The Sikh community numbers about 800,000, but only a handful support the separatist Khalistan movement which has taken over Justin Trudeau’s party
With the current Canada-India spat – triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation of New Delhi’s involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an activist associated with the Khalistan movement which backs a separate Sikh nation in northern India, things have come full circle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Taking a bold initiative to break with the past and make a new beginning, Modi’s administration in 2016 roped in a British Sikh activist named Jasdev Singh Rai to reach out to Canadians of the same faith. “Rai visited Canada a few times, but reportedly under pressure from the Khalistani lobby, the Trudeau government barred him from entering the country,” recalls a Punjabi journalist in Brampton, Ontario.
The Indian government, however, has continued…
