Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke
Global News
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at the Khalsa Day rally in Toronto on Sunday.
India has summoned Canada’s envoy in New Delhi following a large Sikh rally in Toronto attended by all three major federal party leaders.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at the Khalsa Day rally in Toronto on Sunday.
The rally commemorates the Sikh faith, and some participants chanted and carried banners emblazoned with slogans calling for a state separate from India, known as Khalistan.
India formally summoned Canada’s deputy high commissioner Monday, and the country’s foreign ministry decried what it called “disturbing actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event.”
India’s foreign ministry didn’t specify what it took issue with, but noted there were displays of separatism and alleged this illustrates Canada tolerating “extremism and violence.”
New Delhi and Ottawa have been at odds over the issue for decades, and the relationship has been significantly strained since Trudeau accused India of playing a role in the slaying of a Canadian Sikh leader last year.
Canada insists it will not infringe on free speech, including when Sikh people call for the existence of Khalistan.
But India says these comments violate its constitution.