Ottawa apologized to India over Nov. 11 event
Canadian soldiers photographed near poster of Sikh militants
OTTAWA — Canada apologized to India in 2011 after a ministerial inquiry confirmed that military personnel had participated at a Remembrance Day event that “glorified terrorists” at a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C.
The event took place even though, according to internal documents, the Punjabispeaking officer now running to become a Liberal MP warned his colleagues not to let themselves be photographed near posters of “martyrs” of the movement to create an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged in internal 2012 correspondence that government officials and MPs were playing with fire attending events like the Remembrance Day ceremony and the annual Vaisakhi parade in Surrey, where some floats have included posters of Sikh radicals.
The government “must adopt a much more rigorous process for screening event invitations,” Harper told a Conservative MP in 2012 who had complained about government representatives being compromised.
The revelation that Canada apologized to India was contained in an email dated Dec. 8, 2011, from Harper’s office. It was in response to complaints from some Punjabi Canadians that religious fundamentalists would hijack a solemn day to honour the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers.
“Canadian Armed Forces members were invited to attend a Remembrance Day event; this was not expected,” wrote Katherine Coutinho, then a communications officer at Harper’s regional office in Vancouver.
She added that Gen. Walter Natynczyk, then chief of defence staff, “has apologized to the Indian High Commissioner.”
National Defence has continued to provide vehicles and personnel for the Vaisakhi parade, which draws more than 200,000 people, after being assured by organizers they’d be vigilant in avoiding future embarrassments, according to an internal document dated Aug. 7, 2013.
That document, from Defence Minister Rob Nicholson’s office, said such events are important to help find Indo-Canadian recruits and ensure Canada’s military is “inclusive.”
The 2011 Remembrance Day event, hosted by the Dasmesh Darbar temple, was intended “to recognize the sacrifices of Canada’s soldiers,” according to a report at the time in The Province newspaper.
The armed forces contingent appeared in front of a giant “Honouring our Fallen” poster accompanied by photographs of Sikh soldiers during the two world wars. But nearby was a large poster of prominent Sikh militants who died during the Indian army’s raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984. A picture of the ceremony with that in the background was published in The Province.
Wearing a blue turban in the poster was Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of the separatist Sikh militants who died during the Amritsar raid.
Some critics of the Khalistan movement in Canada complained that Lt.-Col Harjit Singh Sajjan, acclaimed Friday as Justin Trudeau’s Liberal candidate in Vancouver South, attended the 2011 event.
At the time Sajjan had just been appointed commander of the reserve B.C. Regiment.
Sajjan confirmed that he attended the event, but said it was no coincidence that photographers didn’t capture him near the posters. “I did not take part in those pictures because I didn’t think it was appropriate.”
Documents from Nicholson’s office make clear that Sajjan was under orders to attend the 2011 event, and that he warned his superior officer after arrival that his men shouldn’t appear near the militant posters.