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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 9/24/22

Over 110,000 Canadian Sikhs vote in Khalistan Referendum

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In an unprecedented show of power, more than 110,000 Canadian Sikhs took part in voting for the Khalistan Referendum in Brampton, Ontario, to demand an independent state of Khalistan with Shimla as its capital.

Organized by the pro-Khalistani advocacy group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), the voting started with a special prayer led by a religious leader Bhai Daljit Singh Sekhon. Thousands were returned unable to vote at the close of the day at 5pm while queues stretched to several kilometres at the end of the day, according to media reports.

A high-profile campaign for Khalistan is being run by the pro-Kahlistani group SFJ. According to international media reports, the Indian government tried to apply diplomatic pressure on the Canadian government ahead of the Khalistan Referendum voting at the Gore Meadows Community Center in Brampton, Ontario, where hundreds gathered at the center on September 18 to vote.

Organizers at the SFJ as well local observers estimated the total number of participants to be comfortably over 110,000. Deann Allison, Canada's Member of Parliament for Niagra West for the Conservative party, said in a tweet at mid-day: "Amazing turnout at Gore Meadows community centre in Brampton where the Sikh Nation is voting for their right to self-determination. Over 50,000 votes and lines are still growing."

Canada is now home to around one million Sikhs who strongly associate themselves with the Khalistani movement - an issue that has troubled the Indian government for many years and has caused diplomatic rifts between India and Canada.

The Canadian government has refused to stop Canadian Sikhs from expressing their views by holding the Khalistan Referendum and linking it with a peaceful and democratic process within the legal parameters of the country's laws. A Canadian government official was quoted as saying that Canadian nationals had every freedom to express their views under the country's laws relating to the right to freedom of expression and right to free speech and assembly.

Canadian parliamentarian Sukhminder Singh Dhaliwal also said that constitutional and democratic political expression could not be stopped.

The SFJ welcomed the turnout in huge numbers. Its Counsel General Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said the Sikhs have shown in Canada that they will not accept anything less than an independent Khalistan with Shimla as capital of the free Punjab. "Today, Canadians voted in the independence referendum to reclaim Shimla as the capital once Punjab is liberated from the Indian occupation. The voting in Punjab for the Khalistan Referendum will start from January 26, 2023, coinciding with India's 74th Republic Day."

The Khalistan Referendum voting campaign is being organized under the supervision of the independent Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC), which will announce the results when all phases are completed.

Voting in the referendum started in October of last year, and SFJ has held votes in the UK, Switzerland and Italy. The group says approximately 450,000 Sikhs had already cast their votes prior to Sunday's vote in Brampton.

Khalistan referendum in Italy

In July this year, over 17,000 Sikhs voted for the Khalistan Referendum in the Italian capital - demanding the creation of a separate homeland called Khalistan for the Sikhs of Punjab, India - on the call of advocacy group SFJ.

On this occasion, Sikhs also released the new map of their homeland Khalistan, which not only included the state of Punjab but also Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and many districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The SFJ dedicated the event to the memory of popular assassinated singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was a supporter of the Khalistan movement and the voting centre in Rome was also dedicated to Sidhu Moosewala.

Just two months ago, more than 40,000 Sikhs had voted in the Khalistan Referendum in the Italian district of Brescia, around five hours from Rome. Both Italian cities of Rome and Brescia have the largest Sikhs populations in Western Europe, second only to the UK where more than 50,000 Sikhs of Indian origin live.

Both organisers and the participants demanded justice for the assassinated singer Sidhu Moosewala as well as other Sikh singers who have been killed in mysterious circumstances. They said Sidhu Moosewala was an advocate of the Sikh cause and paid through his life as his security was withdrawn by the BJP government, ahead of his killing.

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Author and journalist. Author of Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality; Islam in the Post-Cold War Era; Islam & Modernism; Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America. Currently working as free lance journalist. Executive Editor of American (more...)
 
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