers emphasized to continue struggle against social injustices in the form of racism and casteism both in India and Canada.

In his brief speech before the beginning of the parade, the former BC Premier of BC, Ujjal Dosanjh insisted that the fight against caste based discrimination has to continue as many Indo Canadians have brought this problem with them to Canada. He also added that the continued discrimination against the indigenous peoples in Canada also needs to be stopped as a tribute to great men like Guru Ravidas.

The NPD MLA Raj Chouhan also denounced social injustices against the weaker sections of the society in Canada.

Others, who spoke on the occasion, included the MP Peter Julian, Burnaby Mayor Derrick Corrigan, Councilor Sav Dhaliwal, Burnaby School Trustee Harman Pandher, Counsel General of India in Vancouver, Ravi Shankar Aisola, Khalsa Diwan Society President Sohan Singh Deo and the coordinator of the parade, Lehmber Rao.

The Premier Christy Clark too sent her greetings to the organizers.

A prominent Dalit activist and author visiting from India, S.L. Birdi also joined the parade.

The pictures of Guru Ravidas and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution and a Dalit icon greeted visitors from almost all the floats in the march. The third most striking portrait accompanying these men was that of Mangu Ram Muggowal, a former Ghadar activist who later became the leader of a powerful Dalit emancipation movement in Punjab. The Ghadar Party was launched by revolutionaries based in North America to overthrow British regime in India through armed rebellion. This year is the centenary of the Ghadar Party.
Muggowal’s son, Dharamvir Gangar was in the crowd.

The East Indian Defense Committee and its allies organized an exhibition of the pictures of the Ghadar heroes on the occasion. Besides, the parade included a float dedicated to the victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. The float was prepared by the Mehak Punjab Di TV host Kamaljit Thind. The British forces had fired indiscriminately on the supporters of the passive resistance movement in Amritsar in 1919 leaving more than 300 people dead.

The leaders of the Ambedkar Federation, including Paramjit Kainth and Kamlesh Ahir also joined the parade apart from a group of social justice activists, Chetna Association. Among those present were the Association President, Surinder Ranga, and its founder members, Jai Birdi and Gurmit Sathi.

Sathwik Karnik, a 12-year-old son of Indian immigrants, cruised to victory Wednesday in the 2013 National Geographic Bee, nailing questions about obscure island chains, bodies of water, global trade and culture, according to the Associated Press.

Sathwik, of Massachusetts, correctly named Chimborazo as the mountain in Ecuador that represents the farthest point from the Earth’s centre to clinch the title. He got all five questions right in his one-on-one duel with the runner-up, 13-year-old Conrad Oberhaus of Illinois.

Sathwik pushed ahead of Conrad on the second question, correctly naming Baotou as the largest city in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is home to one of the world’s largest deposits of rare-earth elements. While Conrad didn’t miss another question, Sathwik never relinquished the lead.

It was Sathwik’s first appearance in the National Geographic Bee finals — but he might have made it earlier if not for his 15-year-old brother, Karthik, who beat him twice in the Massachusetts state bee. Karthik finished 5th in the national bee in 2011 and sixth in 2012.

“I’m just shocked,” Sathwik said. “I didn’t think I could win. I thought I would end up somewhere in the top 10.”

When her boys were in elementary school, Sathwik’s mother, Rathma Karnik, had them play games with an atlas instead of hide-and-seek, asking them to be the first to find a city, body of water or landmark.

Rathma and her husband, who both work in the software industry, emigrated from near Mangalore, India, in 2002. Indian-American children have dominated both the geography bee and the Scripps National Spelling Bee in recent years. The boy’s father said the trend can be attributed to coming from a country of 1.2 billion people.

“That brought us the competitive spirit,” he said. “If we don’t work hard and put forth our best effort, we can’t succeed in this world.”

Sathwik led throughout the final round of the 25th geography bee and was the last contestant to get a question wrong. Participants earned between 1 and 5 points for each correct answer, with the harder questions worth more points, and the competitors with the lowest scores were eliminated at various points in the competition. He wins a $25,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society.

