Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has rejected allegations that Canada was supporting Sikh militancy aimed at creating a separate Sikh state within the Indian Punjab.
An Indian weekly magazine has published a cover story Khalistan-II: Made in Canada in its latest edition ahead of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s first official visit to India. Mr Sajjan said the allegations made in the story were “ridiculous” and “offensive”, according to reports in the Canadian media.
He and fellow Sikh Minister in the Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Amarjit Sohi made it clear they neither sympathise with nor espouse the separatist Sikh movement.
The story in the Outlook magazine claimed some Sikhs in Canada were exploiting the country’s political system and the freedom of speech to prop up fundamentalist language against India.
The articles accused the Canadian government of allowing Sikh separatist movements to flourish and listed four Canadians reportedly wanted by the Indian law enforcement agencies for allegedly supplying weapons and funding terrorism in India.
But Mr Sajjan said the allegations emanated due to India’s internal politics.
“I’ve been a police officer, I’ve served my country and any allegations like that is absolutely ridiculous and I find it extremely offensive as well,” he said.
In a Q and A with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh published in the magazine, he is quoted saying there appear to be “Khalistani sympathisers in Trudeau’s cabinet”.
Harjit Sajjan Source: sikhchic.com
Last year, Capt Singh had refused to meet Mr Sajjan when he visited Punjab during an official visit to India.
Amarjit Sohi, the Infrastructure minister says does not sympathize with the Khalistan cause
“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,” Mr Sohi said.
“From my point of view this is not an issue for the Canadian population, this is not an issue for the Indo-Canadian community within Canada, and I don’t feel it necessary to be engaging in something that is completely irrelevant from a Canadian’s point of view.”
