Canada’s court passes order to prevent disruption of Indian consular camps organised in Vancouver
The consular camps are held annually to provide services like life certificates for pensioners who are residents in Canada. There are apprehensions of pro-Khalistan elements attempting to disrupt these camps
Toronto: A court in the province of British Columbia has granted an injunction based on a plea from a historic Canadian gurdwara to prevent pro-Khalistan protesters from disrupting consular camps to be organised by the Indian consulate in Vancouver this month.
The injunction was granted by a judge of the BC Supreme Court after filings from the historic Khalsa Diwan Society gurdwara in Vancouver. Popularly known as the Ross Street gurdwara, it said in documents filed before the court that the Vancouver Police Department is expected to deploy “significant resources” to keeping the peace during the consular camps scheduled for November 2 and 16, according to the agency Canadian Press.
“The Society expects that the consular camps will draw intense protests from individuals who believe that all Indian consular offices should be shut down in Canada, and that consular officials should not be allowed to enter the Ross Street Gurdwara in furtherance of official business on behalf of the Government of India,” the documents stated.
The plea was entered on Wednesday, the Society’s president Kuldip Singh Thandi told the Hindustan Times. He said there had been a “lot of trouble” when consular camps were held last year.
As per the court order, protesters will be prevented from coming within 50-metre of the gurdwara.
The consular camps are held annually to provide services like life certificates for pensioners who are residents in Canada. The certificates for pension purposes are provided free of charge.
However, given the current tensions between India and Canada, there are apprehensions of pro-Khalistan elements attempting to disrupt these camps.
Such camps are being organised in November by India’s High Commission in Ottawa as well as its consulates in Toronto and Vancouver are various venues in the provinces of BC, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Nova Scotia. The venues are mainly gurdwaras and Hindu temples.
Thandi said the Society was going ahead with holding the camps to provide a service to elderly members of their congregation. “We are doing our duty for community welfare,” he said.
The court order prohibits protesting, blocking the sidewalks or intimidating those seeking to enter the gurdwara premises and is valid from 8am to 6 pm, the agency reported.
The camps held last November also witnessed protests outside the venues, which includes the Society’s gurdwaras in Vancouver and Abbotsford, as well as the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, and several houses of worship in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA.
That was soon after separatist groups like Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) called for protests to “challenge” Indian officials, who it blamed for the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The camps were held after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18 last year there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder.
The situation is worse currently after India withdrew six diplomats and officials from Canada on October 14 after Ottawa declared them “persons of interest” and accused them of being linked to violent criminal activity in the country. India has described those allegations as “preposterous” and attributed them to Trudeau pandering to a vote bank.