The communication from the Canadian High Commissioner follows Capt Amarinder’s letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to protest the denial of permission to hold rallies in Canada. Reacting sharply, the Member of Parliament referred to the discriminatory approach of the Canadian government in disallowing him to interact with Punjabi Diaspora while the representatives of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party had been allowed to hold similar meetings there.
CHANDIGARH – Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh has declined to meet the Canadian High Commissioner to India, who had offered to meet him after the Canadian government had denied him permission to hold public interactions during his North America tour.
The communication from the Canadian High Commissioner follows Capt Amarinder’s letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to protest the denial of permission to hold rallies in Canada.
Reacting sharply, the Member of Parliament referred to the discriminatory approach of the Canadian government in disallowing him to interact with Punjabi Diaspora while the representatives of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party had been allowed to hold similar meetings there.
“Thank you for offering to meet me. I do not think anything further will emerge from such a meeting as I have already expressed my views,” the PCC president said in his reply to the High Commissioner.
“Their interactions did not warrant any action by your government. They did their bit and returned to India. In my case, however, the matter took a different turn,” he wrote.
Referring to the complaint by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Capt Amarinder Singh said, “I understand that this intervention against me took place on a letter written to your Ministry of Global Affairs by a known antagonist of India, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.”
“I, however, find it strange that a known anti-Indian individual’s views were given precedence over an Indian MP who is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of India and who is also the president of the state Congress in Punjab,” he added.
Capt Amarinder suggested to the High Commissioner that it would be more appropriate for his government to ban all such interactions for all irrespective of the party they belong to and not just a selective application as was done in his case.
