Monday, June 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Apr, 2024 04:08 PM
  • Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at the Khalsa Day rally in Toronto on Sunday.

The rally commemorates the Sikh faith, and some participants chanted and carried banners emblazoned with slogans calling for a state separate from India, known as Khalistan.

India formally summoned Canada's deputy high commissioner Monday, and the country's foreign ministry decried what it called "disturbing actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event."

India's foreign ministry didn't specify what it took issue with, but noted there were displays of separatism and alleged this illustrates Canada tolerating "extremism and violence."

New Delhi and Ottawa have been at odds over the issue for decades, and the relationship has been significantly strained since Trudeau accused India of playing a role in the slaying of a Canadian Sikh leader last year. 

Canada insists it will not infringe on free speech, including when Sikh people call for the existence of Khalistan. 

But India says these comments violate its constitution.

India has pointed out instances of people in Canada openly glorifying those linked to the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane, whose passengers were largely Canadian citizens. 

Human-rights groups says the country's Hindu nationalist government has increasingly persecuted minorities in recent years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office did not immediately comment on India's rebuke Monday. 

Joly has repeatedly said she wants to navigate the diplomatic rift with India in private. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Vehicle crashes into Surrey home

Vehicle crashes into Surrey home
 The driver, a 21-year-old man, was arrested for Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Flight from Police. He was treated on scene for minor injuries and released to appear in court at a later date.  Speed and dangerous driving were contributing factors in the collision. 

Vehicle crashes into Surrey home

Missing person to locate Robanpreet Singh

Missing person to locate Robanpreet Singh
Robanpreet was last seen on July 9, 2023 at his residence in Surrey. Police and family are concerned for Robanpreet’s health and well-being as it is out of character for Robanpreet to be out of contact for this long. If you see Robanpreet, keep him in sight and call police.

Missing person to locate Robanpreet Singh

B.C. expected to request Ottawa's help with worsening wildfires: minister

B.C. expected to request Ottawa's help with worsening wildfires: minister
Bill Blair tells The Canadian Press the government operations centre has been in discussions with the province for the last several days, and Ottawa is ready to deploy needed resources as the formal request for help is expected Thursday.

B.C. expected to request Ottawa's help with worsening wildfires: minister

BC man gets 9 years for shooting

BC man gets 9 years for shooting
A B-C man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for fatally shooting a woman in Surrey two years ago, and for an unrelated robbery two months earlier. The 26-year-old pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing a 20-year-old sex worker in May 2021, and to a robbery and a weapons charge for holding up a poker game in Burnaby in March that same year.

BC man gets 9 years for shooting

Decision postponed in Amanda Todd case

Decision postponed in Amanda Todd case
Dutch judges have been considering how to convert the 13-year sentence imposed on Aydin Coban by a B-C court into a term that meshes with the Dutch legal system -- and it's possible he could serve about 4-and-a-half years for his crimes against Amanda Todd.   

Decision postponed in Amanda Todd case

Tentative four-year deal reached in B.C. port strike, subject to ratification

Tentative four-year deal reached in B.C. port strike, subject to ratification
The tentative deal comes after federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan ordered a mediator to issue terms of possible settlement earlier this week, saying the gap in the deadlocked talks was "not sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage."  

Tentative four-year deal reached in B.C. port strike, subject to ratification