Sikhs protest outside India consulates in Canada

Indian flags were burned and pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were trampled on at protest rallies by Canadian Sikhs outside Indian diplomatic missions in Canada on Monday.

"The Indians, they are terrorists, they killed our brother in Vancouver, so that's why we are protesting here," Harpar Gosal of Toronto said outside of the Indian consulate in Toronto, referring to the murder in June of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

"We are not safe back home in Punjab, we are not safe in Canada," another protesting Canadian Sikh, Joe Hotha, said.

Several hundred people gathered in Toronto as well as in Ottawa and Vancouver to denounce Modi's government.

The protests were stirred by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau statements before parliament that New Delhi was possibly involved in the assassination of the Sikh leader, triggering a major diplomatic crisis between the two nations.

Nijjar, who was wanted in India for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder, was shot dead by two masked assailants.

The Indian government called the Canadian accusations "absurd" and vehemently denied them.

It also advised its nationals not to travel to certain Canadian regions "given the increase in anti-Indian activities" and temporarily stopped processing visa applications in Canada.

Jagmett Singh, the leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party and a Trudeau ally, said Trudeau's announcement confirms suspicions that India was interfering in the democratic rights of Canadians.

Canada must also put an end to intelligence sharing with New Delhi, Sikh officials said.

Since 2018, the two countries have established cooperation on counter-terrorism activities which commits them to financial, judicial and police cooperation, an agreement eyed warily by 770,000 Canadian Sikhs today.

WITH AFP