External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on June 8 warned Canada against giving space to separatist elements saying it was not good for bilateral ties, days after a video of a float, depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, at a parade in Brampton went viral on social media.
The minister said he was at a “loss to understand” for Canada permitting the celebration of the ex-PM’s killing. Jaishankar said he had a similar message to the UK and Australia against allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from their soil. On the issue of around 700 Indian students facing deportation from Canada due to fraudulent admissions, he said they should not be penalised for someone else’s crime. He also termed as “ulta chor kotwal ko daante” (thief turns round to threaten the police) Canadian NSA Jody Thomas calling India among “top sources of interference in Canada”. “Our point is the students studied in good faith. If there were people who misled them, the culpable parties should be acted against. It’s unfair to punish the students,” said Jaishankar while addressing a press conference on nine years of the Modi government. Hundreds of Punjabi students facing deportation due to forged offer letters have hit the streets in Greater Toronto Area in Canada. They laid mattresses and slept at night in the open after one student was asked to leave the country by June 13. But Jaishankar did not think the Canadian system was fair in allowing the glorification of PM Indira’s assassination. “The float wasn’t a one-off incident, however egregious it may be. I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence… it’s not good for the relationship… not good for Canada,” he said.