Leaders extend support but Trudeau stays away

Trudeau skipped the annual Khalsa Day Parade in Toronto on Sunday, a year after he riled the Indian government by becoming the first Canadian Prime Minister in a decade to appear at the event, which is marked by a profusion of Khalistan flags and separatist banners and posters featuring those like Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

However, even if Trudeau stayed away, the focus that emerged from his troubled visit to India in February, on how Canada is serving as a base for revival of the Khalistan movement, did not prevent a galaxy of the country’s leading politicians from appearing at the nagar kirtan, just as they had done in the Surrey Vaisakhi celebration in

TORONTO:Justin

British Columbia last week.

Among them was New Democratic Party (NDP) national leader Jagmeet Singh, who was present at both events. In Toronto, he took the opportunity for some India bashing, alleging that human rights violations in India were similar to those in Syria and those against the Rohingya in Myanmar.

As Khalistan flags fluttered and people held up banners for a 2020 referendum for a separate Sikh homeland, Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne also addressed the gathering. The Khalsa Day Parade had posters featuring Bhindranwale, and floats in memory of the assassins of former PM Indira Gandhi.

ANIRUDH BHATTACHARYA