Neither Trudeau nor Meloni were able to enter the place as the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) went into lockdown following protests….reports Asian Lite News
An event in Toronto where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was scheduled to host his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, was cancelled on Saturday due to ‘security concerns’ after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the venue, CBC News reported citing Trudeau’s office.
Neither Trudeau nor Meloni were able to enter the place as the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) went into lockdown following protests.
The protestors criticized the Canadian government’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and alleged that “Trudeau was funding a genocide in Gaza.”
“Due to security concerns, the event was cancelled,” a spokesperson for the PMO said.
Police said that there were 200-300 protesters outside the gallery, but noted it was difficult to estimate the total size of the demonstration as protesters gathered outside several entrances.
Would-be attendees gathered outside were confronted by demonstrators, with their entry paths blocked. Some were later escorted to the building’s entrance by police.
International Development Minister, Ahmed Hussein tried to enter through the main entrance, but protesters blocked his path and followed him for two blocks as he tried to enter a more secure location while flanked by police, according to CBC News.
“You are complicit in the genocide. Your hands are red. You are complicit in the murder of my family members and my friends,” one demonstrator chanted at him.
Italian PM Meloni, was in Toronto to hold meetings with Trudeau. The two G7 leaders discussed a wide range of topics, including the crisis in the Middle East.
Hamas carried out a terror attack on Israel on October 7 killing over 1200 people and taking around 250 people as hostages.
Following this, Israel launched a massive counter-offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But, the military operation has so far claimed more than 30,000 lives, according to Gaza health officials.
Canada considers Hamas a ‘terrorist group’ and has repeatedly said that “Israel has the right to defend itself”. Lately, Ottawa called for a ceasefire in the conflict due to the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, CBC News reported. (ANI)
This marks the second such incident in recent memory, after the delay faced during Trudeau’s departure from India during the G20 Summit in September last year….reports Asian Lite News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a minor setback during his recent visit to the Caribbean, as an aircraft glitch prompted the Canadian Armed Forces to send a second plane with a repair team to address the snag.
This marks the second such incident in recent memory, after the delay faced during Trudeau’s departure from India during the G20 Summit in September last year. The Prime Minister, who had embarked on a family holiday, found himself facing a similar predicament in Jamaica.
“We can confirm two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister,” a spokesperson for Canada’s defence department said.
The issue was identified on January 2, as reported by CBC News. Swift action was taken, with the second plane carrying a maintenance team arriving on the scene a day later to rectify the problem with the original aircraft.
Despite the unexpected hiccup, Trudeau managed to adhere to his original travel schedule, returning on January 4 without further delays. Both planes involved in this incident were identified as CC-144 Challenger aircraft, relatively recent acquisitions by the Canadian Armed Forces.
This follows a pattern of mishaps in Trudeau’s recent travel history.
Notably, in September, his departure from Delhi after the G20 Summit was delayed due to an unspecified mechanical glitch. In 2019, amid his re-election campaign, a collision between a bus carrying journalists and an aircraft chartered by Trudeau’s Liberal party created a chaotic scenario.
Later that same year, he had to switch to a backup plane for a NATO summit in London after the original suffered damage in a hangar accident. Unfortunately, complications arose with the backup aircraft, compelling Trudeau to opt for a third one for his return journey.
Meanwhile, Trudeau has been receiving strong criticism from the opposition parties over his latest luxury holiday that he took with his family at an oceanfront villa in Jamaica at no cost.
The Canadian Prime Minister met with the customary question of whether he should accept complimentary vacation accommodations from affluent friends.
As to the National Post, Trudeau is under criticism from opposition parties for using a free oceanfront villa in Jamaica for his winter vacation. On the resort’s website, rooms are available for about USD9,300 per night, Global News reported.
The owner of Prospect Estate and Villas, which is close to Ocho Rios, is a businessman named Peter Green. The Trudeaus have been known by the Green family for many years, the report stated.
Trudeau, as per the report vacationed at Prospect Estate from December 26 to January 4 with his three children and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau.
Although the prime minister’s office claimed in a statement that the vacation was approved by the ethics commissioner, it did not disclose where Trudeau and his family stayed in Jamaica.
“The Prime Minister and his family are staying with family friends at no cost. As per standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed,” the prime minister’s press secretary Mohammad Hussain told Global News in an email on Thursday.
“The Prime Minister continues to reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family,” he added.
Much of what Prime Minister Trudeau has been doing is indefensible, but it needs never to be forgotten that one Trudeau, even a Prime Minister Trudeau, does not make Canada, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat
Not just Canada’s largest television network, CBC, but several newspapers in that country are dependent on direct and camouflaged government handouts for their existence. The Liberal Party headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been exceptionally generous in the giving of such subsidies, so it comes as no surprise that he has overall got adoring media coverage. Those familiar with his entourage say that a thorough scan of the daily press clippings involving him is an important part of his daily workload. Should there be criticism, the effort by him is not to have a relook at the policies that are being attacked.
Rather, it is to discover ways of either reaching out to the reporters and editors responsible for unflattering content and persuade them to change their minds, or to camouflage unpopular policies in such a way that they, albeit deceptively, appear more attractive. “I, me, myself” is central to the thought processes of the Prime Minister of Canada, and much of his time gets expended on ways of drawing favourable attention to his activities. Some of his advisors, and perhaps Trudeau himself, seem to have a somewhat odd view of what appeals to a particular audience, as witness the (then united) Trudeau family step off their airplane on his arrival in India in 2018.
They were dressed in what to many onlookers was more suitable for a fancy dress ball than to a visit by the Head of Government in a major country to the capital of the world’s largest democracy. His invitation in a get-together to individuals who were connected with violent actions designed to Balkanise India further than was the case in 1947 was not helpful in improving his image as a troublemaker. Trudeau being Trudeau, he refused to acknowledge any impropriety in such actions, and merely doubled down on them thereafter.
The final red line before the patience of the Government of India (GoI) was completely exhausted was his statement to the Canadian parliament that there was “credible evidence” that a gangster connected to drug lords and to terror sympathisers had been killed on the orders of the GoI.
Credible to whom, it may be asked, for what little has been presented as “evidence” for such a sensational claim represents nothing more than conspiracy theories laced with AI simulated data points. The death of H.S. Nijjar has been mourned by Trudeau in a way that was absent in the killing of a Chinese and a Baloch dissident earlier, not to mention numerous casualties in the gang wars that are common in a country where the narcotics trade is increasing at an alarming rate.
Whether it be the narcotics trade, gangland killings, the spreading network of factotums of the State Security Bureau in Beijing, or increasing societal maladjustment caused by the government’s indulgent approach towards children suddenly deciding that it would be exciting to try and become another gender, Canada under Justin Trudeau is not the country it was just a few years ago.
What happened to India is typical of the whimsicality that now permeates politics and policy in Ottawa. Rather than commiserate with a country that *is witnessing Canada-based efforts to revive in Punjab the violence that was infused there in the 1980s courtesy of external troublemakers, Trudeau confused the victim for the perpetrator. He thereby sought to divert attention from the real consequences of his style of governance to an imaginary threat from another country. Trudeau did not blame the country whose State Security operatives go about their tasks with impunity in Canada, but the victim of many of their exertions, India.
Much of what Prime Minister Trudeau has been doing is indefensible, but it needs never to be forgotten that one Trudeau, even a Prime Minister Trudeau, does not make Canada. The effort of the countries that are foes of India and which appear to presently have a decisive voice in the policy portals of Ottawa is to decouple Canada from India. Instead, ties between the two sides need to be reinforced.
There are voices in Canada that are correctly calling for an examination into the way in which the asylum system has been misused to resettle individuals in that country from different corners of the world who are temperamentally alien to moderation and honest work. Voices of dissent against Trudeau’s woke policies need to be supported, not just in the Indian interest, but that of Canada as well. From across India, there are many with the skill and temperament required to become good citizens in Canada, and such a flow needs to increase rather than diminish.