Sathwik, who stands 4-foot-11 (150 centimetres) and has the fuzzy outline of a moustache on his upper lip, said he was nervous at first because he had never been on television before, but he became more comfortable as he rattled off a string of correct answers.

Conrad gets a $15,000 scholarship for finishing second. Ricky Uppaluri of Georgia, at 11 the youngest of the final 10, was third and receives a $10,000 scholarship. Akhil Rekulapelli of Virginia, finished fourth and won $1,000 in cash.

Gunmen kidnapped the father of Afghanistan’s national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials said Friday, according to Associated Press.

There has been no ransom demand since Mohammad Nabi’s 60-year-old father Khobi Khan was abducted from his car in the city of Jalalabad, cricket board president Shazada Masoud said.

Police are searching for Khan, but there have been no leads or any contact since he was taken Tuesday morning, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the province of Nangarhar, where Jalalabad is the capital.

Masoud said he’s spoken to Nabi, who says his family has no personal disputes and he is shocked at the abduction. Kidnapping is fairly common in Afghanistan amid the violence of the Taliban insurgency.

Nabi has been influential in promoting Afghan cricket. He learned to play while at age 10 while living in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.

The 28-year-old Nabi was the architect of Afghanistan’s progress to cricket World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in 2009 and was named national team captain in March.

Alberta Progressive Conservatives are chiding the Wildrose party over comments on the party’s Facebook page by people angry at Leader Danielle Smith for attending a Sikh parade, according to The Canadian Press.

Photos taken at the Calgary event earlier this month show Smith wearing a head scarf while she stands smiling with members of the Sikh community.

Two comments were, “I like you, but this photo is inappropriate. You represent Alberta, not India. When did Wildrose change?”, and “If you emulate the Muslim faith, I will NEVER vote for you.”

Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar said in a news release Wednesday that such racism and bigotry has no place in Alberta, adding that if the Wildrose had changed, it would have not left them up for nearly a week.

Bhullar said he was at the parade with Smith and it was “extremely disappointing” that she hadn’t commented on the postings.

Smith apologized, saying her party should have been more diligent in moderating their comment page over the long weekend, but as soon as they saw the postings, they removed them.

“I agree with Minister Bhullar, some of the comments were disgusting and out of line and bigoted and there is no place in our party for that kind of attitude.

“If people won’t vote for me because I celebrate our cultural diversity, then good riddance.

“We’re a party that embraces all people of all background and culture. The only way to confront bigotry is head-on, so I intend to continue going and celebrating our cultural events all over the province.”

Bhullar said Smith “needs to issue an immediate apology for the reprehensible behaviour of her party’s supporters.”

Smith said she has no idea if the posters are Wildrose members or supporters, adding it’s irrelevant because there’s no place for their comments.

“We get hundreds and hundreds of comments on my Facebook page and we do have staff that regularly delete inappropriate comments. We missed a few this weekend, I apologize for that. It in no way reflects my views or the views of my MLAs or our party.”

A newer model Porsche abandoned on the Spirit of Vancouver Island at Tsawwassen terminal Wednesday night delayed the vessel’s final sailing by more than an hour while B.C. Ferries staff and police scrambled to find the owner.

B.C. Ferries’ cameras captured images of the car as it and its lone male driver went through the ticket booth and onto the ferry at Swartz Bay. But when the ship docked at Tsawwassen at 8:50 p.m., the Porche was left behind as all other vehicles disembarked.

Delta police traced the licence plates and phoned the driver’s cellphone, said B.C. Ferries spokesman Darin Guenette.

If police are to believe the story, the fast car did not have a quick driver.

“He said he forgot, and got the bus,” Guenette said Wednesday night.

Police were dealing with the matter but when they tried to call the driver back, he wasn’t answering his phone.

Upon inspection, police discovered the vehicle was uninsured. The case has been handed over to the Vancouver Police Department.

At 10:15, the ferry left Tsawwassen for its final sailing back to Vancouver Island — 75 minutes late.