KHALISTAN ISSUE DERAILED FOCUS OF VISIT: DHALIWAL

TORONTO: Canada’s first cabinet minister of Indian origin, Herb Dhaliwal, says the focus of the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India has been derailed by the Khalistan issue.

“It is very unfortunate that the media in India has overblown this Khalistan issue. This has shifted the focus away from trade — which is what the two countries should be discussing,” Dhaliwal, who in 1993 became the first Indian to be elected as an MP in the western world, told IANS.

Dhaliwal said the sticking issue between the two countries is “about human rights and not Khalistan”.

He said, “When I was the cabinet minister, I met prime ministers (IK) Gujral, Manmohan Singh and (AB) Vajpayee and raised the issue of punishment for those behind the 1984 riots. I had told them it is about human rights and they had no objection.”

Dhaliwal said the vast majority of Sikhs in Canada have nothing to do with Khalistan. All they want is that human rights must be respected and the culprits behind the 1984 killings should be brought to justice.

“There is only a very small proportion (of Sikhs) in Canada which is blowing up the issue of Khalistan for their own purposes. This issue is about human rights,” said Dhaliwal.

About Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s charges against two Sikh ministers in Trudeau’s cabinet, including defence minister Harjit Sajjan, as being Khalistani supporters and the denial of visa to him by Canada, Dhaliwal hoped that Trudeau will discuss these issues with him.

About the denial of the Canadian visa to Amarinder in 2016, he said, “It was the result of some misunderstanding at the bureaucratic or some other level. It shouldn’t have happened. Canada should apologise for this error.” IANS

Majority of Sikhs in Canada have nothing to do with Khalistan. All they want is ’84 culprits be brought to justice. HERB DHALIWAL, Canada’s first cabinet minister of Indian origin