NEW DELHI: Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India, as a crisis sparked by the killing of a separatist Sikh leader on Canadian soil deepens. Hard...
Sikhs protest for the independence of Khalistan in front of the Indian Consulate in Toronto, Canada, on July 8, 2023. - AFPPIX: Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India, as a crisis sparked by the killing of a separatist Sikh leader on Canadian soil deepens.
It has also been a sore point between India and several Western nations home to large Sikh populations, with New Delhi demanding Canada and others take stricter action against separatists.Sikhism is a minority religion originating in northern India that traces its roots back to the 15th century and drew influences from both Hinduism and Islam.
The historical region of Punjab was split between the two countries and was wracked by some of the worst violence of Partition. In 1984, they began stockpiling arms and barricading themselves in the Golden Temple, the faith’s holiest shrine in the city of Amritsar. Her assassination triggered a spasm of violence that saw thousands of Sikhs killed in New Delhi and other parts of the country in brutal reprisals.