- Friday, February 28, 2025
The Indian diplomat said New Delhi failed to understand why Ottawa gave space to extremists and separatists, other than vote bank politics.
By: Shubham Ghosh
India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has expressed his displeasure over Canada’s apparent tolerance of pro-Khalistan elements after visuals of a parade float in Brampton surfaced depicting the assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The Indian diplomat said New Delhi failed to understand why Ottawa gave space to extremists and separatists, other than vote bank politics.
This is so atrocious. A 5km-long parade in the city of Brampton, Canada, depicted the assassination of Indira Gandhi as an achievement to be proud of.
The guts and the glory that these guys felt while choosing to and actually displaying it is appalling and disturbing. pic.twitter.com/JV5jq9AbKw
— Maheshwer Peri (@maheshperi) June 8, 2023
Jaishankar, who is known for his sharp takes on global affairs, said this after a video emerged on social media showing a float depicting the killing of Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. It was reportedly part of a five-kilometre long parade taken out by pro-Khalistan supporters in Brampton.
The video is believed to be from a parade which was taken out by the pro-Khalistan supporters on Sunday (4), two days before the 39th anniversary of Operation Blue Star that the Indira Gandhi government had conducted against Sikh separatists.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated four months later, in October 1984, at her own residence in New Delhi.
New Delhi formally expressed its displeasure to the Canadian government on Wednesday (7) over the incident.
The Indian mission in Ottawa sent a formal note to Global Affairs Canada (GAC), describing the occurrence as “not acceptable”.
Canadian high commissioner in India Cameron MacKay came on record to condemn the depiction of the former prime minister’s assassination, saying that there is “no place for hate or glorification of violence in Canada”.
Pro-Khalistan activists have been staging anti-India shows in various democratic nations such as Canada, Australia, US and the UK over the past few years and the Indian government has been critical of them and urged the government of those countries to take stern action against them.
