Khalistani separatists don't represent Sikh community in Canada: Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau made this remark during an event in Ottawa’s Parliament Hill on Monday to celebrate Diwali and Bandi Chhor Diwas.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for the first time, has said that Khalistani separatists do not represent the Sikh community in Canada.

Attendees use their phones to record Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he delivers remarks at the Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas on the Hill celebration in Ottawa, Ontario, ob Monday, (AP)

Trudeau made this remark during an event in Ottawa’s Parliament Hill on Monday to celebrate Diwali and Bandi Chhor Diwas. That Diwali event was organised by Cabinet Ministers Anita Anand and Gary Anandasangaree.

A video of his remarks to the gathering was shared with the Hindustan Times by an attendee. Trudeau said, “There are many supporters of Khalistan in Canada but they do not represent the Sikh community as a whole.”

His comments came a day after the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton witnessed a violent attack by pro-Khalistan elements, which led to tensions developing as a furious Indo-Canadian community challenged the separatists.

“There is no room for violence or intolerance or intimidation or division. That is not who are,” Trudeau said.

He also said, “We encourage people to hold on to their cultures and their communities,” adding, “The challenge is that in holding all those different opinions, we must never let them divide us.”

He also reiterated that his Government stood for ‘One India’, and the country’s territorial integrity. However, he did not spare New Delhi, as he said, “There are many supporters of the (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi Government is Canada but they do not represent all Hindu Canadians as a whole.”

Reacting to Trudeau’s remark on not conflating Sikhs with Khalistanis, former British Columbia Premier Ujjal Dosanjh said, “In my memory of him, this is the first time he is acknowledging the Sikh community as separate from Khalistanis.”

Dosanjh was also a former Liberal Party Cabinet Minister at the Federal level.

He hoped Trudeau would “put some distance between himself and the Khalistanis.”

He also criticised the Canadian mainstream media for painting Canadian Sikhs as Khalistanis and describing them as ‘activists’. Dosanjh said, “They are doing a huge disservice to Canada and to the Sikhs, when they portray a handful of Khalistanis as representing them. That’s absolutely false.”