Chandigarh: Raking up of the Sikh freedom issue coinciding with the trip of Canadian premier to India including Amritsar is aimed to embarrass Mr Justin Trudeau, said Dal Khalsa.
The organization feels by continuously questioning the credentials of Mr Justin Trudeau and his cabinet colleagues, a section of media and Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh has offended the political sensibilities of Canada -a Commonwealth friend of India and started a fresh tirade against the Sikh Diaspora which as part of the Sikh nation has been making the right move on Canadian soil, raising human rights concern and endorsing the call for the right to self-determination.
Party leader Kanwar Pal Singh said in its criticism against Canadian government, India has failed to understand that if Canada allows the right to self-determination to people of the Quebec, it cannot deny the same to anyone else for that matter.
Kanwarpal Singh Bittu.
He said by portraying the Sikh struggle for right to self determination as foreign sponsored move, there has been a well-planned, well-thought propaganda by the Indian establishment and its media to undermine the sovereign character of the Sikh people and their aspirations for independence.
Furthermore, he said the latest target of India and the media is Sikh Diaspora residing in UK, Europe and Canada. Unfortunately, the Punjab CM Amarinder Singh with his new-found love for neo-Nationalism (read Hindutva) and Narendra Modi have corroborated these accusations.
On Canada’s Defence Minister declaring that he doesn’t espoused Khalistani cause, another party leader H S Dhami said Harjit Singh Sajjan was never Khalistani and added that it was Captain Amrinder Singh, who labelled him out of egoistical reasons. ‘Sajjan is a Canadian Sikh and a minister owing allegiance to Canadian constitution’.
Amarinder Singh has his own axe to grind against present Canadian government. On his U-turn, Dhami said Captain faced flak on his earlier stance of not meeting “guest” so to avoid further criticism he wasted no time to welcome Sajjan’s statement, Kanwarpal Singh said.
The Sikhs settled in Canada, UK and Europe need no certification or clearance to stand up for the rights of the Sikhs in Punjab, said he. He said to defame all Diaspora Sikhs supporting right to self-determination, the Indian state and media has labelled them as agents of their respective countries, out to create mischief in India. Contrary to Indian perception, the reality is that they are Punjabi-born Sikhs, who have migrated to foreign countries and who want to see their homeland Punjab free from exploitation, human rights abuses and India’s political stranglehold.
Appreciating Canada for its open, mature and vibrant democracies, he said while in India the right to freedom of expression and hold independent thoughts are only on paper, in countries like Canada, it is being practised in letter and spirit.