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Hindustan Times
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Pro-Khalistan protest fails to disrupt consular camp in Canada
While pro-Khalistan protesters gathered at a distance, the first consular camp organised by an Indian mission in Canada this year went off without disruption at a gurdwara in British Columbia on Saturday. The camp was held at the Khalsa Diwan Society's gurdwara in the city of Abbotsford. According to an earlier press release from the Indian consulate in Vancouver, applications for passport services, overseas citizen of India (OCI) and attestation were to be accepted during the camp. Pro-Khalistan radicals violently attacked the Hindu Sabha Mandir, in Brampton, in November, as it hosted a consular camp. (File) Pro-Khalistan elements had given a call for a protest at the camp but were kept at a distance of 50 metres from the gurdwara as it had obtained a court order in this regard last week, a spokesperson for the Society told the Hindustan Times. The camp was organised at the request of the gurdwara as the local community sought a convenient venue for processing of documentation required for traveling to India, he added. The gurdwara will also host a life certificate camp for seniors later this year. Just a few protesters gathered and raised anti-India slogans. Last year, the consular camps drew pro-Khalistan protesters and resulted in disruption of the services and even violence. Matters flared up when protesting radicals violently attacked the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA on November 3, leading to multiple arrests connected to that episode and its aftermath. Local police warned against holding similar such camps due to tense situations leading to multiple cancellations, including by three temples last month. However, camps were successfully hosted by the Khalsa Diwan Society-run gurdwaras in Vancouver, which applied for and received a court order restraining protesters, as did the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Toronto. The call for protests targeting the camp on Saturday was circulated online in a poster that also featured India's consul general in Vancouver Masakui Rungsung. The posters and the protesters referred to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. Relations between India and Canada cratered three months later when the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that there were 'credible allegations' of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. India described those accusations as 'absurd' and 'motivated.' The situation worsened in October 2024 after the Canadian government accused six Indian diplomats and officials of being linked to violent criminal activity in the country. That led to India withdrawing the six from Canada on October 14 and expelling six Canadian diplomats.
Hindustan Times
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Indian consular camp in Canada held without disruption despite Pro-Khalistan protest
Toronto: While pro-Khalistan protestors gathered at a distance, the first consular camp organised by an Indian mission in Canada this year went of without disruption at a gurdwara in British Columbia, on Saturday. Pro-Khalistan radicals violently attacked the Hindu Sabha Mandir, in Brampton, in November, as it hosted a consular camp. (Video screengrab) The camp was held at the Khalsa Diwan Society's gurdwara in the city of Abbotsford. According to an earlier press release from India's Consulate in Vancouver, applications for passport services, overseas citizen of India or OCI and attestation were to be accepted to the camp, which featured officials from the Vancouver Consulate. Pro-Khalistan elements had given a call for a protest at the camp but were kept at a distance of 50 metre away from the gurdwara as it had obtained a court order in this regard last week, a spokesperson for the Society told the Hindustan Times. The camp was organized at the request of the gurdwara as the local community sought a convenient venue for processing of documentation required for traveling to India, he added. The gurdwara will also host a life certificate camp for seniors later this year. Just a few protestors gathered and shouted anti-India slogans. The consular camps drew pro-Khalistan protestors last year and resulted in disruption of the services provided and even violence. Matters flared up when protesting radicals violently attacked the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA on November 3, leading to multiple arrests connected to that episode and its aftermath. Local police warned against holding similar such camps due to tense situation leading to multiple cancellations, including by three temples last month. However, camps were successfully hosted by the Khalsa Diwan Society-run gurdwaras in Vancouver, which applied for and received a court order restraining protestors, as did the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Toronto. The call for protests targeting the camp on Saturday were circulated online in a poster that also featured India's Consul General in Vancouver Masakui Rungsung. The posters and protestors referred to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. Relations between India and Canada cratered three months later when then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that there were 'credible allegations' of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. India described those accusations as 'absurd' and 'motivated.' The situation worsened in October 2024 after the Canadian Government accused six Indian diplomats and officials of being linked to violent criminal activity in the country. That led to India withdrawing the six from Canada on October 14 and expelling six Canadian diplomats.
