Indian missions in Canada successfully conclude holding consular camps

Toronto: Consular camps held by Indian missions in Canada to issue life certificates to seniors, concluded on Sunday with the last one held at a banquet hall in Surrey, British Columbia.

The final camp was organised by India’s Consulate in Vancouver at a banquet hall as it had to be shifted from the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, which was originally scheduled to host it. While pro-Khalistan groups staged a protest outside the venue, there were no reports of any significant disruption in the proceedings.

The Mandir was unable to host it due to security concerns. “From the point of public safety, we should in our best interest not hold it,” the temple’s spokesperson Parshotam Goel said.

The temple had hosted a consular camp on November 3, which witnessed pro-Khalistan radicals protesting outside. However, disruption was caused when local law enforcement entered the premises of the temple and arrested three persons who were staging a counter-demonstration, including a minor. Members of the temple’s management had staged a vigil outside the police headquarters till the three were released. Charges against two of those arrested have been dropped. Goel said the temple had lost confidence in the Surrey Police Service being able to provide necessary security for hosting the consular camp.

India’s Consulate in Toronto had announced earlier that the last camp, to be held on Sunday at a centre in the town of London in Ontario, had been cancelled “on request of the organisers in view of heightened threats received by them”.

The consular camps have been held regularly in recent years in an attempt to provide the service at a location convenient for the elderly pensioners.

However, they have attracted protests since last year by pro-Khalistan radicals, including the secessionist Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). That was precipitated by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18 last year that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar three months earlier in Surrey.

The situation worsened this year after the Canadian government accused six Indian diplomats and officials of being linked to violent criminal activity in the country. That led to India withdrawing the six from Canada on October 14 and expelling six Canadian diplomats.

Matters flared up when protesting radicals violently attacked the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) on November 3, leading to multiple arrests connected to that episode and its aftermath. Local police warned against holding similar such camps due to tense situation leading to multiple cancellations, including by three temples last month.

However, on Saturday, the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Scarborough (not connected to the Surrey mandir of the same name) hosted a camp successfully thanks to a Toronto court granting an injunction on Thursday prohibiting protesters from gathering within a 100-metre radius of the temple premises and preventing them from interfering in access to it.

On Sunday, India’s Consulate in Toronto stated, “We express our heartfelt gratitude to all camp organisers, including those who had to cancel camps despite their best efforts, and hundreds of volunteers who helped us over the last month.”