EAM Jaishankar warns Canada after Khalistanis paint target on Indian envoys in rally posters
India has taken strong exception to alleged Khalistan supporters naming and threatening Indian diplomats in Canada and a planned protest march by them to Indian embassies in Toronto and Vancouver on July 8. The extremists have put up posters for the rally naming Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Counsellor Apoorva Srivastava with their photographs.
The protestors will take out the march named ‘Khalistan Freedom Rally’ after trying to blame Indian diplomats and security agencies for the killing of designated terrorist and chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Verma, India’s high commissioner to Ottawa told an Indian newspaper that, “In the garb of freedom of expression, they are attempting to cause harm to foreign envoys, which may not be the intention of Canadian law and constitution, under which such rights are provided.”
External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar has also responded to the matter of names of Indian diplomats on Khalistani posters in Canada. While speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said, “We have requested our partner countries like Canada, the United States, the UK, and Australia not to give space to the Khalistanis. This will affect our relations. We will raise this poster issue with the government of these countries.”
He also said the “radical, extremist” Khalistani thinking is not good for India or its partner countries like the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a BJP outreach campaign, Jaishankar said the government will raise the issue of pro-Khalistan posters that were part of a rally held recently in Canada. “We have requested our partner countries like Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia where sometimes Khalistani activities happen, not to give space to the Khalistanis. Because their (Khalistanis) radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor them nor our relations,” he said.
“We will raise the issue of posters with those governments. I think it would have already been done by now,” he added. A photo of the 1985 Air India airplane bombing accused Talwinder Parmar was seen in a pro-Khalistan rally in Canada, seeking to glorify him. As regards Nijjar, he was killed on June 19 reportedly in an inter-gang war in Surrey town of Vancouver. Nijjar had links with the proscribed organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
While the poster for the protest rally in Toronto on July 8 names Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Counsellor Apoorva Srivastava with photos, and posters of a simultaneous rally in Vancouver named the High Commissioner and Consul General Vancouver Manish. The posters carried the phone numbers of the organizers of the protest rally along with photos of their targets that is Indian diplomats. “Since the identities of those threatening Indian diplomats is known, the Canadian government this time has no excuses for not taking action or dismissing this threat as a legitimate democratic right of the protestors”, said an official.
It is understood that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has already contacted the Indian High Commission in Toronto and Vancouver and have decided to give personal security to Indian diplomats including the High Commissioner and the Counsel General. While the Vancouver protest rally will start from Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara, which had been taken over by Nijjar and his aides, it will culminate at the Indian Consulate in Vancouver. The Toronto protest rally will start from Malton and proceed toward the Indian High Commission in Toronto. The SFJ has taken to social media to announce “Kill India” rallies in eight countries on the same day.
Author-journalist Terry Milewski tweeted an image of the Khalistani threat poster that branded the Indian High Commissioner in Ottawa and consulate general in Toronto as “killers“. Milewski called it “extremely dangerous”. “No diplomat should be threatened like this. We have to hope the High Commissioner and the Consul are well protected and that the Nijjar murder is rapidly solved,” wrote Terry Milewski.
PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Supreme Court rejects plea to tally all VVPAT slips with EVM votes; says ‘no going back to paper ballot’ - April 26, 2024
- US report citing human rights violations is deeply biased: India - April 25, 2024
- Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tank 13%. Market Cap erodes by Rs.37,721 cr post-RBI action - April 25, 2024
