TORONTO: Pro-Khalistan protests against Indian diplomats were launched again on Thursday, meaning government officials and diplomatic corps have faced more than 20 demonstrations in less than a year.
On July 8 last year, pro-Khalistan protesters were confronted by pro-India groups outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto, Canada. (HT) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
The “picket” against Indian High Commissioner to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, was organised by the separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and was also linked to allegations that Indian agents may have been involved in the murder of pro-Khalistani figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year.
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Since the first Nijjar-related incident on July 8, 2023, the number of protests targeting top Indian officials and missions in Canada has crossed 20.
In both cases, India had conveyed its concerns about the planned protests to the Canadian Foreign and Commonwealth Agency (GAC) in advance, and security was stepped up.
On Thursday, protesters gathered in front of the Canadian High Commission in Ottawa and remained there for about four and a half hours shouting anti-India slogans. “Security was inadequate. We have lodged a complaint with the Canadian side,” a senior Indian government official said.
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But the official added that there was “no major disruption.”
Leading up to the protests that began in July last year, posters were circulated online (and later used during the protests) bearing the words “Kill India” and pictures of the Indian High Commissioner and Consul General in Toronto and Vancouver.
The investigation continued through the year and gained momentum in the fall after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that there was a “credible suspicion” that Indian agents were involved in Nijjar’s murder. Four Indian nationals were arrested in connection with the murder this year, but investigators have yet to uncover any evidence of a link, although they say the investigation is continuing.
When the protests began last July, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly called some of the rallies’ promotional materials “unacceptable,” adding that Canada “takes very seriously its obligations under the Vienna Convention on the Safety of Diplomatic Personnel.”
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However, these criticisms have not been repeated since Prime Minister Trudeau’s statement on September 18th of last year.
Meanwhile, pro-Khalistani groups also targeted temples and other venues where Indian officials were staying for a consular camp in November last year, and held protests in March this year when the high commissioner held a trade and business event in Surrey and later in Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta.
FJI adviser Gurpatwant Pannun warned that the so-called Khalistan rallies would continue “until Indian diplomats are forced to leave.”
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