Sikh Indian minister blasts Trudeau for removing “Sikh extremism” reference from terrorism report

Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has blasted the Canadian Prime Minister for a hasty decision to remove any reference of “Sikh extremism” from a 2018 terrorism report by the Ministry of Public Safety.

On Friday, the report was changed to remove any reference to the Sikh religion after calls from the Sikh community to remove any reference to “Sikh extremism”. The new reference instead refers to “extremists who support violent means to establish an independent state within India.”

The “independent state” is a proposed ethno-state called “Khalistan” desired by Sikh separatists

Singh referred to the omission as a “threat to Indian and global security.”

According to Singh the decision is an attempt to appease Sikh voters ahead of the 2019 election.

Trudeau had met with the Punjab minister during his ill-fated trip to India. While there, the staunchly anti-Khalistan minister accused members of Trudeau’s government of being separatist sympathizers, including Canada’s Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh.

“It is obvious that Trudeau had played safe in view of the upcoming  elections in Canada, giving in to pressure within his country,” said Singh.

“Trudeau is playing with fire with his decision to assuage inflamed  domestic passions through this ill-considered move. The world cannot afford to fan extremism in any form, which is what the Trudeau  government was effectively doing with such ill-thought moves.”