JALANDHAR: Canadian Sikh elected representatives have now also started speaking out about reference to Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism in Public Safety Canada’s 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada. While NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has criticized the Liberal government saying their Public Safety report failed to call out recent attacks from the far right but stokes fear without evidence against the Sikh community, Liberal MP Randeep Singh Sarai has picked holes in the report and has sought removal of the reference to Sikh Extremism altogether.“We must call out terrorism wherever it occurs, including recent attacks from the far right targeting women in Tornoto & Muslims in QC. The Liberal’s public safety report fails to do this – but does stoke fear w/o any evidence about the Sikh community, which is dangerous & wrong,” tweeted Jagmeet Singh.Meanwhile as Sikh bodies have already started questioning the Liberal ministers and MPs, Liberal MP Randeep Singh Sarari has issued a detailed statement on the issue. he has said that he arguing, “..there is no mention of any escalation, incidents of concerns, or types of perceived threats. There is no justification to have these three words mentioned in such a report”. “..the report even tables a timeline commencing from June 2006 and covers a span of over 12 years of all plots or attacks conducted in Canada, and there is absolutely none that mention the word “Sikh”.He has also argued that there is no mention of any concern or involvement by anyone from the Sikh community. “In entirety of the report, there is no cause to show that there is any such risk, rise, or threat of Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism in Canada or abroad. It is not mentioned in either of the prior reports done in 2016 and 2017. Therefore to add such a group as a concern without showing a cause or factual evidence, incorrectly identifies them as a threat”, he added.He has mentioned that he along with many of his colleagues from the House of Commons expressed their deep concern with this issue and reiterated it to the Minister of Public Safety, Ralph Goodale. “Therefore, I ask the Department of Public Safety to immediately remove the heading “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” from the report as no such risk is stated in the report and there is no evidence provided to substantiate it.”Prabhmeet Sarkaria, Member of Provincial Parliament from Brampton South, in his tweet termed the reference in the report “maligning the image of Canadian Sikhs without providing any evidence to support this unfounded claim”. “These allegations have a real impact on everyday lives of Canadian Sikhs. What happened in the past year for them to include this now?” he added.Meanwhile Conservative Party MP Garnett Genius has said “Reference to “Sikh extremism” or other “extremism” without context or evidence is an irresponsible way fort he government to communicate about a sensitive issue. We would like more information about what ed to that reference.”Box – Liberal minister Sohi says report does not malignHowever, Canadian minister Amarjeet Sohi has claimed that there is no reference in the report which targets any part of the Sikh community. In a video message in Punjabi, he has argued that there is nothing in the report which is different from the analysis by Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the last 14-15 years. “No reference which targets any part of the community or raises question on them is targeted or raises questions which leads to perception that Sikhs support terrorism in any manner,” he said. “I want to tell CSIS and RCMP agencies are independent and government has no interference in their working,” he added.

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