Promotion of violence not acceptable in Canada: Minister on ‘Indira Gandhi assassination’ posters by Khalistanis

PTI, Jun 8, 2024, 4:50 PM IST

Ottawa: Promotion of violence is never acceptable in Canada, a minister has said after posters depicting the assassination of India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were reportedly put up by Khalistan supporters in Vancouver.

An Indian-origin Canadian lawmaker also expressed concern over the issue, saying by doing so, the Khalistan supporters are trying to instil fear of violence in Hindu Canadians.

“This week, there were reports of imagery depicting the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Vancouver,” Dominic A LeBlanc, the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs said on X.

“The promotion of violence is never acceptable in Canada,” he said.

Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

Meanwhile, Indo-Canadian lawmaker Chandra Arya, who represents the electoral district of Nepean in the House of Commons of Canada, said: “Khalistan supporters in Vancouver with posters of Hindu Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi’s body with bullet holes with her bodyguards turned assassins holding their guns, are again attempting to instil fear of violence in Hindu-Canadians.”

“This is a continuation of threats with a similar float in Brampton a couple of years back and a few months back (Gurpatwant Singh) Pannun of Sikhs for Justice asking Hindus to go back to India,” Arya, the lawmaker from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party said.

Pannun is one of the main leaders of the Khalistan movement and the legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which aims to promote the idea of a separate Sikh state.

Arya called on law enforcement agencies in Canada to take immediate action.

“With picture of guns readily being used to convey the message may lead to something real if this is left to continue unchallenged. The prominence of a bindi on the forehead of Indira Gandhi is to make doubly sure the intended targets are Hindus in Canada,” he said.

India has been asserting for a long that its ‘core issue’ with Canada remained that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.