INDIAN MANDALA Sikhs in Canada call for referendum on Khalistan independence

The vote organized by Sikhs for Justice, the second in a few weeks, is scheduled for November 6. Delhi has expressed strong concerns about what it calls “anti-Indian” activities. There are half a million Sikhs in Canada, but they are very influential. The Indian diaspora is not immune to the dynamics of domestic politics.

Rome () – Relations between Canada and India are tense and likely to remain so for some time. At least until November 6, the date on which the Khalistan independence referendum organized by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a separatist association banned in India since 2019, will take place.

In recent days, Delhi has called on Ottawa to stop and denounce the referendum initiative, recalling that the two countries had already agreed not to allow their territory to be used for activities detrimental to the security of the other country. This is not the first request from India to reach Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s desk. On September 19 in Brampton, Ontario, some 100,000 people participated in a vote, also organized by SFJ, which called for the independence of Punjab and the creation of a state for Sikhs: Khalistan.

The Indian government had warned its Canadian counterpart about “growing anti-Indian forces in the country”, but Ottawa responded by saying it did not want to limit the democratic process of expressing opinions. SFJ’s purpose is to “approach the United Nations and other international bodies” to “reestablish Punjab as a nation state” once “consensus within the Punjabi people” has been established.

In the days after the previous referendum, India advised its citizens traveling to Canada to remain vigilant of “a sharp increase in hate crimes and activities against India”. A few days later, the Canadian foreign minister responded by calling on his own citizens to avoid traveling to India due to the “threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country.”

Diplomatic disputes aside, both outside India and within it, a religious-based independence movement seems to be brewing, although Canada has already clarified that it does not recognize any type of validity to the referendums organized by SFJ.

The Sikh presence in Canada is not insignificant. While in the Indian Lok Sabha there are only 13 Sikhs for 543 seats, in 2019 there were 18 Sikhs elected to the 338-seat Canadian House of Commons. Punjabi is the third most widely spoken language in Canada after English and French, but the Sikh community in Canada is made up of about 500,000 people, which is equivalent to 1.4% of the population. In 2001 they were 0.9% and in 1996 0.7%. Between 2006 and 2016 the community grew more than 36% thanks to the continuous arrival of new immigrants. However, their political influence is due to strong cultural cohesion and excellent organizational capacity rather than sheer numbers. In Canada, in order for a party to nominate a candidate, the candidate must provide a large number of effective voter letters in support of the party. Sikh networks are very strong because the political process at the local level begins with council elections for the guardwara, the Sikh temples.

However, a minority of the minority can be identified, that of Khalistanis. In 2018, Canadian intelligence listed Punjabi separatists among the top five domestic terrorist threats after Islamist-based fundamentalism and far-right fanatic groups. Two Sikh organizations (Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation) have been banned in Canada, although domestic violence has so far remained fairly limited. In the days leading up to the SFJ referendum, in Brampton, Khalistani extremists vandalized a Hindu temple in Toronto and covered it with “anti-Indian” graffiti. On that occasion, the Indian embassy in Canada expressed strong concern about the incident.

In recent months in Leicester, in the United Kingdom, there have been clashes between muslims and hindus who lived peacefully in the same city for years. Propaganda on social media is also reaching out to Indians living outside the country, sparking sectarian tensions that could flare up again at any moment. It remains to be seen whether tensions will rise in Canada as well, but the Indian diaspora – the world’s largest – is not immune to sectarian and religious dynamics propagated by domestic politics.

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