Tuesday, June 2, 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

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building
The museum opens its permanent location in Chinatown's historic Wing Sang Building after more than six years of planning, starting with then-premier John Horgan mandating the province's Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry to establish the institution.  

New Chinese Canadian Museum opens its doors in historic Vancouver Chinatown building

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting
Around 1 A-M on June 30th last year, police responded to reports of gunshots. Officers arrived to find 37-year old Mehdi “Damian” Eslahian suffering from gunshot wounds outside a home in Port Coquitlam, and he died at the scene.

Family appeals to public on one-year anniversary of Port Coquitlam shooting

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report
British Columbia's independent forests watchdog is calling for the provincial government to make critical changes to how it manages forests to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It comes as the largest wildfire in the province's history, the Donnie Creek wildfire, continues to burn out of control in the remote northeast.  

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

BOC outlook survey

BOC outlook survey
The Bank of Canada's latest business outlook survey suggests businesses still anticipate larger-than-normal wage and price increases over the next year. The central bank reports expectations are shifting closer to what they were before the pandemic.

BOC outlook survey

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice
Fraser Health issued an overdose alert Thursday saying the juice that tested positive contained cannabis and suspected synthetic cannabinoids and was sold in refillable, unmarked and unbranded cartridges. It did not specify where the product was sold.

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park
Team manager Ryan Smith with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue says Esther Wang was located Thursday night and has gone home with her family after a medical assessment. RCMP say the 16-year-old from Langley, B.C., was part of a group of four people who were hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park on Tuesday.

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park