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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to Toronto’s Vaisakhi nagar kirtan on Sunday after a niche of seven years.
He additionally addressed the gathered crowd at Nathan Phillips Sq. in downtown Toronto for simply over 4 minutes, flanked by Cupboard colleagues, together with Harjit Sajjan and Omar Alghabra in addition to Liberal Get together MPs from the Higher Toronto Space or GTA.
“I bear in mind attending the Toronto Khalsa Day parade a number of years in the past and I’ve been throughout the nation many occasions since. I all the time have fond recollections of visiting Vaisakhi celebrations right here in Toronto, in Ontario and throughout the nation,” he mentioned.
Trudeau had final been current on the Toronto Khalsa Day occasion in 2017, which irked the Indian Authorities because it had featured Khalistani flags, posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and celebrated the carrying of a movement on the Ontario Meeting in April that 12 months terming the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as “genocide.” Trudeau was the primary PM to attend the occasion since Paul Martin in 2005.
Some Khalistan flags had been seen in entrance of the podium from which Trudeau spoke. Nevertheless, the organisers of parade, the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council or OSGC largely prevented the event from being hijacked by separatist parts this 12 months.
“Sikh values are additionally profoundly Canadian values,” Trudeau advised the congregants. Khalsa Day marks the institution of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
Trudeau was not the one outstanding Federal chief on the nagar kirtan. Additionally making his presence felt was Conservative Get together chief Pierre Poilievre.
Trudeau talked about the Indian Authorities throughout his temporary speech, although within the context of bettering air connectivity between the 2 international locations. He mentioned his Authorities had signed a brand new settlement with New Delhi so as to add extra flights final 12 months, and had continued to lift the matter of a direct flight to Amritsar.
He later tweeted, “From Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto, I’ve fond recollections of attending Vaisakhi celebrations. Right this moment, we had been again in Toronto for this 12 months’s Khalsa Day parade – celebrating with associates previous and new. Completely satisfied Vaisakhi!”
The day witnessed nearly incessant rain, however the nagar kirtan nonetheless attracted a crowd of over 30,000. OSGC chair Kultar Singh Gill mentioned, “The climate was very unhealthy however nonetheless 1000’s of dedicated folks got here.”
This was the primary full-fledged Khalsa Day celebration in Toronto since 2019, as a result of COVID-19-related restrictions since then.
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