The extremist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) staged an unauthorized referendum on Khalistan, which held its second round on October 29 in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
On June 18, outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, where the vote taking place, pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar shot and killed. According to an SFJ official, more than 60,000 people cast ballots in the referendum, which aims to give Sikhs in India their own nation, as reported by news agency IANS.
The first part of the referendum held on September 10 in the same Surrey gurudwara where the voting took place. According to the SFJ spokesman, the total number of votes in the referendum’s first and second rounds has surpassed 2 lakh, the IANS report stated. None of the parties engaged in such a referendum would legally bound by the results.
Notably, the Indian government banned the SFJ in 2019. The organization is still active in Canada, though. The co-organizer of the referendum, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, informed the media that more voting rounds will held in 2024 in Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal. The relationship between India and Canada reached a breaking point last month when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that Indian officials could have involved in Nijjar’s June death.
Rejecting the accusations as “absurd and motivated,” New Delhi requested Ottawa take action against terrorists and anti-Indian groups operating from its territory. India claimed the safety of its diplomats serving in the country of North America as the reason for suspending visa services for Canadians as a result of the diplomatic spat. On October 26, however, Canada was once again able to apply for business, medical, and conference visas from India.
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