Liberal MP Accuses Fellow Liberal of Threats Over Motion on India-Sikh Issue

Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

A Liberal MP says he was threatened and accosted after he refused to consent to another Liberal MP’s motion related to recognizing a campaign of violent attacks against Sikhs in India as genocide.

Chandra Arya made the statement in the House on Dec. 6 after MP Sukh Dhaliwal attempted to get unanimous consent to have the actions taken during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India declared a genocide of the Sikh people.

In June 1984, then-Indian Prime Minster Indira Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star, a military operation that resulted in the killings of Sikh activists in that country. She was assassinated that same year in retaliation for the move.

Arya raised a point of order in the House, saying Dhaliwal threatened him. He also said another member “aggressively accosted” him in the lobby.

“I feel that as a member of Parliament, I should be able to express my opinion and my views freely in the House and I should not be threatened by any words or actions of my fellow members,” he said.

The complaint was raised after Dhaliwal introduced the motion to have the Sikh killings in India recognized as genocide. The legislative transcript notes that some MPs said “no” in response to the motion.

Dhaliwal later said on the X platform that some Conservative MPs and one Liberal MP opposed his motion.

The Epoch Times contacted Dhaliwal for comment about Arya’s complaint but didn’t hear back by publication time.

In his own X post, Arya said that “my single objection was enough to prevent this motion from being approved.”

He added, “There have been several attempts, both within the parliament and outside, to stop me from freely and publicly voicing the concerns of Hindu-Canadians.”

He called on Hindu-Canadians to contact their MPs and get a commitment that they will oppose any similar motions.

“The 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India, which followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, were undeniably barbaric,” he wrote in the post. “Thousands of innocent Sikhs lost their lives in those horrific events, and we all condemn this brutality without reservation.”

However, Arya said that labelling it a genocide is “misleading and unjustified” and “risks driving a wedge between the Hindu and Sikh communities in Canada.”

The friction between Dhaliwal and Arya comes as tensions between Sikh Khalistan activists and Hindus in Canada are high.

The Khalistan movement calls for carving out an independent Sikh state in northern India called Khalistan.

On Nov. 3, Khalistan activists and Hindu groups in Ontario clashed outside a Hindu temple in Brampton, as Sikh separatists protested a visit by Indian consular officials. The protest spread to Mississauga where police said they arrested three individuals.

Protests erupted again at the Brampton temple on Nov. 4. Police reported seeing weapons at the scene.

In October, in relation to the murder of a Sikh independence activist in Surrey, B.C., Canada expelled six Indian diplomats. India expelled six Canadian diplomats around the same time as relations between the two countries continued to sour.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said the RCMP had gathered evidence that six individuals were “persons of interest” in the murder of activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down last June.

India has denied Canada’s allegations of being involved in the case.

Noe Chartier and Andrew Chen contributed to this report.