Christina VarvisA poster in Rutherford North was one of several taken down by university officials on Monday.
“Fu*k your turban,” the posters read, displaying a Sikh man. “If you’re so obsessed with your third-world culture, go the fu*k back to where you came from.”
The bottom of the poster listed the website of Immigration Watch Canada, an anti-immigration organization that advocates for a dramatic reduction of immigration and believes “there are cultural limits to the number of people any country can absorb.”
In 2014, similar posters featuring Immigration Watch Canada appeared at York University in Toronto and in Brampton, Ontario.
Lovely incident of racism and xenophobia at @ualberta. I wonder if they will put out an official statement condemning this disgusting act pic.twitter.com/11hI1GMFeS
— pietro maximoff (@brxwncanadian) September 19, 2016
A statement from President David Turpin said the “disturbing racist posters” were removed, and University of Alberta Protective Services are searching for the parties responsible. If any new posters appear, they will be removed immediately.
“The University of Alberta is a space that is open to all people and we take pride in the strength of our diverse community,” Turpin said.
Yadvinder Bhardwaj, president of the Indian Students’ Association, said they condemn the “shocking” and “disheartening” message.
“I don’t believe it’s an extremist reaction,” Bhardwaj said. “It’s a foolish thing done by (a few) people.”
Roughly 2,500 students at the U of A are Indian. Of these students, 40 per cent are from the Punjab region, which contains a high proportion of Sikhs, Bhardwaj said.
Mukhbir Singh, president of the World Sikh Organization (WSO), said in a statement that the Ontario posters similar to those found at the U of A were a “pathetic attempt at drawing the spotlight to deplorable views that have been rejected in Canada.” The Ontario posters claimed that York University student population in the 60s was 100 per cent while, and that soon “whites will be the minority.”
The WSO’s Alberta vice-president, Tejinder Singh Sidhu, added that the posters don’t reflect Canada’s inclusiveness.
“We know that the University of Alberta and the larger Edmonton community stand in solidarity with Sikh Canadians in saying that this type of messaging is not welcome,” he said.
Despite the poster incident, Bhardwaj insisted Canada and the U of A are safe places, but some antisocial people insist causing fear in new international students.
“New students come from India every year,” he said. “If they see this kind of event, obviously it creates some kind of distress.”