India Today
03-06-2025
- General
- India Today
Build memorial for Kanishka victims, gurdwara, Hindu group urge Canada govt
Two Indian-Canadian groups, including a renowned gurdwara in Vancouver, urged the Canadian government to set up a memorial and an information centre in remembrance of the victims of the 1985 Air India bombing. The demand came weeks ahead of the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, on June 23. They said the families of the Kanishka victims "deserve more than silence".Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS) and North American Hindu Association (NAHA) wrote a letter to David Eby, Premier of British Columbia, and sought a memorial wall, a reflection garden, a public learning centre, and educational programmes for remembrance of the lives lost in the terror bombing, also known as the Kanishka tragedy, was the largest mass killing in Canadian history, in which over 300 people, mostly Canadians, were killed in a midair blast. While KDS manages the historic Ross Street Gurdwara, NAHA is a grassroots advocacy group representing the Hindu community of North America.'FAMILIES VICTIMS OF KANISHKA TRAGEDY DESERVE MORE THAN SILENCE'In the letter addressed to Eby, the KDS said the family members of the victims "deserve more than silence" and "deserve a place of honour, reflection and remembrance"."United by grief, memory, and an unwavering commitment to justice and education, we respectfully urge your government to honour the voices of thousands who have signed our petition by establishing the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Centre in British Columbia by June 23, 2025," the KDS NAHA also urged the government for the Khalsa Diwan Society also said that even after nearly four decades, there is no dedicated memorial or learning centre to honour the victims' memory or teach future generations about this defining moment in our history."We envision the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Centre as not merely a site of memory, but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values," the Gurdwara group India flight 182 was en route from Montreal to Mumbai when it was attacked by Khalistani separatists on June 23, 1985. The tragic incident resulted in the deaths of 329 people, including 268 Canadians and 24 Watch
Time of India
03-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
'40 years is long enough': Indian-Canadian groups urge Kanishka memorial to honour 1985 Air India bombing victims
Representative Image Two Indian-Canadian organizations have asked the Canadian government to establish a memorial and information center to honor the victims of the 1985 Air India bombing, known as the Kanishka tragedy. Khalsa Diwan Society, and North American Hindus Association wrote a letter to David Eby, primere of British Columbia and demanded a memorial wall, reflection garden, public learning centre, educational programs and spaces for rememberance and dialogues. In a statement, the organisation urged the government to honour the voices of many British Columbians by committing to the establishment of a Kanishka Memorial and Learning Centre in British Columbia. "We envision the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Centre as not merely a site of memory, but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values. It would include: A memorial wall and reflection garden, honouring each of the 331 lives lost, providing solace and healing to affected families. A public learning centre, featuring exhibits, archives, and educational materials to illuminate the realities of the tragedy and the dangers of extremism. Educational programs, designed to inform students and the broader public, fostering empathy, vigilance, and social responsibility. Spaces for remembrance and dialogue, facilitating healing, unity, and deeper understanding among British Columbians," the statement read. In the statement, the organisation said that the families of victims, who have carried unimaginable grief and loss for forty years, deserve more than silence. "They deserve a place of honour, reflection, and remembrance-a lasting acknowledgment of their pain, resilience, and dignity. Our children and future generations deserve to understand the full truth of this tragedy: its causes, its consequences, and its profound lessons about extremism, justice, and compassion," it added. What happened in 1985? On June 23, 1985, Air India's aircraft en route from Canada to India with a stopover in London, detonated near the Irish coastline, resulting in the death of all 329 passengers and crew. The explosion occurred due to an explosive device concealed in checked luggage, despite the passenger who checked in the baggage never boarding the aircraft. The casualties comprised 268 Canadian nationals, predominantly of Indian descent, and 24 Indian citizens. Search operations could recover only 131 bodies from the ocean. According to Canadian authorities' investigation, Sikh separatists orchestrated the bombing as retaliation against the Indian military's lethal operation at the Golden Temple in Punjab state in 1984.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Canada: Historic gurdwara calls for new Kanishka memorial in British Columbia
Toronto: A historic gurdwara in Vancouver had joined in calling upon the government of the province of British Columbia (BC) to establish a permanent memorial and learning to remember the victims of the terrorist attack on Air India flight 182, the Kanishka. In a letter sent to the province's Premier David Eby, the Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS), which manages the historic Ross Street Gurdwara, said the family members of the victims 'deserve more than silence' and 'deserve a place of honor, reflection and remembrance'. KDS was formed in 1906 and remains a landmark in the history of Sikhs and Indo-Canadians in the country. 'We respectfully ask you to act now – to build the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Center – as a heartfelt and lasting tribute to those we lost, ensuring their stories and memories live on in the hearts and minds of Canadians forever,' KDS' general secretary Kashmir Singh Dhaliwal stated in the letter to Eby. KDS joined a coalition of Indo-Canadian organisations that have called upon the BC government to establish the centre. While a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the Kanishka by pro-Khalistan terrorists on June 23, 1985, was established in 2007 at Stanley Park in Vancouver, the Indo-Canadian groups want a learning centre 'to teach future generations about the real cost of extremism'. In a letter to Eby, sent earlier, five Indo-Canadian grassroots groups said the centre was envisioned as 'not merely a site of memory but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values'. 'Premier Eby, building this centre is not only a moral imperative – it is a profound act of reconciliation and compassion. It represents our shared commitment to justice, our determination to confront hate, and our duty to nurture a safer, more cohesive society for future generations,' the letter noted. Among the principal proponents of the centre is Vancouver-based Sanjeev Kaul, who said the centre could serve as a year-long venue for commemorative events while offering a safe space to family members of victim for reflection. The first memorial dedicated to the tragedy was established in Ahakista in Ireland in 1986. The bomb planted by the pro-Khalistsan separatists exploded while the Kanishka was flying close to Ireland and debris washed up on and near its shores. Memorials also exist in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in recognition of what remains the worst incident of terrorism in Canadian history,and the worst instance of aviation-related terrorism till 9/11. A total of 331 persons died in the bombs targeting the Air India flights, with 329 of them aboard the Kanishka. Two Japanese baggage handlers who were killed when a second bomb placed within luggage on another Air India plane exploded at Narita airport. The victims included 268 Canadian citizens and 82 children. A website seeking the centre has also been established ahead of the 40th anniversary of the terror attack. It states, 'This was not a plane crash. It was a preventable act of terrorism, rooted in extremism and worsened by failures in Canada's intelligence, security, and justice systems.'
