'Feeling betrayed...'Opposition leader Cancels diwali Event?
The Hindu community in canada has criticized Pierre Poilievre, the country's opposition leader, for calling off a scheduled diwali celebration at parliament Hill, a move that has left many indian diasporans feeling deceived and excluded. The Overseas Friends of india canada (OFIC) had organized the event. The cancellation coincides with heightened tensions between india and canada over claims that indian government agents were involved in the 2023 murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and that indian diplomats were monitoring members of the pro-Khalistan movement in Canada.
Six Canadian ambassadors were expelled from india in mid-October as a result of the situation, which has caused diplomatic problems. india has pulled back its High Commissioner and a few diplomats due to the accusations, which the ministry of external affairs has branded "baseless" on numerous occasions. Poilievre's choice to skip the diwali celebration, according to several Hindu community leaders, is indicative of larger problems with systematic prejudice against Canadians of indian heritage.
Shiv Bhasker, the president of OFIC, wrote an open letter expressing his unhappiness with the cancellation. "I am writing to you [Pierre Poilievre] to express our grief and displeasure at the office of the leader of the Opposition calling off the 24th diwali celebration on parliament Hill.... Politicians' absence from this significant cultural event, especially during such a sensitive period, sends a strong message to Indo-Canadians: we are not being treated as fellow Canadians, but rather as foreigners who are somehow connected to the political decisions of a nation that many of us have ancestry with but no direct connection to. This event was supposed to be a happy way to celebrate diwali, but we feel deceived and unfairly singled out because of the political leaders' abrupt withdrawal."
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel