Canada-India relations rock again over Khalistan Referendum voting

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada cannot stop its Sikh citizens from expressing their views.
• The Khalistan Referendum vote is scheduled to take place on September 18 at the Gore Meadows Community Center in Brampton, Ontario.
• India exerted diplomatic pressure on the Canadian government against the referendum.

Toronto: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has said it cannot stop Canadian Sikhs from expressing their views. Khalistan Referendum Voting As long as the process is peaceful, democratic and within the legal parameters of Canadian law.

Commenting on the situation after the attack on a Hindu temple and A poster of a respected Khalistani Sikh leaderA Canadian government official said Canadian citizens are free to express their views in any way possible as long as they follow Canadian laws on the right to free speech and the right to freedom of speech and assembly.

The official spoke after continued lobbying by the Indian government with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government against growing pro-Khalistani sentiment in Canada – home to more than one million Sikhs – and a high-profile campaign for Khalistan. Being run by supporters and supporters. separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).

India has sought to put diplomatic pressure on the Canadian government ahead of the September 18 Khalistan referendum vote at the Gore Meadows Community Center in Brampton, Ontario. Hundreds of Sikhs gathered. at the Center on Saturday for preparations for Sunday’s vote – a move that is set to pit India against the Canadian government.

The Canadian government has said that its position and status of a united India will not change. It said it would not recognize the referendum being run by the advocacy group, but stressed that it would also encourage Canadian citizens to engage in any form of political activism and peaceful and democratic means. One cannot take away the right to demand one’s rights.

Canadian MP Sukhmandar Singh Dhaliwal has also said that constitutional and democratic political expression cannot be stopped.

Counsel General of Sikhs for Justice and New York attorney Guruptun Singh Pinan said that the Indian government has used every tactic to paint the Sikhs in a bad light in front of the Western world, but democratic governments have refused to bow to Indian pressure because they Acknowledge. The Khalistan Referendum seeks to gauge the desire for an independent Khalistan and once the voting process is complete, the case will be presented to the United Nations.

Grouptun Singh Panon said that SFJ and other pro-Khalistan organizations have nothing to do with violence. He commented: “We are for the belt, not the bullet. India hates our approach to peace.

Jitendra Singh Grewal, SFJ’s policy director, said: “The issue of the Khalistan referendum comes down to freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right of all Canadians. India has difficulty understanding this principle because it has systematically It has criminalized the political elite within the state and today countless Sikhs who want to exercise their right to self-determination are labeled as “terrorists.” And now India is trying to export this system to the West. But the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees this right and no amount of Indian pressure will change that fact.

The Khalistan referendum campaign is not the first time the Indian government has clashed with the Canadian government. The stance taken by the Canadian government on the Khalistan referendum is set to anger India, which has been alarmed by scenes of thousands of Sikhs in Western capitals demanding independence from India and the creation of an independent state of Khalistan. The issue of Sikh separatism was a major point of contention during Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to India a few years ago. The Indian government has openly accused the Canadian authorities of being soft on Khalistanis in Canada. The Indian government has gone on record as saying that Canada needed to stop people from abusing their right to freedom of expression to “incite violence and glorify terrorists as martyrs”, but the SFJ said has replied that the allegation of incitement to violence is without any merit.

Earlier this week, Indian authorities launched a strong protest with the Canadian government after anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans were written on the entrance to the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Toronto ahead of the September 18 Khalistan referendum vote. Vandalism was done. Thousands of Sikhs.

The Indian government, while condemning the vandalism of the temple, has demanded action against the suspected Khalistani activists from the Canadian Prime Minister.

“We strongly condemn the defacement of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple Toronto with anti-India graffiti. Request the Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take immediate action against the culprits,” the Indian High Commission tweeted.

The vandalism came as local police announced they had arrested an Indo-Canadian man for tearing down Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s banner in Caledon, Ontario ahead of the September 18 Khalistan referendum. Is. In response to the attack, more than 500 Sikhs protested outside the Indian consulate in Toronto, alleging that the Indian government was behind the attack on posters of Sikh nationalist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a martyr of the Khalistan movement, a saint. And the icon is considered.