A whole lot of Sikh demonstrators gathered outdoors Indian embassies in Canada on Monday, trampled photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and set Indian flags on fireplace, every week after Ottawa claimed New Delhi had a hand within the homicide of a well known Khalistani Sikh chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“We’re not protected again dwelling in Punjab, we aren’t protected in Canada,” mentioned Joe Hotha, a member of the Sikh group in Toronto, referring to the homicide in June of Canadian citizen Nijjar close to Vancouver.
Final Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised parliament that New Delhi was probably concerned within the assassination of the Sikh chief, triggering a serious diplomatic disaster between the 2 nations.
“Now our prime minister tells all the pieces within the parliament, so there isn’t any excuse,” mentioned one other Sikh protester, Harpar Gosal of Toronto.
“The Indians, they’re terrorists, they killed our brother in Vancouver, in order that´s why we’re protesting right here,” mentioned the Canadian outdoors of the Indian consulate.
Like different protesters, he carried the yellow flag of Khalistan — an impartial state that some Sikhs hope to create within the Indian area of Punjab.
A number of hundred individuals gathered in Toronto but additionally in Ottawa and Vancouver to denounce Modi´s authorities.
Canada is dwelling to the biggest Sikh group on this planet outdoors of India, with 770,000 Canadians professing Sikhism in 2021, or two % of the nation´s inhabitants.
The Indian authorities referred to as the Canadian accusations “absurd” and vehemently denied them.
It additionally suggested its nationals to not journey to sure Canadian areas “given the rise in anti-Indian actions” and briefly stopped processing visa purposes in Canada.
Since then, diplomatic relations between the 2 international locations have been at their lowest level, marked by reciprocal expulsions of diplomats whereas Trudeau has repeatedly referred to as on the Indian authorities to cooperate within the investigation.
