Secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has announced a new date for the voting of the so-called Khalistan referendum in the town of Surrey in British Columbia. The referendum will now take place on October 29.
The development comes days after the stand taken on pro-Khalistani activities by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.
“During G20, PM Trudeau defended Canadian Sikhs’ right to peacefully advocate for Khalistan,” SFJ’s legal counsel Gurpatwant Pannun said in a release on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed New Delhi’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” during his pull aside meeting with Trudeau in the national Capital on September 10 on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
However, speaking to media persons in Delhi, Trudeau said, “Diaspora Canadians make up a huge proportion of our country, and they should be able to express themselves and make their choices without interference from any of the many countries that we know are involved in interference challenges.”
Meanwhile, Poilievre, during an appearance at the Punjabi Press Club in the town of Surrey, said, “Personally, I believe in a united India like I believe in a united Canada. But I believe people also have the freedom to disagree,” he said as quoted by media outlet Weekly Voice.
Poilievre added, “You can express any opinion, even opinions I don’t agree with, and those opinions have to be expressed peacefully, but they can be freely expressed.”
SFJ had held another round of the referendum in Surrey on Sunday.
The voting centre was the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey, the same gurdwara which was headed by SFJ’s principal figure in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was gunned down by unidentified assailants on June 18 in the parking lot.
