A Canadian politician, Jagmeet Singh is being lauded on social media for his calm response to aggressive and hateful comments by a woman during a campaign event in Brampton, Ontario. The attendees of the gathering were left shocked after a woman identified as Jennifer charged at Jagmeet and said, “We know you’re in bed with Sharia. We know you’re in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The woman refused to stop and step away even while the organisers made an effort to calm her down. Jagmeet Singh was applauded for not losing his cool and for constantly asking the audience to not be intimidated by hate. “We believe in love and courage. We don’t want to be intimidated by hate, we don’t want hatred to ruin a positive event. So let’s show people how to treat someone with love: We welcome you. We love you. We support you,” Jagmeet Singh said in the video.
You can watch the video here:
Responding to the comments once the video went viral, Jagmeet said that he purposely chose not to answer the questions raised by the angry woman in the belief that “hate is wrong”.
With #LoveAndCourage pic.twitter.com/eRbuvOWNJX
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) September 10, 2017
Here are 7 things you should know about the Sikh politician running for Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP):
1. Jagmeet is the first “turban Sikh” to sit in the legislature and to hold a deputy leader position in Canada.
2. Singh was born in Scarborough and spent a brief period of time in Punjab, India before finishing his higher studies in Newfoundland.
3. Before entering politics, Jagmeet Singh practised as a criminal defence lawyer in Brampton.
4. Singh is a mixed martial arts specialist and has competed in the United States and Canada in Brazilian ju-jitsu.
5. Jagmeet Singh reportedly was the first elected official to be denied a visa to visit India by the Indian government in 2013. “The government of India, like any other government, has a sovereign right to grant or refuse a visa to any foreign individual and it is not obliged to give any justification or explanation for exercising this prerogative,” Indian Consul-General Akhilesh Mishra had said.
6. Jagmeet had asserted that it was during his time as a criminal defence lawyer that he understood the problems that the youth faced. While speaking about how he got interested in Canadian politics, Jagmeet Singh had said that he became sensitive to unfairness after facing significant racism while growing up as a brown kid with long hair.
7. He commutes to work daily on his bike.
Source: GQ, thestar.com
