TORONTO: Members of the Indian community holding the Tricolour, on Saturday (local time), gathered outside the consulate to protect their diplomats and the consulate office, and unitedly countered a pro-Khalistan protest in Canada’s Toronto.
The Indian diasporas were seen raising slogans like “Bharat Mata ki jai”, “Vande Mataram”, “Long Live India” and “Khalistan Murdabad”, and carried placards, written, “Khalistani are not Sikh”, and “Canada stop supporting Khalistani Canadian terrorists”.
The pro-Khalistani protesters, in the purported video, could be seen disrespecting the Tricolour.
Sunil Arora, one of the Indian diaspora in Canada, said, “We are standing here infront of the Consulate to face the Khalistanis. We are trying to stop Khalistanis nonsense here and we are here for the solidarity of India and Canada, altogether. They are giving wrong information saying that they will kill our diplomats which is… and we are totally against that.”
Another member of the Indian diaspora, Anil Shiringi said that they are there to support the Indian Consulate and stood up against the Khalistani’s threat, which was given to Indian diplomats.
Vidya Bhushan Dhar, another member of the Indian community, who stood in the counter-protest outside the consulate, said, “Canada is a peaceful country and we wanted to remain peaceful and we should. Basically, we are trying to tell the government of Canada to take cognizance of this that this is not freedom of expression. This is for sure not a freedom of expression.”
“When you tell somebody that you are killing somebody or you are displaying a killing act like the one which happened in Branton last week you are not basically showing the freedom of expression but you are promoting reason and separatism. So the government of Canada is requesting by the peace calling Canadians like me and Sunil ji that they take cognizance of this and take appropriate measures and cut the perforators to the site,” he added.
Pro-Khalistani elements had announced to hold rallies outside Indian Missions in the UK, US, Canada and Australia on Saturday after the alleged killing of Khalistan Tiger Force chief, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last month.
This was followed by posters threatening the Indian ambassadors to Canada and the US, as well as the consulate general in Toronto. In the past couple of months, three major anti-India incidents involving Khalistani separatists have been reported in Canada.
According to sources, India on Monday raised concerns over threats to its diplomats in posters being circulated in Canada with information on a pro-Khalistan rally to be held on July 8. The posters contained threats to the Indian Ambassador to Canada and the consulate general in Toronto.
The posters purportedly circulated by Sikh extremists have named Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and the Consulate General of India, Toronto, Apoorva Srivastava accusing them of playing a role in the alleged killing of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Nijjar. (ANI)