While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is known for his extreme intimacy with radical Muslim groups as well as anti-India jihadist entity, he also is infamous for harboring Sikh extremism.
The Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has removed a reference to Sikh extremism from its 2018 report on terrorism that had earlier mentioned it as one of the top five terrorist threats to the country.
The updated version of the “2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada” was released March 31, 2023.
The language in the report was changed to remove any mention of religion, instead discussing the threat posed by “extremists who support violent means to establish an independent state within India”.
The 2018 report on terrorism, first released in December 2022, had drawn the ire of the Sikh community as it was the first time the Canada government had listed Sikh extremism as one of the top five extremist threats to the country.
Public safety minister Ralph Goodale had said he would at least ask for a review of the language the report used. He said entire religions should never be equated with terrorism, CBC News reported.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Trudeau praised the minority Sikh community as he visited a gurdwara on the occasion of Vaisakhi.
“Vaisakhi is a time to focus on what matters — family, friends, and coming together as neighbours & fellow Canadians — and an opportunity to recognise the remarkable contributions Sikh Canadians have made to our country. What a celebration in Vancouver today!” he had tweeted.
The dedication to helping others at the heart of the Sikh faith is also “fundamental to who we are as a country”, Trudeau said at one of the largest Sikh temples in the country, Vancouver’s Ross Street Gurdwara.
Trudeau, along with defence minister Harjit Sajjan, also took part in a massive parade to mark Vaisakhi.
Trudeau praised the Sikh community for its values of “equality and social justice”.
There are roughly half-a-million Canadians who identify themselves as Sikh, most of them in the Greater Toronto area and suburban Vancouver.
According to information, on April 22, 2023, more than half-a-million Sikhs, majority of whom are anti-India and of militant nature are going to participate in this years so-called Vaisakhi, where participants are anticipated of resorting to violent activities, as majority of the Sikh males would carry sword and large-sized knives.
Media reports said, this year Sikhs are trying to gather massive crowd at their Vaisakhi in Surrey. This event is organized by Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar. This year’s Vaisakhi shall start from the Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar – 12885 85th Avenue, Surrey, Canada.
In 2019, Canadian military was investigating the reason behind participating in Toronto parade for Canada’s Sikh community, where a large number of attendees were carrying assault rifles.
Photos and videos on social media of the Khalsa parade showed the soldiers marching in full uniform and carrying assault rifles, which is not normally allowed for such events. Following this incident, Canadian Army spokeswoman Karla Gimby said the only time weapons are carried in public is during certain military parades or demonstrations and the commanding officer of the Lorne Scots reserve unit signed off the weapons after his commander approved participation in the parade.
She said additional orders prohibiting to carry weapons at similar events have been issued by the army’s top commander in Ontario, who was also following up with the unit.
Earlier, Canada apologized to India in 2011 after a ministerial inquiry confirmed that military personnel had participated in Vaisakhi event at a Surrey Sikh temple that glorified terrorists.
Internal correspondence from 2012 indicates Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged that government officials and MPs were playing with fire attending events like the Remembrance Day ceremony and the annual Vaisakhi parade in Surrey, where some floats included posters of Sikh radicals.
In 2016, media reports quoting The Times of India said that Indian intelligence agencies have notified Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about a terrorist camp near Mission, B.C. The Times of India said that the Khalistan Terror Force- a group that wants to create an independent Sikh homeland out of the state of Punjab—has formed a module comprising Sikh youths to carry out the attacks.
