“Putting a Khalistan flag on the $50, 000 vehicle makes no sense as they are not going to leave their expensive truck and a prosperous life in Canada and go back to Punjab… Some of these protesters, who were carried away, have been born in Canada, “I don’t see them going back to Punjab to live there.”
— Terry Milewski, Journalist
Ottawa-based former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Terry Milewski has criticised the Khalistani activists holding a so-called referendum, and questioned them on whether “they will go and live in the Indian state of Punjab leaving a prosperous country like Canada”, reported IANS.
Mentioning the truckers’ march in support of the referendum in Brampton in September, he said, “putting a Khalistan flag on the $50, 000 vehicle makes no sense as they are not going to leave their expensive truck and a prosperous life in Canada and go back to Punjab”. Some of these protesters, who were carried away, have been born in Canada, “I don’t see them going back to Punjab to live there,” he added.
In an interview on Canada’s Sawarjya TV, Milewski said, “the Khalistanis want to project themselves as tough guys. They do this by holding posters of Harjinder Pahra who killed 38 Hindus near Lalru in the Mohali district of Punjab and another 32 a week later”. He said there was a need “to call out for their reverence for violence — if we do not then we are in for a big problem”.
“I could not visit India for 19 years. I could not attend the last rites of my close relatives. It is only when PM Modi came to power and scrapped the blacklist that I could visit India.”
— Maninder Gill, Surrey-based broadcaster
Another prominent voice in Canada narrated how the Narendra Modi government had done away with the blacklist of some Sikhs who were not allowed to enter India for over 20 years as they were considered extremists. Surrey-based Maninder Gill, who is a broadcaster, in an interview with a radio channel covering the Alberta state of Canada said, “I could not visit India for 19 years. I could not attend the last rites of my close relatives. It is only when PM Modi came to power and scrapped the blacklist that I could visit India.”
“Under the leadership of Modi, the BJP is doing all that the Sikhs wanted. Dr. Manmohan Singh during his visit to Canada was also requested to scrap the blacklist but he refused point blank,” Gill said recalling his meeting with the former Indian Prime Minister.
Opposing the idea of Khalistan, Gill called upon the Sikhs who are settled in Canada to raise their voice against the misguided elements. “If Khalistan is made, what will you do with the Hindu and Christian population of Punjab?” he asked. Speaking about the misguided elements, he said “they cannot stay united here in Canada where they are living and are yet talking about unity and a Khalistan 14,000 km away”.
Gill also said that if the so-called referendum was leading to a souring of relations between the Indian and Canadian governments, then the Trudeau government should take this factor into account and act accordingly. He pointed out that these separatists — even failed to stay united in the Gurdwara elections and the recent municipal polls in Vancouver. All the Sikh candidates who contested the municipal elections lost making space for the Whites. He also said there was a need to speak up against the activities of the separatists and advised the Sikhs, especially youths, not to be misled by these elements.
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