It is red, but of maple

PATIALA: Born and brought up in non-descript Banbhaura village of Sangrur in Punjab, Liberal party candidate from Edmonton Mill Woods riding, Amarjit Sohi, surprised all by defeating minister in outgoing Harper government Tim Uppal in Canada with narrow margin of 80 votes. This is one of the closest winning margins witnessed by any riding (parliamentary constituency) in these Canadian elections.
However, it is not for the first time Sohi has shot to news back here in India. His name grabbed international headlines in 1988, when he was falsely implicated, kept in solitary confinement without any charge by Bihar police for 22 months and presented as "first catch" to establish that "Khalistani terrorists from Canada were training naxalites".
Sohi's village is located in Dhuri town of Sangrur. He had moved to Canada in 1981. His arrest had led to massive protests by India's Left and human rights organizations during those 22 months. Sohi was active in Canada-based Punjabi Sahit Sabha, which was vocal against activities of militants in Punjab. He returned to India and in November went to Bihar to attend a function of a cultural organization.
He was interested in studying the cultural movement unfolding in Bihar in response to peasant movement. When he was visiting interior areas of Bihar, state police arrested him and announced that they had catch Canada-trained Sikh militant, who was in Bihar to train naxalites.
Sohi was never formally charged under TADA as the Act has provision to keep any person in confinement without charge maximum for two years. Sohi went of seven-day hunger strike to get facilities available to other prisoners in the jail.
Police theory started falling apart by 1990. Indian court ordered his release in July 1990, and he returned to Canada after that.
"To me, this is about defeat of fear. This is about defeat of division, about saying no to the politics of fear. This is about embracing who we are as Canadians," Sohi told to Canada-based edmontonjournal.com news portal after his victory.
The last leg of campaign run by Sohi - who has served as councillor in Edmonton for the past eight years - was led by none other than Canada's PM designate Justin Trudeau on Sunday, just few hours before closing of canvassing.
Besides other local issues, Sohi had rigorously campaigned underscoring rights of immigrants and minorities in Canada. During peak of his campaign, he told TOI that his party was committed to granting more relaxation in laws and rules concerning immigrants.