Move comes despite heightened pressure from Indian govt against separatist group
ISLAMABAD
The Canadian government has refused to stop Canadian Sikhs from expressing their views by holding the Khalistan Referendum and linking it with a peaceful and democratic process within the legal parameters of the country’s laws.
Commenting on the situation which emerged after an attack on a Hindu temple and the poster of a revered Khalistan Sikh leader, a Canadian government official said that Canadian nationals had every freedom to express their views under the country’s laws relating to the right to freedom of expression and right to free speech and assembly.
The official views came after the Indian government urged its Canadian counterpart to act against the rising pro-Khalistani sentiment in Canada, which is home to over one million Sikhs.
A high-profile campaign for Khalistan is being run by the pro-Kahlistani and pro-separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
According to international media reports, the Indian government tried to apply diplomatic pressure on the Canadian government ahead of the Khalistan Referendum voting at the Gore Meadows Community Center in Brampton, Ontario where hundreds gathered at the center on Saturday to make preparations for the voting today.
Canadian officials were quoted as saying it could not take away the right of its nationals to engage in any kind of political activity and demand their rights through peaceful and democratic means.
Canadian parliamentarian Sukhminder Singh Dhaliwal also said that constitutional and democratic political expression could not be stopped.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Counsel General of SFJ and a New York attorney said the Indian government tried all means possible to paint Sikhs in a bad light before the West but the democratic governments had refused to come under Indian pressure.
They recognised that the referendum sought to assess the desire for an independent Khalistan, he said adding that once the voting process was completed then the case would be taken up at the United Nations.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun reiterated that SFJ and other pro-Khalistan organisations had no links with violence. “We are for ballot, not bullet. India hates our approach to peace,” he maintained.
Jatinder Singh Grewal, the policy director of SFJ, said “the issue of Khalistan Referendum falls well within the right of freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right enjoyed by all Canadians. India has a difficult time understanding this principle as they have systematically criminalised political dissent within their state and today countless Sikhs who wish to exercise their right to self-determination are labeled as “terrorists”.”
He also claimed that Indian attempts to export the oppressive system to the West had failed as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom guaranteed this right and no amount of Indian pressure would change this reality.
According to media reports, Premier Narendra Modi’s government felt perturbed at the scenes of thousands of Sikhs coming out in the western capitals demanding freedom from India and the establishment of an independent state of Khalistan.
The issue of Sikh separatism was a major bone of contention during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to India a few years ago. The Indian government had openly accused the Canadian authorities of showing leniency towards Khalistanis in Canada.
The Indian government had demanded the prevention of people “misusing” their right to freedom of expression to “incite violence and glorify terrorists as martyrs” which was vehemently denied by the SFJ.
The Indian media said that earlier this week, the Indian authorities launched a strong protest with the Canadian counterparts after BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto was vandalised with anti-Indian and pro-Khalistan slogans written at the entrance ahead of the September 18 voting which was set to attract tens of thousands of Sikhs.