In the US, the impact of the Indian diaspora is visible, especially in politics. Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Raja Krishnamurthy and Vivek Ramaswamy are just four of the Indian Americans who are making a mark in the hugely competitive political culture of the world’s most powerful democracy. In Canada, moderates of Indian origin whether Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or Christian need to replace within the councils of political power the radicals who have entered such ranks through gerrymandering.
Houses of worship need to be taken away from the control of those who advocate and who practise violence. Before 9/11, there were several houses of worship in the US where preachers from faraway countries were brought in to give fiery speeches attacking the very country in which they were giving sermons in. To a considerable extent, that situation has altered, and such radicals are no longer welcome in the US. However, they remain frequent visitors to Canada, and this needs to stop before that country too endures a terror attack on the scale of a US 9/11 or an Indian 26/11.
The Canadian people need to be told the backgrounds and activities of terror sympathisers who are being protected by a coalition partner of the Liberal Party in Ottawa. The good news is that as a consequence of Trudeau’s gaffe, for the first time numerous Canadians are beginning to understand the intentions and actions of the radicals in their midst, some holding high office. They have begun questioning Trudeau about his soft corner for them. Throughout much of the 1990s, President Bill Clinton coddled Wahhabis and the CCP.
In the process, he in effect nourished groups that were linked to Al Qaeda and was responsible for the hollowing out of US manufacturing that was transferred to the PRC. Justin Trudeau is walking along the same path as Clinton did. Before greater tragedy strikes Canadian workers and other citizens, the risks that Trudeau is taking with Canada’s future need to be exposed. Not just the US but Canada as well is a natural ally of India. In the din of the present controversy, that truth must never be lost sight of.
Biarritz: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France on Aug 25, 2019. (Photo: IANS/MEA)
Natural Ally
Boswell writes of Samuel Johnson that the raconteur defined a patron as an individual who idly watched a man at risk of drowning in a lake, only bounding forward to offer him assistance when the swimmer had reached the shore safely. A genuine patron, a true friend, will help the most when the need is most, not step forward when the need has been extinguished.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a man of letters, is remembered in history for the concept of non-alignment, or not aligning with any other power but going it alone. During the 1950s, the PLA was far weaker than it subsequently became, and had efforts been made to enlist the help of countries that were at the time hostile to China, it may have been possible to get together a coalition that could have joined forces with India to drive the PLA from Aksai Chin.
Indeed, there was a compelling case for capturing by force during 1947-48 that third of Kashmir that has since 1947 been forcibly occupied by Pakistan, but that too was not attempted.
Indeed, until the 1970s, the military was looked upon with inner suspicion and spasms of outward derision by the political leadership of the country at Delhi. It was inexplicable that Defence Minister Vengalil Kumaran Krishna Menon ridiculed the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army in public, when he ought to have been giving words of encouragement. Although possessing a brilliant intellect, Menon joined his mentor Nehru in acting as though the real world was the imaginary world that they wished it to be.
Small wonder that countries, several of which had been freed of the colonial yoke because of the freedom struggle of the people of India, steadfastly adopted a policy of non-alignment when it came to the land grab by Pakistan and China at the expense of an already truncated India. It was only after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India in 2014 that the foundation agreements underpinning US-India security cooperation were signed, and the Quad was formed with India joining Australia, Japan and the US in a partnership designed to ensure a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Canada is as much a natural partner of India as Australia is, the difference being that Ottawa does not understand this truth in the way that Canberra does. Or Tokyo and Washington, for that matter. Many scars and scabs have been left behind in the minds of several Indians from the time of Cold War 1.0, when India was seen by many in the US as being a satellite of the USSR. As a consequence, anti-US sentiment forms a strong sediment even in the strategic discourse of several policymakers.
Hence, verbal sallies from Blinken and Sullivan that are transparently designed to assuage the wounded feelings of Justin Trudeau at the lack of support he has been getting from within NATO in his tirade against India, have resulted in an eruption of anti-US sentiment in India. Such a sentiment is not supported by either facts or by national interest. The US and India need each other, and the unmerited rant by Trudeau in the Canadian parliament against India is not going to diminish the need for Delhi and Washington to work together in ensuring that a new hegemon does not threaten global security.
