Multiple Ottawa protests against Modi, Trump and arms for Israel

Ottawa Citizen

11 hours ago

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Thousands of people attended protests across Ottawa on Saturday as Canada geared up for the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
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World leaders are gather in the Rocky Mountains from June 15 to 17 to discuss geopolitical and economic issues. Among them is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who Prime Minister Mark Carney invited to the summit as a guest even though India is not one of the G7 countries.
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Modi's attendance at the G7 has sparked anger in Canada's Sikh community. Many were warned by police that their lives were at risk and have alleged for years that the Indian government is behind those threats. The RCMP also put out a statement last October linking India's government with 'serious criminal activity' in Canada, saying that activity posed a 'serious threat' to public safety.
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Hundreds of Sikhs gathered on Parliament Hill on Saturday to protest against Modi's G7 attendance and Carney's invitation. Many wore brightly coloured turbans and carried kirpans, the ceremonial daggers or knives worn by initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs. Some waved yellow pro-Khalistan flags, a symbol of the Sikh separatist movement primarily in the Indian state of Punjab.
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The protest came two days after Global News reported that an Indian agent had former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh under close surveillance, prompting the RCMP to place Singh in police protection 18 months ago.
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Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Federation of Canada, said Carney's invitation felt like a betrayal.
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'If there's a foreign government trying to kill your political leaders, you would think they wouldn't be welcome in your country, but it seems Prime Minister Carney thinks otherwise,' he told the Ottawa Citizen.
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'There's over a dozen Sikhs that are living with duties to warn, which means there are imminent threats to their lives from the Government of India … They can't be around their families, they can't be in public spaces. They have to change the way they live their lives, and this is just the past couple of years.'
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Moninder Singh, another spokesperson for the World Sikh Federation of Canada, said Modi's attendance constituted a threat to Canada's sovereignty.
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Top Canadian security officials have previously warned that India, China and Russia would try to illegally influence the 2025 federal election. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections task force said India would use its network of allies and proxies to 'assert its geopolitical influence' and meddle in democratic processes.