Leader condemns terrorism amid ‘pro-Khalistan’ rally row
: Jagmeet Singh, the head of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), has disavowed all “acts of terrorism” even as he came into the eye of a storm over his appearance at an apparently pro-Khalistan event in San Francisco in 2015.
Singh, who was denied a visa by India in 2013 and had not spoken out against some Canadian gurdwaras eulogising Sikh militants as heroes and had appeared at the San Francisco event on a platform with the backdrop of a large poster of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
“I condemn all acts of terrorism in every part of the world, regardless of who the perpetrators are or who the victims are. Terrorism can never be seen as a way to advance the cause of any one group. It only leads to suffering, pain and death,” Singh said in a statement.
However, he maintained his stance as a human rights advocate who thought it “important to name human rights atrocities”, and cited the 1984 antiSikh riots in India in that context.
“I have seen pain and anger and my approach has always been to give space to those feelings in order to work through them, but never to condone acts of violence,” Singh said.
Canadian media reported on the controversial video featuring Singh’s speech at the rally held in San Francisco. Singh was at that time a member of the Ontario provincial parliament.
The daily, Globe and Mail, reported that the video showed Singh “walking in the pro-sovereignty march behind a truck that displayed signs saying ‘India out of Sikh Homeland’, and ‘1984 Sikh Genocide Independence’. Parade participants carried the same messages on placards as well as others including ‘Sikhs Demand Independence’.”
In that speech, speaking in a mix of English and Punjabi, Singh said “India was built on inequality” before moving on to the theme of a separate homeland, though in a tangential manner. “If where we are living, we cannot remain freely, there is oppression, where your own government is trying to finish you off, then we have to think whether we can stay there or not,” he said to the crowd.
“If this is not our home, why can’t we build our own? That is our right,” he said, adding it was “not an option to move elsewhere”. He also said, “This is our legal right, to talk about this openly.”
Shinder Purewal, professor of political science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, accused Singh of being a “Khalistani” and said: “He used these connections to win nominations for his entry to provincial legislature and become the national leader of NDP in terms of both people and money. However, now he is running away from his past because this affiliation is not setting well with the Canadian people.”
TORONTO I condemn all acts of terrorism in every part of the world, regardless of who the perpetrators are or who the victims are. Terrorism can never be seen as a way to advance the cause of any group. JAGMEET SINGH, chief
New Democratic Party