Canada hosts Khalistan referendum despite authority concerns

The first such referendum, organised by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), will be just the second to be held on government property in the country, a matter that India has already complained about the Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministry.

In an interview with the outlet CityNews, Calgary’s Indo-Canadian Mayor Jyoti Gondek said, “There are many things that happen on Municipal Plaza because it’s a public space. These are not events that we sanction, they are certainly not events that we approve. The public is able to gather and do what they wish to do as a community.”

She added that it was “not something we can control or patrol.”

The outlet also cited a statement from City of Calgary’s director, corporate properties and buildings, Ian Fleming, who said, “Individuals and organisations can use the Plaza without permission, application or permit if they adhere to the expectations and guidelines of appropriate activities and behaviour.”

Ahead of the referendum on Sunday, the Plaza already features a large poster, which shows among others Talwinder Singh Parmar. He is considered the mastermind of the bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, on June 23, 1985, claiming 329 lives. This remains the worst-ever terrorist incident in Canadian history. Also featured is Hardeep Singh Nijjar, SFJ’s principal organiser for the province of British Columbia who was murdered in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18 last year.

Nijjar was considered a terrorist in India but never faced charges in Canada. His killing led to a subsequent rupture in ties between India and Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18, 2023, that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder.

In its official communique to Canada’s foreign ministry, India’s High Commission in Ottawa protested the use of public property for a separatist event targeting the territorial integrity of the country.

The last time a Government facility was registered for the referendum was the Tamanawis Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia. However, on September 3 last year, week before the scheduled date for the referendum, a spokesperson for the Surrey District School Board said, in a release, that it had “cancelled a community rental of one of our schools due to a violation of our rental agreement.”

That referendum was ultimately held on September 10 last year at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Prior to that on September 18, 2022, it was organised at the Gore Meadows Community Centre, a municipal property in Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA.