Jagmeet Singh seeks removal of Khalistan terror threat mention
Monday, 08/04/2019
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
LONDON : Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing concern over the inclusion of Sikh/Khalistani extremism, “without sufficient evidence”, in the 2018 Public Report on the terrorism threat to Canada.
The letter, co-authored with Matthew Dubé, the NDP's public safety critic in the House of Commons, said, “There is no mention of Sikhs in previous terrorist threat reports from the public safety department since the 2002 threat report and there is no known evidence of any increases in threats to Canadians’ public safety that would precipitate this inclusion.”
Singh, who was recently elected for the first time to the House, was echoing sentiments expressed by several community groups including the World Sikh Organisation, Sikhs for Justice and the Shiromani Akala Dal (Amritsar) Canada.
The letter has also criticised “the inappropriate labelling of entire communities as extremists”, pointing not just to the Sikh reference but also those to Shia and Sunni extremism.
“This report unfairly stigmatizes.