It is a matter of astonishment that an individual who has been chosen as the Prime Minister of one of the countries friendliest to India should be so hostile to our country, but it would be unfair, possibly inaccurate, to portray such a dislike as being motivated by a compulsion to protect the interests of China, a country where the leadership is visibly unhappy at the growing closeness between the West and India, or between India and the Global South. What is more likely is that Justin Trudeau does not have an instinct for the big picture, but concentrates his attention and his activity on the moods and perceived requirements of the day, whatever these may be, and however harmful they may be to the overall interests of Canada and its people.
In the din of Trudeau’s false charge against India, what ought not to be lost sight of is the reality of Canada being a natural partner of India, and the need to ensure that when the country gets a Prime Minister of a higher calibre than Trudeau, Ottawa and Delhi become as close as Washington and Delhi have become since Prime Minister Modi took over as the Pradhan Sevak of Bharat, i.e., India.
Canada Prime Minister said what happened was “deeply, deeply painful” to Jewish people and the many millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide….reports Asian Lite News
On behalf of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologised for honoring a Ukrainian man in Parliament who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
In a statement on Wednesday, Trudeau said: “This is a mistake that deeply embarrassed parliament and Canada,” the BBC reported.
“All of us who were in this House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context… It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust.”
He said what happened was “deeply, deeply painful” to Jewish people and the many millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide.
Trudeau also apologised directly to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was visiting Canada and present in Parliament at the time of the incident on September 22, saying: “Canada is deeply sorry.”
Zelensky was among those pictured applauding the 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, who had served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a voluntary unit made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command.
The Division members have been accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, although the unit has not been found guilty of any war crimes by a tribunal.
In the Canadian Parliament, Hunka got a standing ovation and was praised as a Ukrainian and Canadian “hero”.
Trudeau’s apology comes a day after Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota, who has assumed responsibility for inviting the veteran, resigned, saying he was not aware of Hunka’s Nazi ties.
“The Speaker was solely responsible for the invitation and recognition of this man, and has wholly accepted that responsibility and stepped down,” the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying in his statement on Wednesday.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, called the incident the “biggest single diplomatic embarrassment” in Canada’s history.
Canadian Jewish organisation Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies has said “questions remain as to how this debacle occurred”.
The debacle has also played into Russia’s accusations that Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis, even though Zelensky is himself Jewish.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed outrage about the Canadian honour and said: “Many Western countries, including Canada, have raised a young generation that does not know who fought whom or what happened during the Second World War.”
Trudeau’s Liberal Party depends on the Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party, which has 24 MPs, for survival.
In political and Indo-Canadian circles here, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in the House of Commons on Monday that India was possibly involved in the gunning down of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are also viewed as his compulsion for his political survival.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which with its 157 seats fell short of the majority mark in the 338-member House of Commons in last year’s snap elections, depends on the Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party, which has 24 MPs, for survival.
“Jagmeet, who is a known supporter of Khalistanis and who captured leadership of the NDP by recruiting a huge membership from his supporters, set terms for Trudeau for his support, including more spending on healthcare, free dental care for middle and low-income Canadians, housing support for poor, etc,” said a top Indo-Canadian politician in Vancouver, refusing to be named.
“Just as Khalistanis helped Jagmeet capture the leadership of the New Democratic Party, they also played a major role in Trudeau’s winning the leadership of the Liberal Party. Since both these leaders are in bed with Khalistanis, they are exploiting the alleged intelligence linking India to the murder of Nijjar,” said the Indo-Canadian politician.
After Trudeau’s allegations against India on Monday, Jagmeet Singh had spoken in Punjabi to appeal to his core constituency, promising to get to the bottom of the truth behind Nijjar’s murder.
“Jagmeet is now exacting his pound of flesh from Trudeau, forcing the Prime Minister to up the ante on India’s alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar. I don’t know where this India-Canada row will end now,” said a Brampton journalist, requesting anonymity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France on Aug 25, 2019. (Photo: IANS/MEA)
Many in the 1.8-millon strong Indo-Canadian community contend that the Indian row is not going to politically benefit either Trudeau or Jagmeet.
