A year after protesters blocked India’s embassy in Vancouver and pro-Khalistan speeches were delivered there, New Delhi has formally requested that Canada provide ‘ample deployment’ of security at its embassies in the nation to ensure that such disruptions do not occur again.
The Indian request was sent to Canada’s foreign ministry, Global Affairs Canada, via a note verbale, an official diplomatic communication, issued by India’s High Commission in Ottawa.
According to the Hindustan Times, senior Indian officials have communicated ‘precise and specific information’ about threats to Indian missions in Canada. ‘We’ve already told our Canadian colleagues about the most explicit threats we’ve received and asked them to make sure nothing bad happens,’ the official said.
There is concern this year because Punjab elections are approaching, and the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has made public statements about disrupting Republic Day functions in Vancouver, while other hardline groups have planned a car rally to the consulate in Toronto and a demonstration in front of the High Commission in Ottawa.
According to the official, promises have been obtained that Canadian police enforcement officers in charge of diplomatic security will ‘intensify patrolling and deploy static and plainclothes troops.’
According to SFJ’s general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun, activists supporting the Khalistan Referendum have been assigned to ‘Raise Khalistan – Block Tiranga’ on January 26 at India’s missions, notably Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s in Vancouver. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against Nijjar before a special court in New Delhi in November last year, alleging that he planned terror attacks in India in violation of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Despite openly supporting secession and being behind the non-binding referendum, Nijjar and the SFJ have denied any role in terrorism.
The event in Toronto is being held to demand that the Indian government ‘free all Sikh Political Prisoners who have served their sentences.’
According to Sukhminder Singh Hansra, a senior member of Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar Canada and a prominent pro-Khalistan figure in Canada, this was decided at a meeting last week and is being supported by his group as well as the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee, Sikh Motorcycle Club of Canada, and others.
A group of gurdwaras in Vancouver has also scheduled a protest in front of the consulate. The protest will follow the same schedule as the rally in Toronto.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs formally expressed its displeasure over the blockade of the Canadian consulate in Vancouver last year.
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