Jagmeet Singh Responds To A Tweet About His Turban & Says 'People Try To Make Us Feel Less Than'
A tweet from a Canadian columnist seemed to trivialize the NDP leader's turban.
Jagmeet Singh at a government meeting on March 8, 2023, wearing a turban that a columnist tweeted about.
Jagmeet Singh has responded after a Canadian columnist posted what people are calling a racist tweet that seemed to downplay the significance of his turban.
The NDP leader said that "some people try to make us feel less than" for wearing turbans and shared a hopeful message of pride and belonging.
In a now-deleted tweet that was posted on March 8, 2023, Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley shared a photo of Singh wearing a yellow turban at a committee meeting at which he was questioning grocery store CEOs.
"Jagmeet looks like he wore his No Name turban today just to grill Galen Weston at committee," Lilley tweeted. "I know he changes the colours for special days or [occasions] but didn't expect to see No Name yellow today. Is it on purpose or a coincidence?"
Quite a few people responded to the tweet and told the columnist to delete it and apologize to Singh.
Others also called the remarks racist, including Liberal MP Harjit Sajjan, who responded with a photo of himself wearing a turban.
"Check out my No Name turban," Sajjan tweeted. "#RacismWillNeverBeTolerated."
Then, a few days later, on March 10, Lilley deleted the tweet and posted about the situation without directly apologizing to the NDP leader.
"I have deleted a previous tweet that has caused controversy and been seen as insensitive. That was not the intent and I apologize to those who I offended. The tweet has therefore been deleted," he said.
Just a short while after the tweet was deleted, Singh tweeted a response to the comment about his turban.
"I've had lots of great conversations about why I wear a turban and what it means. But some people try to make us feel less than," he said.
"I think of how that hurts kids especially," Singh continued. "To them I say: Be who you are. Have pride in all you bring to the table. You belong."
He also shared a photo of himself as a child wearing a patka, which is a head covering Sikh youths wear to keep the kesh tidy. The head covering can also be worn by Sikh adults on its own or as an under-turban.
Singh's turban has been at the forefront of his political career and his personal life in recent years.
Back in 2019, the NDP leader put out an ad showing him without his turban that took aim at Quebec's Bill 21 which bans people from wearing religious symbols when working in public positions of authority.
Then, during the federal election campaign that year, Singh encountered someone in Montreal who told him to take his turban off to "look more like a Canadian."
"I think Canadians look like all sorts of people. That's the beauty of Canada," he responded.
In 2020, Singh posted a TikTok showing off his hair and an Instagram Live tutorial about how to tie a turban.
Later, he shared a TikTok of him teaching people how he puts his hair into a top knot without hair ties.
Also, in 2021, Singh responded to allegations that a former MP called his turban a "rag" and said that he's "no stranger to hate" but this isn't about him.
"It's about systemic racism in the halls of power and having the courage to confront it."