India will formally raise with Canada the matter of a float depicting the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during a protest related to Operation Bluestar by pro-Khalistan elements in front of its consulate in Vancouver.
The float was part of protest on the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, when the Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar to flush out Khalistani extremists including their leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The call for a lockdown of India’s mission to Canada had been given by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice.
The formal diplomatic complaint, a note verbale, will be conveyed to Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry on Friday, a senior Indian official said.
While protests were also organised at consulate in Toronto as well, such floats did not appear there, though each venue had protesters carrying “Khalistan” flags and shouting anti-India slogans.
Gurpatwant Pannun, SFJ’s general-counsel, warned that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a “target” for “transnational terrorism” and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year.
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