Trudeau at event featuring Khalistani flags upsets India
While vitriolic attacks on Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh at the annual nagar kirtan in Vancouver riled up the Indian government, there is consternation over Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s presence at a Toronto event that featured Khalistani flags and posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
The Toronto nagar kirtan on Sunday also celebrated the carrying of a motion in the Ontario assembly last month that described the 1984 anti-sikh riots as “genocide”. A senior Indian official described Trudeau’s presence at the Khalsa Day event as “surely a matter of concern”.
Trudeau was the first Canadian PM to attend the event since Paul Martin in 2005. Trudeau’s predecessor Stephen Harper had stayed away in previous years. Bhindranwale, an extremist leader at the forefront of the Khalistan movement, was killed by the Indian army during Operation Blue Star in 1984 .
Though defence minister Arun Jaitley had expressed India’s concerns about the Ontario assembly motion to his Canadian counterpart Harjit Sajjan last month, the organisers of the nagar kirtan in Toronto honoured Harinder Malhi, Liberal MPP, who moved the motion during the event.
Sukhminder Singh Hansra president of the Shiromani Akal Dal (A) Canada, said: “I am glad that the organisers who repre sent a larger segment of Sikh community have reminded the world of the peaceful struggle for Khalistan.”