Some Sikh groups in Canada are campaigning to mount pressure on the Trudeau government to declare nationwide Sikh Genocide Remembrance Day, as per reports. The groups include the Ontario Gurdwara Committee (OGC) which was active in the lobbying campaign to get the references to the Sikh/Khalistani extremism from the 2018 ‘Public Report on the Terror Threat to Canada’ removed.
The groups are expected to utilise the activities to be held on the commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Operation Bluestar to pursue their objective. The campaign had the backing of United Front of Sikhs, whose coordinator Sukhminder Singh Hansra is a known pro-Khalistani.
Along with a rally that is to be organised in Ottawa, a memorandum will also be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting him to declare the first Saturday of June every year as the Sikh Genocide Remembrance Day. As part of the campaign, an email campaign is also being planned to target the Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.
Federal elections are going to be held in Canada in October this year which these Sikh groups are willing to utilise to further their cause. “We are targeting key MPs ahead of the upcoming federal election to support this bill and our cause”, said Hansra.
In the year 2017, a private member bill recognising the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide was passed by the Canadian legislature affecting the relations between the government of India and the government of Canada. Similar motions moved in the years 2010 and 2016 in the House of Commons and the Legislature of Ontario respectively were defeated.
Despite being aware of India’s stand against pro-Khalistan separatists, the Trudeau government in Canada has been soft on pro-Khalistan groups and leaders which has affected the relations between the two countries.
