- Akali Dal Panch Pardhani and Dal Khalsa issued Joint Statement
Ludhiana/Punjab (September 16, 2012): The Akali Dal Panch Pardani and Dal Khalsa has taken exception to the statement of Canadian foreign minister John Baird in which he had assured his Indian counterpart to initiate action against Sikh Canadians who are supporting the cause of Sikh independence in Punjab.
Both the political parties have urged the Canadian government not to get mislead by the Indian government’s propaganda against the protagonists of Khalistan.
In a joint statement, spokespersons of both the groups Harpal Singh Cheema and Kanwar Pal Singh said seeking right to self-determination was inalienable right of all ethnic peoples and nations.
They slammed foreign minister S M Krishna for raking up the issue of “Sikh extremism in Canada”, on the sidelines of recently concluded talks between India and Canada in Delhi. “We would like to emphasis the point that fighting for one’s rights including right to self determination is not extremism”.
Accusing the present government for adopting double standards on the issue, they reminded how Canada’s previous leadership has granted the people of Quebec (Canadian province) their right to self-determination in 1980 and 1995.
They pointed out that it has been wrongly presumed within India and among the people concerned abroad that the issue of Sikh Sovereignty has become thing of the past.