Ottawa, Sep 9
The recent wave of Khalistan-linked displays in Ontario highlights the urgent need for Canada to reconsider the boundary between free speech and public safety, a report cited on Tuesday.
According to a report in ‘Khalsa Vox’, widely circulated videos on social media showed a Canadian trucker carrying the poster of "Human Bomb Dilawar Singh", the suicide bomber who assassinated Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and 17 others in 1995, depicting him as a martyr rather than a terrorist. It noted that such a portrayal amounts to glorifying terrorism in the country.
New Delhi has consistently expressed concerns to Ottawa over pro-Khalistan activities in Canada, particularly when they involve direct threats to Indian diplomats.
The report stated that at the Khalsa Nagar Kirtan in Ontario's Malton, which was organised under the banner of the terror group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), posters featuring violent imagery and rhetoric targetted newly-appointed Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik. Banned in India for its extremist activities, SFJ has long operated in Canada as a base for propaganda campaigns, referendums, and intimidation of Indian officials.
"The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations obligates host countries to protect foreign envoys from any attack on their person, freedom, or dignity. When posters at a public parade depict a sitting High Commissioner as a target, and the authorities fail to act, it is not merely a lapse in law enforcement — it is a diplomatic breach," the report asserted.
"Authorities must make clear that celebrating terrorists or targetting diplomats with violent imagery is beyond the pale. Law enforcement should investigate such incidents as potential violations, not shrug them off as 'community matters'. Politicians must resist the temptation to pander to fringe voices at the expense of public safety and Canada's international reputation," it added.
The report emphasised that persistent public glorification of suicide bombers like Dilawar Singh normalises political violence as a legitimate tool. The targetting of diplomats publicly, it said, contravenes Canada's obligations under international law. And the inaction of the Canadian authorities risks indicating to extremist groups worldwide that Canada provides a permissive environment to serve their agendas.
"The choice is not between free speech and public safety — it is about ensuring both. Canada can, and must, protect the right to peaceful advocacy while decisively confronting those who would use its freedoms to promote hate and violence. The events in Malton and the glorification of suicide bombers are a test of that resolve," the report noted.
"When imagery and rhetoric cross into glorifying murderers or directly threatening individuals, they cease to be mere political speech. They become incitement — a category that Canada's legal system, like many democracies, has provisions to address. Yet enforcement appears hesitant, inconsistent, or politically compromised," it detailed.
