With the growing threat of right-wing Hindu extremism in India and its impact on the South Asian community abroad, the passing of a Burnaby-based Punjabi author and poet has left a huge void. Kulwant Singh Parmar, widely known by his pen name Nadeem, died on April 18 at the age of 89. A vocal critic of religious fundamentalism of every shade, he left a very deep impression on me.
His last novel Beeh Sau Pachee (2025 in English) was a powerful comment against the authoritarian and anti-minority Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in New Delhi. Attacks on religious minorities and political dissidents, including scholars, have increased ever since the BJP came to power in 2014.
Parmar, whose final breath came in the year that was the name of his last novel, was concerned about his birth country of India becoming a Hindu theocracy. He remembered how, at a very tender age, he had written a protest poem against the murder of Mahatma Gandhi by a Hindu extremist in 1948. He once recited it for me during an interview.
Gandhi was killed by those who believed in converting India into a Hindu state. BJP leaders continue to glorify those involved in the conspiracy.
Parmar also wrote poems that denounced policies of India’s current prime minister, Narendra Modi. It is a separate matter that Parmar was among those who welcomed Modi during his visit to the Ross Street Gurdwara in Vancouver in 2015.
The author and poet painfully explained his presence to me by saying that he was there only because of his involvement with the permanent exhibition about Sikh diaspora in Canada inside the building. But nothing stopped him from challenging Modi’s supremacy through his literary work.
Parmar will be missed
I knew him for a very long time. One of my cherished memories is him introducing me to a renowned author, Cathy Ostlere, who had written a young-adult novel on the Sikh genocide of 1984. Karma was perhaps the first time a Canadian author not of South Asian descent had addressed this topic through literature. It was the story of Maya, a girl born to a Hindu mother and a Sikh father. It takes readers to India in the early 1980s when a political crisis was brewing involving the Sikh minority.
Indian armed forces invaded the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, the holiest place for Sikhs, following allegations that religious extremists had fortified this holy sanctuary with weapons. The ensuing bloodshed during the first week of June 1984—and the sacrilege to what is the Sikh equivalent of the Vatican—sparked angry protests in Canada.
As a result, the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards in October 1984. Following her assassination, thousands of Sikhs were killed in mass murders across India organized by leaders of Gandhi’s Congress Party.
Ostlere was travelling in Nepal when Gandhi was murdered. She wished to go to Amritsar to visit Golden Temple, but Punjab was out of bounds for foreigners back then because of terrorism.
Though she never had an opportunity to speak to victims of violence and kept her feelings bottled up for years, she sensed a connection with the victims of 1984. In particular, she feels a bond with those whose close relatives went missing during these incidents. Her brother went missing while sailing, and was never found. She had earlier written her book Lost about him.
Memorial event scheduled in Chilliwack
Karma not only highlighted an issue that calls for international attention, but also has a very secular message. The story ends with a positive note of human bonding, despite widespread hatred and violence.
Because I had been writing about the events of 1984 for years, Parmar gave me the copy of Karma and connected me to Ostlere, who became a friend. We exchanged many thoughts on the subject. She also attended Parmar’s funeral service on April 26.
Last year was the 40th anniversary of Sikh genocide. I self published a children’s book on the subject titled 1984: When They Came for the Sikhs. Parmar helped me greatly in spreading the word in spite of his poor health and old age.
It is pertinent to mention that Modi chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 anti-Muslim genocide in that state. Although he was never charged, survivors and witnesses continue to accuse him of being involved in the massacre that followed a similar methodology applied on Sikhs in 1984 to polarize the Hindu majority.
Parmar was one of the rare voices of opposition against Modi in Canada and will always be missed.
Between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday (May 4), a memorial event will be held for Parmar at the YMCA (45844 Hocking Avenue) in Chilliwack. It’s being organized by another award winning progressive Punjabi-language author, Harkirat Kaur Chahal. who is vocal against bigotry. She was closely associated with Parmar and spent valuable time with him during his final days.
Gurpreet Singh is a B.C. author and co-founder of Radical Desi. Follow him on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia, Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social, and Instagram @PancouverMedia.
