India to Address Assassination Float Protest with Canada
India plans to formally raise concerns with Canada regarding a float depicting the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This float was part of a protest by pro-Khalistan elements on the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar in front of the Indian consulate in Vancouver. Operation Bluestar involved the Indian Army storming the Golden Temple in Amritsar to eliminate Khalistani extremists, including their leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
The diplomatic complaint will be conveyed to Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministry, on Friday. While similar protests occurred at the consulate in Toronto, no such floats appeared there, although protesters carried “Khalistan” flags and shouted anti-India slogans.
The float featured an effigy of Indira Gandhi, riddled with bullets, alongside depictions of her assassins, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. Beant Singh, part of her security detail, was executed for the assassination, while his son Sarabjit Singh Khalsa was recently elected to the Lok Sabha from Faridkot, Punjab. Pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice highlighted these elections and made threats against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Local law enforcement and diplomatic security units prevented any incidents at the missions during the protests. Last year, a similar float appeared in a martyrdom day event in Greater Toronto Area, which Canada’s High Commissioner to New Delhi, Cameron Mackay, condemned, stating that there is no place in Canada for hate or glorification of violence.
Indira Gandhi, India’s first and only woman Prime Minister, was assassinated by her bodyguards on October 31, 1984, leading to widespread anti-Sikh riots across India.
