India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has condemned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent refusal to denounce Sikh terrorism after last month’s pro-Khalistani rally, which coincided with the 38th anniversary of the Air India Flight 182 bombing that killed 280 Canadians.
“They are wrong,” said Trudeau when asked by reporters about India claiming his government is soft on Sikh extremism. “ Canada has always taken extremely seriously violence and threats of violence.”
“We’ve always taken serious action against terrorism and we always will.”
“We have an extremely diverse country and freedom of expression is something we have,” said Trudeau in response to the rally in Toronto which displayed posters honouring Talwinder Singh Parmar, who orchestrated the bombing.
India took issue with Trudeau’s comments, claiming that Trudeau is pandering for votes.
“The issue is not about freedom of expression,” said official MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. “But it’s misuse for advocating violence, propagating separatism, and legitimizing terrorism.
“Canada should not pander to vote-bank politics,” said Bagchi.
Trudeau also refused to explicitly condemn the rally’s celebration of the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and instead gave a general disavowal of all extremism.
“We will always make sure that we are pushing back against violence and extremism in all its forms,” said Trudeau.
Earlier this year, protests featuring Khalistani extremist symbols erupted in front of the Indian consulate in Vancouver, causing concern for Indian diplomats.
“It is expected that the Canadian government will take all steps which are required to ensure the safety of our diplomats and security of our diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfil their normal diplomatic functions,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Trudeau is not the only Canadian politician who has not condemned Khalistani violence.
In 2018, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh gave a speech at a pro-Khalistani rally in San Francisco where images of Parmar depicted as a hero were present. While Singh condemned the Air India bombing, he did not mention Parmar by name.
After the 2019 election debates, Singh spoke about the need to have the right to peacefully advocate for independence but did not condemn Khalistani actions.