“The entire 800,000-strong Hindu community in Canada, which was previously divided in their political loyalties, will now most likely vote for the opposition Conservative Party in the next elections due in 2025. A high percentage of Sikh voters, who are now worried, will also ditch Trudeau’s party. We will have to wait till 2025 before our bilateral ties can possibly improve,” said the Brampton journalist.
(180710) -- RIGA, July 10, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a joint press conference with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (not seen in picture) in Riga, Latvia, on July 10, 2018. Trudeau pledged sustained commitment to Latvia's security during his visit to Riga on Tuesday, saying that Canada would extend its leadership of the NATO battalion stationed in the Baltic country for four more years. (Xinhua/Janis)
Trudeau called on Russia to completely and immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine….reports Asian Lite News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday (local time) accused Russia of weaponising energy and food. He said countries need to support Ukraine as well as back the sustainable development goals (SDG) and global development, calling it the only responsible choice.”
In his address at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Ukraine, Trudeau said, “Russia is weaponising energy and food, leading millions to face shortages, hunger and even starvation. Canada is dedicated to mitigating the impacts on the most vulnerable. We do not believe we have to choose between supporting Ukraine and supporting the SDGs and global development. In fact, the only responsible choice is to do both, which we are doing with solidarity and financial commitment.”
Trudeau called on Russia to completely and immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine. He said the key principles of the Ukrainian ‘peace formula’ are rooted in international law and preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Trudeau said, “The fight of Ukraine is also our fight, it is also our common struggle and there can be no doubt about this. Canada calls on Russia to completely, immediately, without conditions, withdraw troops. The key principles of the Ukrainian peace formula because it must be a peace that respects the UN charter, is based on international law and preserves Ukraine’s territorial integrity. A peace that upholds our common humanity and common values, not a peace that turns a blind eye. It must be a peace that is built on respect for the facts and respect for the rules.”
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, adding that action should be taken to stop the tragic deaths and violence. He accused Russia of using its veto power in the United Nations to facilitate the war. Noting that the United Nations was established to save people from the scourge of war, he called for making efforts to not let the world return to a place where “might makes right”.
“The UN was established to save people from the scourge of war. This fundamental principle has guided this institution since it was founded. So, we need to be 100 per cent clear about what is happening right now. A permanent member of this Security Council, Russia, has launched and continues to wage an illegal war. Vladimir Putin has violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and seeks to deny the rights of Ukrainian people to determine their own future,” Trudeau said in his address.
“At the same time, the Russian Federation has been flagrantly using its veto right within this organisation to facilitate this war and these violations of the principles of the United Nations. We must stand up to this affront to the UN. We must take action to stop the tragic deaths and violence, including sexual violence caused by this unjustifiable invasion. We must not let the world return to a place where might makes right. We must make sure that borders mean something, even when a neighbour has a bigger army,” he added.
Trudeau stressed that respect for the rule of law and accountability to it should be fundamental and non-negotiable. Noting that tens of millions of people died in Europe, Africa and Asia during the Second World War, he said that Ukraine, Europe and the whole Global South are suffering due to the ongoing conflict.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology thanked Trudeau for his presence at the G20 Summit on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. …reports Asian Lite News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had been stranded in Delhi for two days after the G20 Leaders Summit due to a technical snag in his flight, departed from the national capital on Tuesday afternoon.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology thanked Trudeau for his presence at the G20 Summit on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chandrasekhar posted on his social media platform ‘X’ a photograph of himself seeing off the Canadian Prime Minister at the Palam Airport.
“On behalf of PM @narendramodi Ji and my colleagues in govt, I was at the airport today to thank Mr. Justin Trudeau, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Canada @JustinTrudeau
for his presence at the #G20Summit and wished him and his entourage a safe trip back home,” Chandrasekar posted.
Trudeau, who had arrived in India for the G20 Summit on Friday, had to extend his stay in New Delhi after a technical snag on his Airbus plane delayed his departure on Sunday night. A replacement aircraft expected to arrive in New Delhi on Monday night had an unscheduled diversion to London, which further delayed the Canadian Prime Minister’s departure.
