India on Monday condemned the violence attributed to Sikh separatists that occurred the day before near a Hindu temple in Canada and urged Ottawa to ensure the protection of places of worship on its soil, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
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Police in the town of Brampton, near Toronto, Ontario, reported that they had intervened on Sunday to disperse a violent demonstration around a Hindu place of worship, without attributing responsibility for the unrest.
Images posted on social media showed clashes between people carrying the yellow flag of Khalistan, the state that Sikh separatists are calling for, and a group flying an Indian flag.
“A red line was crossed today by Canadian Khalistani extremists,” said Chandra Arya, a Canadian parliamentarian of Hindu faith and member of the ruling party.
“We condemn the acts of violence perpetrated by extremists and separatists,” the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on Monday.
“We ask the Government of Canada that all places of worship be protected from such attacks. We also want those responsible for this violence to be prosecuted,” added its spokesperson, Shri Randhir Jaiswal.
As early as Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deplored this “unacceptable” violence.
The accusation of India by the Canadian police in the assassination in 2023 in Vancouver (east) of a Sikh separatist leader is at the origin of a serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Last week, a Canadian minister specifically accused Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah, a close friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of having ordered a campaign of violence against Sikh separatists on his soil.
India has always categorically denied any responsibility for the murder of this Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
After new Canadian accusations last month, New Delhi expelled the ambassador and several Canadian diplomats in retaliation, immediately followed by Ottawa.
