Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Apr, 2024 04:08 PM
  • Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

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.

India has pointed out instances of people in Canada openly glorifying those linked to the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane, whose passengers were largely Canadian citizens. 

Human-rights groups says the country's Hindu nationalist government has increasingly persecuted minorities in recent years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office did not immediately comment on India's rebuke Monday. 

Joly has repeatedly said she wants to navigate the diplomatic rift with India in private. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Ottawa will shut down shady post-secondary institutions if provinces don't: Miller

Ottawa will shut down shady post-secondary institutions if provinces don't: Miller
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Ottawa is ready to step in and shut down shady schools that are abusing the international student program if provinces don't crack down on them. Miller says there are problems across the college sector, but some of the worst offenders are private institutions — and those schools need to go. 

Ottawa will shut down shady post-secondary institutions if provinces don't: Miller

Snowfall warning for parts of Lower Mainland could mean sloppy Vancouver commute

Snowfall warning for parts of Lower Mainland could mean sloppy Vancouver commute
Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for parts of B.C.'s Lower Mainland, with a wintry mix heralding a sloppy evening commute for Metro Vancouver. The warning also covers the Fraser Valley and the Sea to Sky Highway, with up to 25 centimetres expected in Whistler.  

Snowfall warning for parts of Lower Mainland could mean sloppy Vancouver commute

Some bundled wireless plans not as cheap as before Rogers-Shaw merger: watchdog

Some bundled wireless plans not as cheap as before Rogers-Shaw merger: watchdog
Certain cellphone plans in Western Canada are not as cheap as they were prior to the Rogers-Shaw merger, Canada's competition watchdog says. Jeanne Pratt, the Competition Bureau's senior deputy commissioner of mergers and monopolistic practices, told MPs on Monday that before Shaw was purchased by Rogers Communications last April, the company was "a particularly growing and disruptive competitive force" in B.C. and Alberta.

Some bundled wireless plans not as cheap as before Rogers-Shaw merger: watchdog

Online harms: Liberals seek to create digital safety commission, new ombudsperson

Online harms: Liberals seek to create digital safety commission, new ombudsperson
The Liberal government plans to create a new digital safety regulator to compel social-media platforms to take action against online harms and remove damaging content — including child sex-abuse material and intimate images shared without consent — under penalty of millions of dollars in fines.  Justice Minister Arif Virani tabled the long-awaited Online Harms Act on Monday, along with a suite of other amendments to the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act.   

Online harms: Liberals seek to create digital safety commission, new ombudsperson

Real estate association economist doubts B.C.'s flipping tax is worth the trouble

Real estate association economist doubts B.C.'s flipping tax is worth the trouble
Policy watchers are split on the value of British Columbia's upcoming provincial flipping tax targeting those looking to make a quick buck in the real estate market. Brendon Ogmundson, chief economist of the British Columbia Real Estate Association, says the tax could end up reducing the overall number of homes on the market while only applying to a small number of properties.

Real estate association economist doubts B.C.'s flipping tax is worth the trouble

Woman who stopped to check on police spike belt damage killed by fleeing truck

Woman who stopped to check on police spike belt damage killed by fleeing truck
Officers have found a stolen car used to flee a deadly hit-and-run following a high-speed police chase on the weekend, and they continue to search for a suspect. The Honda Civic was recovered early this morning outside Edmonton.  

Woman who stopped to check on police spike belt damage killed by fleeing truck