The Indian Consulate in Toronto has suspended its diplomatic visits to places of worship, including religious places. The decision was taken after clashes between Sikhs and Hindus.
Earlier, violence erupted outside the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton on Sunday. Police charged people with carrying weapons and throwing objects at the crowd. Tensions flared up outside the temple the next day and police had to intervene again. At one point, police declared the protest outside the religious institution in Brampton illegal.
The clash took place between Hindu groups and Sikh separatists. Sikh separatists protested when Indian consular officials went there to process documents related to issues such as pensions.
The clashes further increased tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi after Canada expelled six Indian diplomats last month. Canada expelled the six diplomats after the RCMP brought the matter of these individuals’ interests in crimes against Canadians to the fore.
The Indian Consulate in Toronto said it was suspending some site visits, but did not specify which sites would be closed.
In a post on social media, the consulate said the Toronto consulate has decided to cancel some scheduled consular camps due to the lack of minimum security for community camp organizers from security agencies.
The consulate’s website lists planned visits. These include Brampton, Mississauga, Halifax, Windsor and London in Ontario. The Indian High Commission in Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether its Ottawa mission or Vancouver consulate were also canceling consular visits.
Sikh separatists who demand an independent Khalistan state have alleged that the Indian diplomats visited the temple to garner support for identifying Khalistan supporters.
The Canadian government has refused to reveal the identities of the expelled diplomats, but the federal government maintains a database of diplomats working in Canada. The database was updated a week after the expulsion of six Indian diplomats on October 14. The names of six diplomats on the previous list were removed from the updated list. They include High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto Consul General Siddharth Nath.
The other names on the previous list of the database were Vikram Singh Bhatti, First Secretary of the Ottawa High Commission, Dheeraj Parik, Consular Officer in Toronto, Rahul Negi, Consular Officer in Vancouver, and Kanwalijit Singh, Consular Officer in Vancouver. Global Affairs Canada has not confirmed whether the names of the six diplomats who have been expelled are theirs.
Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Clemence Grevy said, “We are not in a position to release the names of the six Indian diplomats. They are now undesirable in Canada. We can confirm that they have left Canada.”
