The Globe and Mail offers this editorial on the Sikh teen who lied about having his hair cut off by a group of Caucasian attackers in Canada:

The reported assault on a Sikh youth in Richmond, B.C., sparked outrage, and for good reason. The 17-year-old claimed he had been subjected to a racial slur and then set upon and beaten by five attackers in a schoolyard. He said his turban had been yanked off his head and his hair hacked off. Police launched an investigation into what they suspected was a vicious hate crime and appealed for calm in the Indo-Canadian community. Now it turns out that the story was a hoax; but it should not be treated lightly, because the repercussions for the community are still serious.

The teen apparently made up the incident and inflicted his own injuries to avoid a confrontation with his parents over cutting his hair, in violation of his faith. This is a sad commentary on the widening gap between the aspirations of young Canadians and the strict enforcement of traditional values and beliefs by their immigrant parents. It cries out for family counselling, but it does not excuse what occurred.

By making up his story of racial hatred run amok, the youth heedlessly sowed fear and anger in his own ethnic community and destroyed a considerable amount of goodwill. The next time there is a genuine case of racial violence, there are bound to be suspicions that it, too, might be a fake. Because of the circumstances and the sensibilities involved, the authorities may be reluctant to lay charges for making a false police report. But that is precisely what they ought to do in this case.