Shushma Datt

 

2004, Mithu — a key witness to the killing — was charged with raping a girl from his village.
Despite protesting his innocence and insisting he was being framed to derail the murder case, Mithu was thrown in a dark cell in a hardened Punjab jail pending a trial. The young man faced 15 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Indian authorities were convinced by the tale told by the “rape victim,” identified in court papers as Iqbal Kaur, and they agreed with the powerful relatives of Jassi in India to deny Mithu bail.
Moved by Mithu's plight, South Asian Post publisher Sewak set up a website called JusticeforJassi.com to bring international awareness to the case and hired lawyers in India to pursue Mithu’s freedom.
The investigation showed several discrepancies in the police rape file and eventually shed light on the connections between the “rape victim” and Jassi’s relatives in India.
On the afternoon of April 26, 2008, the South Asian Post's efforts paid off. Iqbal Kaur, 19, who accused Mithu of rape, confessed before a judge in Ludhiana, Punjab, that she had falsely named Mithu as the rapist at the behest of Jassi’s uncles in India.
“This journalist accolade marks a proud day for the South Asian community,” said Surrey lawyer Amandeep Singh, whose law firm Singh, Abrahams & Joomratty has many legal dealings in India.
“A Webster nomination places the South Asian Post team among B.C.'s very best journalists.”
Singh said he is all too familiar with the Indian justice system.
“The sheer effort, after so many months and years, of tirelessly pursuing justice in this case, navigating the often hostile and invariably corrupt legal system in India, sets the South Asian Post apart as a news-gathering organization and speaks to the high-calibre of the paper's editors and journalists.
“You are to be commended,” added Singh.
Dr. Catherine Murray, a Professor of the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University was the director of the groundbreaking BC Ethnic Media Study 2007.
The SFU study of over 30 ethnic media sources found ethnic media covered more "news you can use" for its audiences than the mainstream press, and suggested the sector needed to get on the radar of journalists, news editors and professionals for its contribution to pioneering new intercultural news standards.
“Nomination for the Webster award in community journalism means the South Asian Post is now recognized for its excellence in 'crusading' for a just criminal system - and good law and order coverage was a long time favourite for Jack Webster, a noted Canadian journalist,” said Murray. 
“Until now, the mainstream press has been slow to wake up to the size of the ethnic media sector in B.C., to  its rate of growth and to the excellence of its journalism.”
Popular radio and television broadcaster Shushma Datt, CEO of i.t. Media Broadcasting, agreed The South Asian Post is deserving of the nomination.
“I applaud you for your initiative in going where other journalists and South Asian media have not gone,” said Datt, whose afternoon news-talk radio show on AM RJ1200 both monitors and quickens the pulse of Metro Vancouver's South Asian community.
“In tackling issues and following stories that concern this community, your reports often offer fresh perspectives and depth. Your determination to follow-up on the wrongful imprisonment of Sukhwinder Singh had a resoundingly positive effect, and a happy ending for Mr. Singh.”
“This is crusading journalism at its best,” added Fabian Dawson, deputy editor-in-chief of The Province newspaper in Vancouver.
Mithu could not be reached for comment by press time.
“I can’t say enough about what you have done for me,” he said upon his release from prison, referring to publisher Sewak’s unwavering efforts.
“I fought to live with my love . . . I fought death after being attacked . . . I have fought the police, the courts and the false accusers. But my struggle will only end when the people responsible for Jassi’s murder are extradited to India and pay for the crime.
“What crime did I commit other than loving Jassi?”
Indian police have charged Jassi's mother, Malkiat Kaur, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, both of  Maple Ridge, with conspiracy to commit murder. The wealthy Fraser Valley farming family has denied any involvement in the incident.
Indian police have revised their extradition requests several times, but the duo remains free in Canada. The RCMP will only say that the file remains open.
Last February, a court in India upheld the life sentences given to four men charged in connection with Jassi’s murder. Three others who were sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the case were acquitted.
Our other newspaper, The Asian Pacific Post, won the Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting in 2003.
Winners of the 2008 Jack Webster Awards will be announced at the 22nd annual Jack Webster Awards dinner on Nov. 6 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver.
To our readers and advertisers, we value your continued support and thank you for helping us save an innocent man.