Ahead of September 18, Khalistan Referendum voting in Toronto, pro-Khalistan activists are actively holding truck rallies with Khalistan banners, plastering mega billboards, signs and distributing the promotional material at Gurdwaras in Brampton
With the launch of a campaign by Khalistanis to conduct a so-called referendum on the issue of creating a separate homeland for the Sikhs in India has created tension in Brampton city of Canada’s Ontario state, reported IANS.
Ahead of September 18, Khalistan Referendum voting in Toronto, pro-Khalistan activists are actively holding truck rallies with Khalistan banners, plastering mega billboards, signs and distributing the promotional material at Gurdwaras in Brampton — the heavily Sikh town around Greater Toronto Area.
The activists of the banned anti-India organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), have been distributing fliers at the entrances of gurdwaras asking Indians, especially Punjabis, to participate in the “referendum” on September 18 at a community centre in Brampton.
Incidentally, the move has been opposed by pro-India Canadians led by Azad Singh Goyat, an established community advocate and a politician. Goyat has objected to the use of public property by Khalistanis who are putting up posters and fixing signboards to publicise the referendum date and venue. He was quoted saying in a post on his Facebook page that “illegal signs mushrooming on public property in Brampton need to be removed by the administration and the police. Why is the community leadership sleeping? Why is it not asking the government to curb the illegal actions of a handful of people?”
In fact, Goyat has issued an ultimatum to the administration and the police to remove the referendum campaign material from public properties by August 29, or else he would launch a people’s direct action movement to remove these illegal signs. However, Harjinder Singh Pahra, a Khalistani engaged in referendum activities, was quoted saying that people like Goyat were trying to create confrontation in the community. “We are peacefully doing what we want to do. There is massive support coming for the referendum. No one will be forced to vote on September 18,” he said.
The IANS report mentioned that it was well known that the management of almost all gurdwaras were under the control of radicals who with their muscle power won elections to form management committees. The gurdwaras are being used to propagate anti-India views. The silent majority of the Sikhs find themselves helpless before armed Khalistanis who even indulge in violence against peaceful people opposed to them.
The Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC), a panel of non-aligned experts on referendums and direct democracy, is supervising the voting procedure to ensure transparency and compliance with international standards of balloting
The SFJ had held a “referendum” some time ago in some cities in the US and the UK. As expected the results declared by it showed that the majority favoured the creation of Khalistan. The purpose of the referendum was to collect data of voters supporting the creation of Khalistan and present it to the United Nations seeking its intervention.
The Khalistan Referendum campaign — in which Sikhs are asked to answer the question “Should Indian governed Punjab be an independent country?” — has drawn fierce opposition from New Delhi, Indian media and pro-India segments of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
The Indian government has been pro-actively labelling and equating the unofficial referendum on Khalistan as “terrorism” and has declared SFJ — the proponent of the referendum — as an illegal organisation under the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) of India.
So far, the voting in Khalistan Referendum which started on October 31, 2021 from London, UK, has taken place in several towns across UK, Switzerland and Italy and approximately 450,000 Sikhs have cast their votes.
The Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC), a panel of non-aligned experts on referendums and direct democracy, is supervising the voting procedure to ensure transparency and compliance with international standards of balloting.
The September 18 voting centre for Khalistan Referendum in Toronto, Canada is named after Shaheed Harjinder Singh Parha to honour the young pro-Khalistan Sikh who went back to India from Canada to participate in the then ongoing armed struggle for Khalistan that followed the Indian Army’s June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple. Parha died in an encounter with the police in 1988.
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