After a morning of prayers on Parliament Hill to celebrate Vaisakhi and the birth of Khalsa, the Sikh Caucus of the Liberal Party, Senator Baltej Dhillon, and Indus Media Foundation jointly presented a special screening of Promises, a 25-minute short film, on April 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM at the Barney Danson Theatre, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.
Presented during Sikh Heritage Month and framed by the theme of Sikh Military Heritage, the event honoured a shared legacy of service, sacrifice, and remembrance. The screening was conceived as a civic and cultural act of remembrance, seeking to restore to public memory a record of sacrifice too often left uncarried in the national story.
Supported through Canadian Heritage’s Community Support, Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program, Promises explores wartime sacrifice, memory, and Punjabi contribution within the wider story of Canada and the Commonwealth.
Presented in the nation’s capital, during Sikh Heritage Month, and in one of Canada’s principal institutions of military remembrance, the screening invites reflection on belonging, inheritance, and the place of Sikh and Punjabi contribution within shared national memory and patriotic Canadian identity.
The event’s supporting materials framed the film as a means of broadening public understanding, deepening empathy, and giving emotional life to histories that might otherwise remain unseen. At once commemorative and cinematic, Promises placed Sikh military heritage within a wider reflection on how Canada remembers, and who is carried within that remembrance.
Guided by the Sikh principle of Sarbat da Bhala – the welfare of all humanity – and by the martial ideals of Deg, Teg, Fateh – for the people, in defence of the weak, and for the triumph of light over darkness – the evening brought together parliamentarians, senators, institutional guests, community leaders, and invited attendees for a screening and
remarks.
By: Alexander MacKenzie
Legislative Assistant,
