Police officers had to intervene in the arguments between some Indo-Canadians, who were marching in the Independence Day parade on August 10 in downtown Toronto, and a handful of pro-Khalistani demonstrators.
The parade was organised by the Indian Consulate-General and Panorama India, a community organisation.
Before the parade started from the Dundas Square, downtown Toronto, Indian Consul-General Satish Mehta spoke briefly about India's Independence, its economy, etc.
Also present were a number of Ontario politicians like Minister for Small Business Harinder Takhar and Minister for Education Kathleen O Wynne.
On the other side of the road, nearly 40 turbaned Sikihs were holding placards in support of Khalistan and shouting slogans like 'Down with the government of India' and 'Long Live Khalistan'. They included a dozen kids also.
As the parade started, there was a sort of brush with these demonstrators and a couple of persons from the parade shouted, "You guys, you should be ashamed of yourself, shouting slogans for what here, better go back home" and three-four 4 people among the demonstrators started shouting back calling them 'turncoats' and 'puppets' and some unprintable expressions.
There were nearly 40 Metro police officers on bicycles and three/four of them quickly jumped in to keep them apart.
They prevented it from becoming physical, but for a few minutes the participants in the parade and the protestors kept shouting at each other. Tempers were high, but the police were in full force to ensure peace.
Before it happened, retired Major of the Indian Army Harbans S Dhatt was called to the podium with Consul-General Mehta and Minster Takhar also standing on the stage.
He had his walking stick that he raised addressing the demonstrators: "You guys don't have any sense of shame shouting these anti-India slogans from the foreign soil! Better go back to India and take up your fight for Khalistan there."
In an interview with RediffIndiaAbroad on August 11, Dhatt said, "I firmly believe there's no sense shouting slogans here. I have met them several times and I have always told them 'if you want Khalistan, go back to India and shout slogans there. Why are you making these kinds of demands living in another country? It's insulting for India. It's insulting for the Sikh community. If you have any problem, it is with the government of India and not with the Canadian government. Canada has such good friendly relations with India'."
Dhatt is president of the Indian Ex-servicemen Association of Ontario that has 200 members.
He repeatedly mentioned as to what Manmohan Singh as prime minister of India has done for the Sikh community: "Sikhs are now known all over the world, thanks to the fact that Dr Singh, the first Sikh ever in the history of independent India, is the prime minister of the country."
He also referred to recent nomination of General J J Singh as chief of India's Army staff. "These people (demonstrators) forget that 25 per cent of the Indian Army comprises of Sikhs and Sikhs protect the borders between India and Pakistan where Sikhs also live.
"Why do these people want to live in a small well than to be part of the ocean so that they could prosper?" Dhatt asked.
One of demonstrators included Sukhminder Singh Hansra, who's the founder of Punjabi Daily. When asked by this reporter as to what problems Sikhs have in India, his response was "problems are the same as in 1984. They have done nothing against the people behind the killing of thousands of Sikhs during that period."
When pointed out that India has a sikh prime minister, Hansra called him "a puppet of the Congress Party and that they are keeping peace in Punjab with the help of the guns."
The protestors circulated a one-page petition on behalf of the 'Untied Front for Khalistan'. "We make an appeal to the international community to take notice of the denial of human rights in India' and that 'due to all the injustice that the minorities in India face, the Untied Front for Khalistan is committed to helping the Sikh people of India to establish their own country,' it said.
Dhatt said he would request "these demonstrators and Sikhs in general 'not to raise slogans on a foreign land. They forget what if Khalistan doesn't work like Pakistan. Would they then ask for 'Nakhalistan'?"
