A rightwing columnist’s “turban tweet” against NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has him tangled up in a racist mess of his own making with Sikh community saying why does Brian Lilley, a political columnist for the Toronto Sun, has to be twit on twitter. "Jagmeet looks like he wore his No Name turban today just to grill Galen Weston at committee," Lilley wrote, referencing Loblaws' iconic yellow generic brand. "I know he changes the colours for special days or occaision [sic] but didn't expect to see No Name yellow today. Is it on purpose or a coincidence?" Gurpreet Kaur Rai, a spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization, says Lilley’s comments crossed a line. “Extremely insensitive,   inappropriate, and hurtful, and I think there’s no room in Canadian discourse for comments like that to be disseminated,”said.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada

With News Files

TORONTO – A rightwing columnist’s “turban tweet” against NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has him tangled up in a racist mess of his own making with Sikh community saying why does Brian Lilley, a political columnist for the Toronto Sun, has to be twit on twitter.

On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee, which included Singh, gathered to hear testimony from Loblaws CEO Galen Weston about soaring food inflation and insecurity in Canada.

Singh, alongside the committee, pressed Weston for answers about whether he and other top grocery executives from Metro and Empire Co., which runs the chains Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo, are price gouging, reported Global News.

Lilley, who obviously gives little damn about Canadians being gouged, instead turned the focus on Singh, taking to Twitter to make fun of the colour of Singh’s yellow turban.

"Jagmeet looks like he wore his No Name turban today just to grill Galen Weston at committee," Lilley wrote, referencing Loblaws' iconic yellow generic brand. "I know he changes the colours for special days or occasion [sic] but didn't expect to see No Name yellow today. Is it on purpose or a coincidence?"

Immediately after posting, there were calls for Lilley to remove the tweet, which as of this writing, has been viewed 2.7 million times.

Sarah Hoffman, deputy leader of the NDP, replied to Lilley and called his tweet "racist."

"Is that on purpose or a coincidence?" she wrote, mocking Lilley's original post.

Gurpreet Kaur Rai, a spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization, says Lilley’s comments crossed a line.

“Extremely insensitive, inappropriate, and hurtful, and I think there’s no room in Canadian discourse for comments like that to be disseminated,” she told OMNI Television on Thursday.

She says Sikh Canadians are already visibly marginalized through their wearing of religious clothing like turbans.

“When we have journalists tweeting things like this and disseminating these types of comments, it’s extremely hurtful but it also creates a dangerous precedent in the wider Canadian society that these types of comments are okay and normalized when they’re really not,” she said.

“There’s no room for anybody to be making fun or making jokes about anybody’s articles of faith in Canada.”

Rai says Lilley should delete the tweet and offer an apology, adding the Toronto Sun should also apologize.

As of Thursday afternoon, Lilley’s post was still on Twitter — more than 24 hours after it was made. People replying to the tweet also called out Lilley’s comment.

“You might think such a superficial thought but the fact you say it out loud/publicly is thoughtless, irresponsible and if your were a professional, I would also say unprofessional,” one user wrote.

While twitter users said Lilley should delete the tweet, he instead decided to defend his nonsense.

"Wanna explain what is racist about this? I’ll guess you know zero Sikhs," Lilley wrote. "How is noting the colour of his turban, which changes regularly, racist? White liberals should get to know some of the people they want to 'protect.'"

In six separate tweets, Lilley insisted his post about Singh's yellow turban was not racist or an attack on the Sikh community.

Lilley's tweet is not the first instance of Singh being questioned about his turban.

In 2019, while Singh was campaigning in Montreal, he was approached by a man who insisted he "cut off" his turban to "look like a Canadian." Singh said the heckling was an example of the demeaning comments he and many others belonging to minority groups in Canada face "all the time."

Singh said Canadians who get such comments should not feel they need to change who they are in order to “fit in, or to get ahead.”

Later in 2022, Singh was harassed by protesters in Peterborough, Ont., who insisted he was "not welcome" in the city. Singh described the incident as one the “most intense, threatening, insulting” experiences in his political career.

Singh has not responded to the tweet and was not available for comment on the matter.