On Eve of Trudeau’s India Trip, Sajjan, Sohi Dismiss Claims of Sikh Nationalism

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan fields questions during a news conference at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax on Nov. 19, 2017. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan)

OTTAWA—Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan calls it “ridiculous” and “offensive” that a magazine in India is accusing Canada of being complicit in a rise in Sikh terrorism.

Sajjan and fellow Sikh minister Amarjit Sohi are making it clear they neither sympathize with nor espouse the Sikh nationalist movement, which is bent on creating a separate country called Khalistan within India’s Punjab region.

The latest edition of Outlook India features a photo of Trudeau and a headline on the cover that reads, “Khalistan-II: Made in Canada.”

Inside, a number of articles describe alleged connections between Canada and the movement, accuse Sikh Canadians of exploiting the country’s political system, and blame free speech for allowing fundamentalist language to flourish.

Sohi, who is infrastructure minister and represents an Edmonton riding, says he does not sympathize with the cause, nor does he hear much talk about it in the Sikh community.

Sajjan, meanwhile, says the accusation is “ridiculous” and says Canada is being “sucked into” internal Indian politics.

“I’ve been a police officer, I’ve served my country, and any allegations like that are absolutely ridiculous and I find it extremely offensive as well,” Sajjan said following a caucus meeting on Feb. 7.

The magazine blames Canada’s allowance for free speech about human rights for giving “free reign” to more fundamentalist language that has led to the “radical capture of key gurdwaras.”

The subhead on the cover reads: “Sikh religious successionism threatening the Indian Constitution assumes proportions of official policy status in Ottawa as Punjab Police books four Canadian residents for gun-running and terror-funding.”

The magazine also includes a Q and A segment with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who says there appears to be “Khalistani sympathizers in Trudeau’s cabinet.” That allegation meant Singh refused to meet with Sajjan when Sajjan was in India last April.

The issue comes just as India prepares to welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his first state visit next week.

The goal of the trip is to focus on trade and cultural ties, but a successful visit would surely be a re-election boon for Trudeau, who already enjoys a high degree of popularity among Canada’s 1.2 million Indo-Canadians.

Trudeau seems to have a friendly relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—the two have met on the sidelines of almost every international meeting they attended in the last two years, including just last month at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

There are four Sikhs in the federal cabinet, including Sajjan and Sohi.

“If there is a small segment of people in Canada who talk about separation, who talk about the creation of Khalistan, if they do that in a peaceful way, that is their right to do so, but this is not an issue that I hear in the community,” Sohi said.

Balpreet Singh Boparai, lawyer for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, called Singh’s claims “ludicrous.”

“These claims are not borne out by any sort of facts,” he said, adding that Indian media are always claiming outlandish things about Canada’s Sikh community which are never proven to be true.

“Beyond political speech, there is nothing happening here.”

The sentiment that Canada is sympathetic to the separatist movement is not new. However, some recent events have brought the allegations to the fore again, including an April 2017 motion in the Ontario legislature labelling as a genocide the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

From The Canadian Press