CALGARY, CANADA: As tensions between Indian and Canadian Sikhs increased ahead of the Khalistan Referendum voting in Calgary this weekend, pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a hate-mongering campaign against Sikhs directly and through proxies.
Just hours before the Khalistan Referendum in a Canadian city, which is expected to attract hundreds of pro-Khalistan Sikhs to cast their votes on the issue of Punjab’s secession from India, the Indian government has expressed its unease.
The Khalistan Referendum vote is being organized at Municipal Plaza in Calgary by Pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Large-scale automobile rallies and local billboard campaigns have been organized by Sikhs to garner support for the event.Tensions have increased after Sikhs accused Hindutva supporters of defacing posters for the Khalistan Referendum, and after an unidentified man vandalized a Hindu temple in Edmonton, Alberta’s capital. This has resulted in a verbal spat between the Indian government and pro-BJP Canadian MP, on the one hand, and the SFJ leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is India’s most wanted man, on the other.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who escaped an Indian state-sponsored assassination attempt last year, has criticized local Canadian Member of Parliament Chandra Arya for her attacks on Sikhs.
