Restriction on rallies: Capt slams Canada’s ‘gag order’

Saturday, 23/04/2016

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TORONTO: A day after Canada disallowed his public events in the country, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday shot off an angry letter to prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh (centre) with NRI supporters in Chicago on Friday.

“It feels like a gag order that has left a very bad taste,” said the strongly worded letter that local Congress leaders are planning to hand deliver to Ottawa.

Needless to say, it has come as a disappointment that someone representing the largest democracy in the world has been refused to reach out to, and interact with, his fellow Punjabis living in a respected democracy like Canada,” it added.

Rebutting the Global Affairs Canada’s instructions, Amarinder said he had “no intention” of conducting a political campaign in Canada or setting up a political party in the country.

“It is surprising and ironical that the refusal to allow me public interactions has come barely after a few weeks of your personally expressing regrets over the Komagata Maru tragedy,” said Amarinder.

While Amarinder is a sitting Lok Sabha MP, he clarified he held no position in government.

“Yes, I had planned to visit Canada to interact with my fellow Punjabis at a personal level to learn about their experiences and seek their opinions. They, being the citizens of Canada, do not have any voting rights in India. Hence, there is no point in carrying out an election campaign amongst them,” the letter said.

Amarinder mentioned he had travelled to Canada while he was chief minister of Punjab in 2005 and addressed gatherings in Toronto and Vancouver that were also attended by premiers (the equivalent of a chief minister). He also pointed to instances of Indian leaders addressing the community in Canada in recent months, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“But, the way your government has reacted, it simply amounts to gagging someone and has left a suffocating bad taste, unheard of in any democracy, that I cannot talk to the people I feel like talking to, after travelling thousands of miles,” he said.

CHANDIGARH: With the Canadian government denying him permission to hold rallies in Toronto and Vancouver, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday he will go ahead with his programme and hold smaller private meetings with the Punjabi diaspora.

“There is no change in the program. I will hold 20 different meetings instead of one big rally, I have no problem,” Amarinder told HT over phone from Chicago. The former Punjab chief minister is on a three-week tour of North America to seek support of overseas Punjabis for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.

With the Aam Aadmi Party getting a lot of support from Punjabi NRIs, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal are going all out to woo the diaspora. In July last year, the SAD had sent its team to the US and Canada.

On Friday, Amarinder was to address a public meeting at a convention centre in Chicago.

He will fly to Toronto (Canada) on Saturday and straightaway start holding meetings with people.

From Toronto, he will move to Vancouver to hold a series of meetings before coming back to Los Angles.