Canadian authorities investigate anti-India campaign cases

Toronto: Canada authorities are investigating a series of anti-India posters targeting its senior-most diplomats in the country, even as New Delhi has sought remedial action to prevent such incidents.

Following the appearance of a poster outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver on Tuesday, Canada has started probing the matter. In a tweet, Public Safety Canada, the country’s internal security department, said, “There is no place in Canada for the incitement of violence. Law enforcement has been engaged following the circulation of an online video in relation to threats against Indian diplomatic officials.”

India has sought action from Ottawa in this regard, so that perpetrators are identified and deterred from undertaking such provocation in Canada, as per its laws.

The poster outside the consulate was similar to those that appeared at various locations in the Metro Vancouver region earlier, particularly in the town of Surrey. These posters use the word ‘Wanted’ under the photographs and names of India’s senior-most diplomats in Canada – its High Commissioner to Ottawa and consul-generals in Vancouver and Toronto.

The poster near the entrance to the building housing the consulate was removed after it was discovered on Tuesday morning. It appears to have been placed there in the early hours.

While the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is responsible for diplomatic security, the Vancouver Police Department is the local agency in charge.

The lapse occurred despite the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group warning in advance about besieging Indian missions on August 15, and similar posters already making their appearance in the region.

As with the ‘Kill India’ posters earlier, videos of the posters being placed at the consulate were circulated on social media on Monday.

The series of posters have referred to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, SFJ’s principal figure in British Columbia. Nijjar was murdered in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Singh Gurdwara Sahib he headed in Surrey on June 18. SFJ has blamed India for his “assassination”. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which is probing the killing, has not ascribed any motive while it seeks the murderers.

Several similar posters had appeared at various locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last month, prior to SFJ conducting the latest round of the so-called Khalistan Referendum in a gurdwara in the area on July 16.

As with the previous campaign, the new posters have appeared before SFJ’s organises its next referendum in September in Surrey.

SFJ has said the posters do not call for violence against the diplomats but is a “reminder” that the high commissioner is the “face” of the Indian government in Canada, which it holds responsible for the “assassination”.

Meanwhile, the gurdwara that Nijjar led has circulated an online petition calling upon the Canadian government to launch an investigation into the murder. The e-petition has been sponsored by Liberal Party MP Sukh Dhaliwal, and said the “assassination” of Nijjar had “raised serious concerns which warrant immediate and utmost attention of the Canadian government at the highest level”.

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