Canada’s diplomatic dilemma
Tensions fuelled by Liberals’ alleged support of Sikh separatists
When Prime Minister Trudeau headed to the stage at the Sikh-Canadian community’s annual Khalsa Day celebration last month, he was thronged by a cheering, photo-seeking crowd.
It was little surprise, given the Liberal leader is not only a staunch supporter of multiculturalism but also has four MPs of Sikh origin in his cabinet.
Thousands of kilometres away in New Delhi, however, Trudeau’s appearance struck a decidedly more sour note.
The appearance was the latest irritation for an Indian government reportedly worried that the Liberals are too cosy with a peaceful but “growing” Sikh-separatist movement in Canada.
It came three weeks after the Ontario legislature passed a private-member’s motion — introduced by a Liberal MPP — that called the 1984 Sikh massacre in India an act of genocide, a politically explosive label.
India’s Foreign Ministry has issued separate protests to the Trudeau government about each episode, as the Liberals’ traditional politicking among a vote-rich community, combined with the sub-continent’s fraught history, throws a wrench into the two countries’ burgeoning friendship.
“All of those things add up (and) present a picture that isn’t particularly pretty when India is looking at it,” said Anirudh Bhattacharya, Canadian correspondent for the Hindustan Times newspaper. “There was always a concern (in New Delhi) that this particular government would be somewhat beholden to the gatekeepers to the Sikh community, to some of the more radical groups.”
Tossed into the mix have been unsubstantiated allegations by Amarinder Singh, Punjab state’s newly elected “chief minister,” that Trudeau’s Sikh ministers are themselves separatists; and a thwarted terrorist cell in Punjab with alleged Canadian links.
Indian media reports suggest New Delhi was livid about Trudeau’s appearance at the Khalsa Day event April 30, though the public language was more circumspect. “We have taken it up with Canada in the past and the practice has not been discontinued,” said Vishwa Nath Goel of India’s high commission in Ottawa.
Quoting a Foreign Ministry statement, he was more blunt about the Ontario legislature’s Sikh genocide resolution on April 6.
“We reject this misguided motion which is based on a limited understanding of India, its constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process,” said Goel.
But a spokesman for the group that organized the event Trudeau attended — and which backs the Ontario motion — said it’s only natural for the prime minister to appear at such functions, regardless of the religion.
The reaction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP government simply follows a pattern of suppressing Sikhs and other minorities, which itself fuels widespread support in Canada for the creation of a separate Sikh country called Khalistan, said Balkaranjit Singh of the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council.
“There is a certain underlying policy and current going on (in India) that is continuously discriminating against a minority,” he said. “Yes, the Sikhs are left with no choice but to push for a separate homeland.”
Andrée-Lyne Hallé, the prime minister’s press secretary, argued that ties remain strong between the two countries, and portrayed Trudeau’s appearance at the commemoration of a Sikh holy day as routine.
“The prime minister marks and celebrates events and holidays celebrated by Canadians of all backgrounds,” she said.
The Sikh separatist cause had largely fallen quiet after years of turmoil that culminated in the bombing of an Air India flight from Canada in 1985, killing 329 people.
The attack was blamed on Canadian-based Sikh extremists, enraged by Indian troops storming the Golden Temple — Sikhism’s holiest site — to oust armed rebels in 1984, and the incident’s bloody fallout.
After two Sikh bodyguards murdered prime minister Indira Gandhi, a wave of pogroms saw at least 3,000 Sikhs slaughtered by rampaging Hindus.