Videos depicting a tableau depicting the assassination of the late Prime Minister by her Sikh bodyguards as part of a five-km-long parade by the Indian diaspora sparked outrage in social media….reports Asian Lite News
The High Commissioner for Canada in India, Cameron MacKay on Thursday said he was appalled by reports of an event in Canada that celebrated the assassination of late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
“There is no place in Canada for hate or for the glorification of violence. I categorically condemn these activities,” he said in a tweet.
His reaction came after social media was abuzz with videos depicting a tableau depicting the assassination of the late Prime Minister by her Sikh bodyguards as part of a five-km-long parade by the Indian diaspora in Brampton on June 4.
The tableau depicted Khalistan flags with a poster that said “revenge”.
People in Punjab were aghast over the development. They had said India should summon the Canadian High Commissioner to strongly object to the inclusion of Indira Gandhi assassination tableau in a parade.
Intelligence agencies here believed that it seemed to be linked with the 39th anniversary of the Indian Army’s ‘Operation Bluestar’ in Amritsar that was carried out between June 1 and 8, 1984, claiming several lives and left the Golden Temple and its complex damaged.
‘Operation Bluestar’ was a military action ordered by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to flush out militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale holed up in the Golden Temple complex.
Earlier, a Hindu temple was vandalised with ‘anti-India’ graffiti in Brampton province, leaving the Indian community in shock.
‘Giving space to extremist elements not good’
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday strongly criticised Canada after visuals of a parade float depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in that country’s Brampton city surfaced, wondering ‘why it gives space to extremists’.
Addressing a press conference to highlight achievements of the Centre in the last nine years in terms of foreign policy, Jaishankar said in response to the incident, “I don’t know why Canada does this. Giving space to extremist elements is not good for it.”
“Frankly, we are at a loss to understand other than the requirements of vote bank politics why anybody would do this. I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence,” he added.
To another query on a Canadian government official blaming India of meddling in its affairs, Jaishankar quipped, “Rather we have complaints against Canada on the space it gives to Khalistani elements. It is like the saying in Hindi – ‘Ulta chor kotwal ko daante’.”