Kitsilano secondary school, Public school in Vancouver, British Columbia

Pro-Khailistani groups had criticised the "Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada" released last December by the Canadian Department of Public Safety.The removal of reference to Sikh terrorism was seen as an attempt to woo Canadian Sikhs, and came just ahead of Prime Minister Trudeau's visit to a Vancouver gurdwara for Baisakhi festivities.Among Canada's half-million strong Sikh community quite a number are reported to be supporters of Sikh extremism.According to the now-deleted portions of the report, Sikh radicalism remains one of Canada's top five flavors of homegrown terrorism, alongside Islamic radicalism and far-right fanaticism.Under the heading "Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism," the report noted that "some individuals in Canada continue to support Sikh (Khalistani) extremist ideologies and movements". It said that "two key Sikh organizations, Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, have been identified as being associated with terrorism and remain listed terrorist entities under the Criminal Code."The report cited the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 by British Columbia-based Sikh extremists. It noted that there were "extremely limited" instances of Khalistani violence on Canadian soil, and added that both Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation continue to be blamed by Indian authorities for ongoing violence. The report explicitly referred to Canadian-based "financing" for the Khalistani organizations.Sikh community leaders and Sikh members of the ruling Liberal Party protested against the report which they termed as an attack on Sikhism.Pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) demanded Prime Minister Trudeau's resignation over the report.Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ legal adviser, in a statement said: "For close to a year you and your government stood behind a completely unsubstantiated terror report that labelled our community as Sikh extremists or terrorists. It's despicable that you drop the offensive language from your report the day before you come calling for money and votes in Vancouver."The report was then officially softened in April to coincide with Trudeau's attendance at a Baisakhi parade in British Columbia.Mention of "Sikh extremism" and their motive of a "Sikh homeland" were expunged. Instead, there was a vague sentence on "Extremists who Support Violent Means to Establish an Independent State Within India."Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had said the Trudeau government's move to remove reference to "Sikh extremism" was politically motivated."The Trudeau government has taken this decision under political pressure and is targeted to woo Sikhs in the election year. Trudeau is playing with fire as the decision will hit Indo-Canadian ties. Removal of reference to Sikh extremism will also pose a threat to India's national security" Amarinder Singh said.Canadian politician Ujjal Dosanjh a former federal Liberal cabinet minister and NDP Premier of British Columbia in an interview to the Sun said that with the move Trudeau's government "has bowed to hard-right Khalistanis"."If he had bowed in the same way to hard-right fundamentalist Christ on any issue, there would be devastating criticisms of him by the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP. Except in this particular case the identity politics has won the day. This is an extreme case of political pandering by Mr. Trudeau. He capitulated to the hard-right Khalistanis and undermined the Canadian intelligence agencies or at least their independence in the way they want to identify their threats."( With inputs from IANS )

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Lok Sabha Election 2024

Heatwave In India

Mumbai Water Cut

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election

IPL 2024

Salman Khan

Kitsilano Secondary SchoolFOLLOW

Kitsilano secondary school, Latest News

International :Ripudaman Singh Malik killing has hallmarks of professional 'hit': British Columbia's ex-top cop

Vancouver, July 20 The killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik has all the hallmarks of a professional murder-for-hire, according ... ...

Entertainment :Ryan Reynolds yummy gift idea for his alma mater

And it's getting really f**king boring." He asked everyone to practice empathy. ...

Entertainment :Ryan Reynolds gifts free pizza to graduating students of his alma mater

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 43-year-old actor posted a commencement speech for Kitsilano Secondary School's class of 2020 - he is an alumnus of the Vancouver-area school - on his YouTube channel, where he shared inspiring words to studen ...

Health :Intentional use of fentanyl on rise: Study

The use of fentanyl by the people who suffer from a drug habit has witnessed a twofold increase since the year 2015, says a latest research. ...

International :Huawei CFO's extradition trial begins in Canada

The extradition trial of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer Huawei who Washington accuses of helping the of Chinese telecommunications giant dodge American sanctions on Iran, has started in the Canadian city of Vancouver. ...

National :Is Canada's Justin Trudeau govt pandering to Sikh separatism?

In April, the Justin Trudeau government removed a reference to Sikh extremism from a report that had earlier termed Sikh terrorism as one of the five threats facing Canada. ...