Freedom TO BE - Julius Grey

May 18th, 2006 by admin

A QUICK background check (thank God for the world wide web) on the man we are about to meet makes him come across nothing short of a Messiah. That description may just make Julius Grey wince, but due apologies sir, for it’s not often that one meets someone as successful as him, one who fears nothing but the truth and will side with the weak, the disadvantaged and the lesser privileged.

For Grey, a multi-lingual attorney and senior partner at Grey Casgrain, and also legal counsel and litigator from Montreal (Quebec, Canada) this visit to India and Chandigarh comes for mixed reasons. One of them being - his talk on ‘Multi-culturalism in Canada’ at Panjab University - and the other: ‘‘How can I leave Punjab without having visited the Golden Temple,’’ smiles Grey, seated at his host’s home in Sector 5. After all ‘that’ past experience, we agree.

‘That’, for those not clued in, refers to the much publicised Kirpan case that saw Grey fight for a 12-year-old Sikh boy’s right to wear the Sikh symbol - the kirpan - to his school in Montreal back in Canada. When the school authorities ruled that a kirpan violated the ban on students bringing dangerous and forbidden objects to school, the issue headed to the courts and ultimately to the country’s top court. ‘‘For me it doesn’t matter what religion, ethnicity or social group the person I am defending belongs to. At the end of the day it’s all about defending fundamental rights and freedom. Often those most affected are the ones who are weak or are in a minority,’’ explains Grey who believes all are equal before the law. Grey, of course, went on to win the case with a ruling that let the Sikh boy wear the kirpan (though sewn in a case) to school.

The Kirpan Case also introduced Grey to Sikh and Sikhism. ‘‘Like any of my cases and people I represent - be it Ethiopians, Pakistanis, Chinese, those from the Arab World or South East Asia - there is a huge amount of research and background work that one goes into for the case. My observations of Sikhism and Sikh History about which I voraciously read about, made me realise that not many in Montreal knew what they were opposing. Often, it’s misinformation that leads to intolerance,’’ Grey remarks.

And that’s precisely why Grey, who has been practicising law for over 30 years and more, believes that ‘‘Social justice must be protected. Rights such as freedom of religion and of expression must be defended.’’ And working on that belief, he’s ‘‘almost always sided with the minority groups in their attempts to gain recognition of their rights, no matter what their religion, ethnic group or social affiliation.’’ And what makes him take on the challenging cases, at times controversial, we ask? ‘‘I’ll be honest. All lawyers prefer winning to losing and that’s what we see in the case. It’s the same for me too but I like to take on a variety,’’ answers Grey who handles criminal to civil to human rights cases with equal expertise. But if there’s something that worries our man is the growing ‘‘correctness in society and resulting mistrust in society speically post 9/11. ‘‘I am all for accommodation in society. Why should there be separate schools different communities? If an Islamic student wants to wear a scarf to school as her religion says, then why not? It’s the same as the Sikh boy in Montreal,’’ he speaks up and we know he will continue to do so not just this once.

Source: ExpressIndia.com
by: Jagmeeta Thind

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