‘There should be no controversy’: Regina Sikh community responds to racist Trudeau makeup

As the majority of Canadians shame Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for wearing racist makeup years ago, the president of the Sikh Society of Regina doesn’t see the point.

On Wednesday, a 2001 yearbook photo surfaced of Trudeau, showing him dressed up as Aladdin with his face and hands darkened by makeup. Soon after, another photo and a video of Trudeau in blackface from the 1990s were released by national news outlets.

Politicians and everyday Canadians alike have widely denounced Trudeau’s actions as racist and hurtful. The Liberal leader has since apologized multiple times.

However, Bikramjit Singh, the president of the Sikh Society of Regina, said Thursday he doesn’t feel Trudeau needed to say sorry.

“He apologized two, three times and he didn’t have to do that,” Singh said. “Wearing a turban and wearing that face paint, to me, I don’t think he did anything bad.”

Instead, Singh said he sees the whole affair as a celebration of his East Indian culture.

“I love to see that sometimes white people wear (traditional Indian clothing). I love that — I have no offence to that,” he said.

After talking to local Sikhs, Singh noted most of them feel the same way he does.

“About 70 per cent say yes (they’re unaffected by it) while the other 30 per cent are against it, but I can’t talk about that 30 (per cent). So far, to me, I have no problem with that,” Singh said. “There should be no controversy.”