Secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on Sunday hastily-arranged the Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia.
This development comes the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed India’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.
The voting took place at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey, the same gurdwara which was headed by SFJ’s principal figure in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was gunned down by unidentified assailants on June 18 in its parking lot.
SFJ has pinned the blame on India for Nijjar’s assassination though the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which is investigating the case, has neither arrested anyone in this connection nor attributed any motive behind the murder.