Close X
Friday, November 29, 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

44M to be pumped into transit for Burnaby

44M to be pumped into transit for Burnaby
A 44-million-dollar project aims to improve operations at the Burnaby transit centre.  A statement from Infrastructure Canada says the joint funding from the federal government and TransLink will support up to 130 additional buses in the fast-growing Metro Vancouver community.

44M to be pumped into transit for Burnaby

Langley mayor wants Province to invest in school expansion in Langley to combat overcrowding

Langley mayor wants Province to invest in school expansion in Langley to combat overcrowding
Langley City council is asking the B-C government to invest in expanding schools to address overcrowding as the community grows. A statement from Mayor Nathan Pachal says enrolment has already surpassed capacity, and the expected arrival of the SkyTrain in 2028 along with new provincial housing requirements will bring significantly more students over the next decade.

Langley mayor wants Province to invest in school expansion in Langley to combat overcrowding

2 Surrey crashes land pedestrians in hospital

2 Surrey crashes land pedestrians in hospital
Police in Surrey say they're investigating two crashes that sent pedestrians to hospital with serious injuries just 90 minutes apart last night. In the first incident, R-C-M-P say a man in his 40s was taken to hospital in critical condition after being hit by a semi-truck whose driver was co-operating with police.

2 Surrey crashes land pedestrians in hospital

National response needed for encampment crisis, evictions must end: federal advocate

National response needed for encampment crisis, evictions must end: federal advocate
Unhoused people have a fundamental right to live in encampments, and that right is violated when authorities tear them down, Canada's housing advocate says. In a piercing report released Tuesday, Marie-Josée Houle says the expansion of homeless encampments across the country is a national human rights crisis that requires immediate action and co-ordination involving all levels of government.

National response needed for encampment crisis, evictions must end: federal advocate

As pharmacare deadline looms, Singh mulls a future without NDP's deal with Liberals

As pharmacare deadline looms, Singh mulls a future without NDP's deal with Liberals
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is mulling what it would mean for his party if the supply-and-confidence deal that ties his party to the Liberals should end prematurely.  The NDP signed a political pact with the Liberals in 2022 to support the government on key votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities like pharmacare.

As pharmacare deadline looms, Singh mulls a future without NDP's deal with Liberals

Minister was warned lifting international student work limit could undermine program

Minister was warned lifting international student work limit could undermine program
Allowing international students to work more than 20 hours a week could distract from their studies and undermine the objective of temporary foreign worker programs, public servants warned the federal government in 2022. The caution came in documents prepared for former immigration minister Sean Fraser as Ottawa looked at waiving the restriction on the number of hours international students could work off-campus — a policy the Liberals eventually implemented.  

Minister was warned lifting international student work limit could undermine program