Capt calls off Canada visit over torture case

Monday, 25/04/2016

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TORONTO: After three days of drama, Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh is learnt to have cancelled his seven-day trip to Canada because of the prospect of possibly facing a case related to torture in a court in Toronto.

That decision came on Saturday, after Singh had already postponed his arrival in Toronto as he waited for the court to issue an order before he decided on his course of action. The case was filed by the activist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) on behalf of a Canadian resident, who was allegedly tortured during Singh’s tenure as chief minister of Punjab.

An official statement released by Singh slammed SFJ’s lawfare, saying it was “playing into the hands of anti-India forces like the ISI to embarrass India and project as if rights violations were the norm of the day in the country like some dictatorships in different parts of the world”.

He added, “The government of India, rising above political considerations must take up the matter with the Canadian government at the highest level.”

Referring to the Aam Aadmi Party leader’s proposed visit later this year, Singh also asked, “And will the SFJ raise similar objections when Arvind Kejriwal will visit Canada by invoking the Canadian policy that prevented me from addressing public functions?” In a statement, SFJ’s legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu said, “Since Capt Amarinder’s presence in Canada is a condition precedent to charges going forward, the matter was delayed pending further information about Capt Amarinder’s plans to visit Toronto. The victim and his counsel intend to return to court upon confirmation of Capt Amarinder’s presence in Toronto.”

This led to a stalemate, with the matter unlikely to be settled until Singh arrived in Canada, where he was scheduled to hold some private meetings arranged by the local unit of the Indian Overseas Congress. Singh, who arrived in Chicago on April 19 to begin a North American tour aimed at reaching out to the Punjabi NRI community, was to visit Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. Now, he is expected to remain in the US and return to India after a visit to the West Coast, according to sources close to the Congress leader.

Earlier, Canada’s foreign ministry, acting on a memorandum submitted by SFJ, had expressed its disapproval of Singh participating in “foreign political campaigning” in Canadian territory to the Indian high commissioner in Ottawa. The Indian envoy communicated this to the external affairs ministry. Subsequently, foreign secretary S Jaishankar called Singh and explained the situation to him, which led to the cancellation of two large gatherings that were on the agenda and his programme was limited to private meetings.