Amid escalating tensions between India and Canada over the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Leader of the Opposition Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, withdrew from hosting the annual Deepavali celebrations at the Parliament House in Ottawa.
The decision to cancel the event, which has been held for 23 years, was met with deep disappointment from a number of Indo-Canadian institutions, including the Overseas Friends of India Canada (OFIC). While the OFIC-organised event planned with the Conservative Party for October 30 was put off, the Deepavali event will be held by the ruling Liberal party’s MP Chandra Arya on November 16 at the same venue.
“For the past 23 years, Hindus, Buddhist, Jains and Sikhs have looked forward to participating in this joyous occasion to share and celebrate this joyous day with all our Canadian brothers and sisters,” wrote Shiv Bhasker, president of OFIC in an open letter to Mr. Poilievre.
Key ‘distinction’
“By cancelling their participation, our political leaders have failed to draw a necessary distinction between the Canadian Indian community and the actions of the Indian government,” he added, amid allegations by the Canadian government that the Indian government was involved, at senior levels, in the killing of Khalistani activist Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.
Speaking to The Hindu over the telephone, Mr. Bhasker said that Mr. Poilievre had cancelled his party’s participation at the event in a single line message without giving an explanation. “We take immense pride in our Canadian identity, and we refuse to let the actions of a foreign government dictate how we are perceived and treated in this country,” Mr. Bhasker wrote in the letter, demanding an apology for what he called an “insensitive and discriminatory act”, and adding that as “proud Canadians” the Indo-Canadian community, especially about 8,50,000 Hindu Canadians
would “remember its friends at the time of exercising their franchise”.
Mr. Poilievre’s U-turn on hosting the event at Parliament Hill has also surprised many within South Block, as the issues that have strained India-Canada ties were being seen largely as a problem with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party, which is seen as catering to the more radical “Khalistani” vote bank in the country, ahead of the general election due in 2025.
“Unsurprisingly, Mr. Poilievre [appears to] have feared a narrative being pushed by pro-Khalistani
groups of him favouring Hindus over Sikhs. He is trying to court both by building a larger tent [ahead of elections],” said a former High Commissioner to Canada.