This afternoon, Mohammad Hussain, Press Secretary at Canada’s Prime Minister’s Office told ANI: “The technical issue with the plane has been resolved. The plane has been cleared to fly. The Canadian delegation is expected to depart this afternoon.”
Canada-based CBC News reported that Trudeau continued to work from his hotel in New Delhi.
Earlier it was reported that the Royal Canadian Air Force sent a CC-150 Polaris from CFB Trenton to India on Sunday night to pick up Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation. Canada’s National Defence had said that the issue involves a part that must be replaced.
Canada’s National Defence in a statement earlier said, “The safety of all passengers is critical to the RCAF and pre-flight safety checks are a regular part of all of our flight protocols,” CBC News reported.
It further said, “The discovery of this issue is evidence that these protocols are effective.”
As per the news report, the issue with the 36-year-old CC-150 Polaris was discovered during the preflight check process. It is not the first time the Polaris fleet has caused issues for Trudeau.
In October 2016, an issue in the aircraft required it to return to Ottawa 30 minutes after taking off with Trudeau. In October 2019, the aircraft rolled into a wall while being towed into a hangar at 8 Wing Trenton, which caused “significant structural damage to the nose and right engine cowling,” CBC News reported citing the Air Force.
The VVIP plane remained out of service for 16 months in 2019. The Canadian government has bought nine planes, some new and some used, to replace its existing fleet, CBC News reported.
The widebody jets will replace RCAF’s 1980s-era Airbus A-310s, also known as the Airbus CC-150 Polaris, which is used for flying Trudeau’s abroad visits and transporting security personnel.
Meanwhile, in addition to attending the G20 Summit, Trudeau held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Summit in New Delhi.
Trudeau also congratulated PM Modi on the success of India’s G20 Presidency of the G20. During the meeting, PM Modi highlighted that India-Canada relations are anchored in shared democratic values, respect for the rule of law and strong people-to-people ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
During the meeting, PM Modi raised “strong concerns” about the continuous “anti-India activities” by extremist elements in Canada, and stated that it is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats. (ANI)
The vote was supposed to be held at a school in Surrey, but was cancelled after images of weapons on the poster were brought to the school authorities’ notice by concerned residents…reports Asian Lite News
Sikhs turned up in large numbers at a Khalistan referendum event in Canada just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed New Delhi’s strong concerns the same day about continuing anti-India activities in the North American nation to his counterpart Justin Trudeau at the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
The vote to weigh support for Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs in India, was held on Sunday in the British Columbian province of Surrey at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara where its former president Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June.
The outlawed Pro-Khalistani group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), which organised the referendum, said more than 100,000 people attended the event, the Global News channel reported.
“The turnout tells us, and the wider community, that the issue of Khalistan is not an issue for a fringe group of people but rather… this is a deep-rooted issue that touches the hearts and minds of many Sikhs,” Jatinder Grewal, a Sikh for Justice director, told the Vancouver-based news channel.
The vote was supposed to be held at a school in Surrey, but was cancelled after images of weapons on the poster were brought to the school authorities’ notice by concerned residents.
In a strongly-worded condemnation, Modi told Trudeau on Saturday that the extremist elements are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the community in Canada and their places of worship.
“The nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats,” a Ministry of External Affairs statement quoted Prime Minister Modi as saying.
In a media interaction after meeting his Indian counterpart, Trudeau said that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada.
“Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us. At the same time we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred,” he said in response to a question on Khalistani extremism.
Just days before Trudeau had departed for India for the September 9-10 summit, Shri Mata Bhameshwari Durga temple in Surrey was vandalised with anti-India and pro-Khalistan graffiti slogans.
Despite New Delhi registering strong protests, an anti-India campaign has continued in Canada with pro-Khalistani graffiti and posters targeting Indian diplomats and temples across the country.
Incidents of Khalistani elements protesting outside the Indian consulate in Toronto displaying “Kill India” posters, had led to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar saying that Canada was apparently allowing these protests driven by votebank politics.
