Toronto: After the incident of Amritpal Singh in Punjab, Khalistani activists in Canada are making headlines. Former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh says, they are doing all this without any motive, just for their own satisfaction. Dosanjh was brutally attacked by Sikh fundamentalists in Vancouver in 1986, when militant violence was at its peak in Punjab. He said that the Khalistan movement has no future.
In June 1984, 25,000 people demonstrated in Vancouver, says Dosanjh, but now only 100 people are showing up at anti-Khalistani demonstrations. Many fear that pro-Khalistani sentiment is on the rise in Canada. What prompted NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, MP Sonia Sidhu and others to tweet about the situation in Punjab following the shutdown of internet services over the arrest of Amritpal Singh, said a Brampton-based Sikh entrepreneur, on condition of anonymity. says? This was done at the behest of the radical vote bank.
He says most people are keeping quiet for fear of retribution. They say, no one opens their mouth against the Khalistanis, who have political patronage. Any leader who says anything against them is banned from entering Gurudwaras and participating in the Vaisakhi parade. An Indo-Canadian restaurant owner in Toronto says when an incident like Amritpal Singh happens, pro-Khalistan supporters attack mayors, MPs, MPPs and ministers’ offices, forcing them to make statements or tweet in haste It has to be
The restaurant owner claims that Khalistani is luring and using fresh students from Punjab to further their agenda. They brainwash these students by helping them with jobs, accommodation and food. Toronto restaurant owner says students are being drawn into Khalistani protests. Ritesh Malik, national convenor of the Canada-India Foundation, who has been targeted by hardliners for being an RSS supporter, blames political appeasement for the rise of anti-India sentiment in Canada.
Politicians should stop doing identity politics, says Malik. A criminal is a criminal – not a Sikh or a Hindu or a Muslim. By supporting these elements, Ministers and MPs are playing a dangerous game and doing Canada harm. The Brampton Punjabi journalist also accused the Indian government of emboldening the Khalistanis by removing their names from the blacklist. The Modi government, he says, had started this process in 2015 to woo the Khalistanis to its side, but it was done without any thought. Today, we Indians are seeing the result.
