On November 30, while addressing Sikh participants from across Canada, at a Zoom meeting organized to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “Canada will always be there to defend the right to peaceful protest. “These words were spoken in the context of the physical force being used by the Indian police against protesting farmers, many of them Sikhs, in parts of northern India.
It didn’t take long for the reprimand to reach India and elicit a plethora of reactions: the Indian government strongly opposed it, calling the comments misinformed and unjustified, while for farmers, especially Punjab Sikhs, it they saw like a shot in the arm. They expressed their gratitude to Justin ‘Singh’ Trudeau, as he is popularly and affectionately known. Most of the Indian media condemned Trudeau for “interfering in the internal affairs of India.”
Making these comments benefits Trudeau and the protesting farmers, but it also reflects the realities of the globalized world.
Sikh political lobbying is a powerful force in Canadian politics, which is evident from the large number of public representatives. The current House of Commons has 18 Sikh MPs out of a total of 338, making it a decent turnout of 5.32%, compared to India’s 2.39% (13 Sikh MPs out of 543 in Lok Sabha) . This sheer numerical logic makes Canada’s three major federal political parties (the Trudeau Liberals, the Conservatives, and the NDP) sensitive to the issues and sentiments of the Sikh community.
Within this population, the most prosperous section of Canada are the ‘Jatts’ who also happen to be the dominant ones within the group leading the current farmer protests in India. Among Sikh circles in Canada, calls to condemn the laws and show solidarity were made public on the first day that protesting farmers confronted the Haryana police. Tens of thousands of households in rural Punjab have relatives currently settled and thriving in Canada, so when a Canadian Punjabi stands up and declares that it is his brother / father / mother who is being tear gassed and cannons of water, more often than not, is not being metaphorical.
It may not be widely known in India that days before Trudeau’s comments, the heads of the other two federal parties, the NDP and the Conservatives, had already made public statements in support of the farmers’ protests, condemning the state violence. . Trudeau waited until ‘Gurpurab’ and used the larger platform to calm his feelings as he addressed the 300 Sikhs representing different organizations.
In addition to balancing the national state of governance, Trudeau also had a couple of bills to settle with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Trudeau, a liberal, both in name and function, does not get along with Modi’s ideology or work style. In the past six years, they have ended up at a crossroads multiple times, especially on the issue of Canada not paying attention to India’s demands to suppress the prevailing Khalistani voices in that country.
No one has, apparently, not Trudeau, forgotten how he and his family were treated coldly by the Indian administration on their trip to India in 2018. Compared to other heads of state who visited India around the same time, their trip was downplayed and made to appear much less significant than the trade and diplomatic relationship between the two countries would otherwise dictate.
It is also almost embarrassingly predictable to see how the Indian government and its allies in the media are unfolding the ghost of Khalistan against protesting farmers and Trudeau. Because most of the protesting farmers are Sikhs, because the majority of Indo-Canadian MPs in the Trudeau government are Sikhs, they want to dismiss the farmers’ demands and dismiss them as Khalistani propaganda.
In general, Canada during the Trudeau era and before is known as a voice for human rights in the world. This began with its central role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1947-48 and continues today to be part of seven major international human rights conventions. It may interest critics to learn that Canada has spoken on behalf of the Rohingya and human rights abuses by Chinese in Hong Kong and the Uighurs. Earlier this year, Trudeau was the only world leader to kneel, defying Donald Trump, while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a globalized world, what Trudeau has done is something that more and more world leaders will do. He speaks for his constituents, but also for the powerless, wherever they may be.
Jaspreet Oberoi is a freelance writer. He tweets at @iJasOberoi.
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