Ottawa : In just a spate of few weeks, 3 Indian-origin candidates have been knocked out of the leadership race in Canada’s Liberal Party, both at the national and at the provincial level. While it has fuelled speculations of the exclusion of Indian heritage people in the leadership race, including comments from the candidates themselves, the Liberal Party would point out that these disqualifications adhered to established rules. Two candidates at the national level, Ruby Dhalla and Chandra Arya, were knocked out of the race, while Viresh Bansal was suspended as Ontario Liberal Candidate for Oshawa.
Azam Ishmael, Liberal Party of Canada National Director, said in a statement that she was in breach of 10 violations, which include “concerns about alleged violations of the Canada Election Act, certain other election finance matters, nondisclosure of material facts, and inaccurate financial reporting”.
According to Canada’s Global News, Bansal had posted, in the aftermath of Nijjar’s killing, “You can thank India for cleaning trash people. Ask your gay friend @JustinTrudeau to do the same,” for which he later apologised. The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO), which has backed the idea of Khalistan, was instrumental in calling for Bansal’s removal due to his inflammatory social media posts, which contributed to his campaign suspension.
The developments in Canada’s Liberal Party come even as India-Canada ties remain strained over PM Justin Trudeau’s claims of alleged Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian national and supporter of Khalistani extremist ideology Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a listed terrorist in India, was a key supporter of Khalistani extremism in Canada. Trudeau himself has been seen going soft on anti-India activities by Khalistani extremists in the country, pandering to domestic vote bank politics, including taking part in rallies in which anti-India remarks have been made by Khalistani extremists elements.
India has for long criticised Canada for harbouring “extremists,” a charge that gained traction after Nijjar’s death.
