Indian envoy in Canada Dinesh Patnaik reminded Canada of Quebec referendum as he sharply reacted to Sikhs for Justice’s ‘Khalistan’ referendum held in Ottawa.
Indian envoy to Canada Dinesh Patnaik sharply reacted to the Sunday referendum held in Ottawa by Sikhs for Justice, demanding ‘Khalistan’, and said that while he has no problem with some people peacefully protesting, Canada has to think about allowing it, as in India, this gets interpreted as Canadian interference in India. In an interview on CBC, Patnaik said it is a farcical referendum ‘which you can hold’. “I mean for us, having peaceful protest or asking for something is part of a political process. We have no problem with it. In fact, in India, there are political parties which ask for the formation of a Khalistani government and they are in Parliament. There are two people in Parliament and one of them is the son of the one of the persons convicted of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,” Patnaik said. “You people know what a referendum is. You have done referendums in the past. You know how farcical this is. Referendums have a certain process. This is a referendum by Canadians done in Canada. If you want to do it, do it.” “The problem that happens is that back home in India they see this as Canadian interference in India as Canadians see anything as Indian interference in Canada. That’s something Canada has to think about,” the envoy said sending a strong message to Ottawa. “If it’s peaceful, it’s fine. But what are you doing? You are displaying pictures of violence, showing pictures of a former Prime Minister of India being assassinated. You are glorifying suicide bombers who killed a former chief minister of Punjab,” the envoy added. “Imagine a situation where some other country would do the same thing with Quebec….how do you feel?” Patnaik said while the anchor objected that these are not the same thing but Patnaik respectfully made his point, saying that he meant no offence but the issue is sensitive in India.Quebec held two referendums in 1980 and 1995 on whether it should separate from Canada and become an independent country. The majority vote was ‘no’. On Sunday, Sikhs for Justice, whose Canadian chapter was headed by Hardeep Singh Nijjar until his assassination in 2023, held a referendum in Ottawa.