SFJ holds Khalistan referendum at gurdwara in Canada’s British Colombia

Secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on Sunday hastily-arranged the Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia.

This development comes the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed India’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

The voting took place at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey, the same gurdwara which was headed by SFJ’s principal figure in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was gunned down by unidentified assailants on June 18 in its parking lot.

SFJ has pinned the blame on India for Nijjar’s assassination though the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which is investigating the case, has neither arrested anyone in this connection nor attributed any motive behind the murder.

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SFJ has also announced another round of the referendum on October 29, also in Surrey.

The venue for the referendum was originally to be held at the Tamanawis Secondary School.

However, a week before its scheduled date, it was cancelled by the Surrey District School Board “due to a violation of our rental agreement.”

The reason cited was that the poster carried images of the school along with a picture of an AK-47 gun as well as a kirpan.

“Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organisers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media,” the release noted.

While India has repeatedly raised the matter with the Canadian government, irked by Ottawa allowing the country’s territory to be used for separatist activity, action is unlikely to be taken in this regard.

Trudeau had said this while addressing media persons in New Delhi, where he was attending the G20 leaders’ summit and met Modi on the margins of the global event for a pull-aside bilateral.

“Diaspora Canadians make up a huge proportion of our country, and they should be able to express themselves and make their choices without interference from any of the many countries that we know are involved in interference challenges,” he said.

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