TORONTO: A large number of Canadian Sikhs cast their votes in a referendum in Toronto on Sunday seeking freedom for the Indian Punjab from Delhi. The referendum for Khalistan was held in Toronto despite hurdles created by India.
The organizers of Khalistan Referendum in Canada said that at least 110,000 cast their ballots during the voting hours while thousands of others were in long queues queues when the voting time ended Sunday evening.
The Sikh community members including a large number of women and elderly people thronged the polling stations to cast their votes in support of Khalistan and freedom from India.
The general secretary of Sikhs for Justice Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that after such a large number of Sikhs turned up for the referendum, India must realise what the Sikh community thinks about it.
Sikhs have expressed their anger against India by casting vote and demanded freedom in the form of Khalistan, he said.
Pannun said similar referendums will be held in other cities of Canada.
Earlier, the voting process began with a special prayer and the voters said that the result of the referendum would make it clear to the world that the Sikh community wants freedom.
They said that the Indian Punjab would emerge as a separate country on the world map, adding that their freedom could not be seized by the Indian government through power.
Ahead of the referendum, tensions ran rife between the Sikh community and other Indian diasporas in Toronto which was prompted by the tearing of a poster of Sikh leader General Singh Bhandarwala by an Indian-Canadian national.
The police had arrested the suspect.
Tensions also emerged at the state level when the Canadian government – in response to the Indian government’s request to stop the process – said that they could not deprive the Sikh community of their democratic right to referendum.
In this regard, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that the Sikh community was doing a democratic struggle for its right.
