Editor,
An open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney:
I strongly protest your decision to invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7.
As someone who voted for you in the last federal election to keep the right-wing forces out of power, I am deeply hurt by this move. It was never expected from you, considering that Modi himself is a right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, under whose government attacks on religious minorities and political dissidents have grown for the past 10 years.
Apart from that, his government is accused of being involved in transnational repression and the assassination of a B.C. Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. I agree that the investigation remains open and the charges haven’t yet been proved in court, but you could have waited until the trial concluded.
Also, the Modi government has denied visa to many overseas Indians living in North America for criticizing him. So why are you being so generous to an authoritarian political figure like him?
Your action goes against the example set by your predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who stood up for a Canadian citizen killed on Canadian soil. But look at what you did, except stabbing us in the back?
If you and your colleagues are so obsessed about Donald Trump, you must know that Modi is far more dangerous. He represents an ultra-Hindu nationalist organization, RSS, that is no different than Hitler’s Nazi party. The founders of this outfit have been glorifying Hitler and justifying the Jewish holocaust.
RSS supporters were also responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Modi himself has a poor track record of being involved in the 2002 massacre of Muslims in Gujarat where he was the Chief Minister before becoming the leader of the country. For that, most western powers did not let him set his foot on their lands until he was elected as Prime Minister in 2014.
I need to remind you that he was greeted by angry protesters during his first official visit to Canada in 2015. Then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper lost the support of the Sikh and Muslim diaspora for giving him a warm welcome. Unfortunately, you have chosen the same path, which is going to be your political suicide.
If you really care for the economy and prosperity, these don’t naturally come from making unholy alliances or pandering to bigots. What we need is fair trade, and not "free trade."
History will never forgive you for throwing your supporters under the bus and letting Canadians down. After this episode, Canada should stop claiming to be a human rights leader in the world.
Lastly, by doing this you have strengthened the hands of the supporters of Khalistan, an imaginary Sikh homeland for which Nijjar was fighting, something that bothered Modi. Until now, many Sikh activists truly believed that if they couldn’t peacefully struggle for their own country in India because of “state violence” and “unfair system," they could at least consider Canada their home and a safe refuge where they had the right to speak their minds. Your decision will certainly force them even more to think of creating another country where they can live on their own terms.
May good sense prevail on you, and you better change your mind.
Gurpreet Singh, North Delta
