Canada: Violent killing of activist shocks Indo-Canadian community in British Columbia
The unfortunate death of Manbir Mani Amar occurred on Wednesday. Amar made two films attacking gang culture within the Indo-Canadian community in the Metro Vancouver region in the province of British Columbia
TORONTO: The Indo-Canadian community in the Metro Vancouver region in the Canadian province of British Columbia is in a state of shock following the violent killing of an activist, who also made a mark in movies opposing gang culture.
The unfortunate death of Manbir Mani Amar occurred on Wednesday afternoon. At around 1.50pm, Surrey RCMP reacted to a “report of an altercation between two men. Upon police attendance, an adult male was located in medical distress. Despite all attempts by first responders to save the man’s life, he succumbed to his injuries on scene”.
A suspect has been arrested but not yet named, and the case is being investigated by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). Local media cited IHIT as stating he died due to an altercation with a neighbour escalating into violence.
Amar made two films attacking gang culture within the Indo-Canadian community in the region. A Warrior’s Religion in 2009 was described as “a poetic documentary on the epidemic issue of South Asian gang violence in Metro Vancouver”. It was self produced and took three years to complete. In 2011, he followed with Footsteps Into Gangland, is, according to its website, about “choices” and it features an underboss of a street gang attempting to recruit his cousin.
Balwant Sanghera of the South Asian Community Coalition against Youth Violence described his death as a “shock”. “He was a very talented person. He did a lot of work specially in the area of gang prevention. He had a very interesting way of communicating the message, conveying it to youth,” Sanghera said.
Sanghera also said Amar’s work through film complemented that of organisations like his. Karen Reid Sidhu, executive director of the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, tweeted that his death came as a “tremendous loss” and that he was “instrumental in working with vulnerable youth to steer them away from gang life.”
“Mani touched the lives of many individuals,” his brother Gurbinder said in a statement cited by the outlet Vancouver Sun.
No comments:
Post a Comment