CALGARY, CANADA - Thousands of Sikhs queued at the Calgary’s iconic Municipal Plaza – opposite the local United States diplomatic mission to take part in the Khalistan Referendum voting for the creation of an independent state of Khalistan for the Sikh nation.
Organsied by the pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group, the voting has been organised in Calgary to seek opinion of Sikhs of Canada’s Alberta province on the creation of an independent state for Sikhs. An estimated one million Sikhs now live in Canada and nearly 100,000 live in Calgary. The SFJ leader announced that Calgary voting is dedicated to the nine Canadia national Sikhs assassinated by India for their supports for Khalistan. Those Canadian Sikhs are: Shaheed Lakhbir Singh Rode, Shaheed Bhupinder Singh Kooner, Shaheed Harjinder Singh Para, Shaheed Talwinder Singh Parmar, Shaheed Surinder Singh Shinder Commando, Shaheed Balbir Singh Khaira, Shaheed Jathedar Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Shaheed Mohinder Singh Kooner and Shaheed Surinder Singh Ravi.
At the start of the voting with Sikh prayers led by the local Sikh religious figures from Gurdawara Dashmesh Culture Centre, thousands formed long queues to cast their votes for the process. Sikhs who gathered outside the city hall were carrying flags of Khalistan. Veteran Khalistani leaders and President of the Council of Khalistan Dr Bakhshish Singh Sandhu said at the start of the voting that Sikhs in Calgary will set a new record by exercising their democratic right for Khalistan and to send a message to the world that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to assassinate Sikhs in the western countries was unacceptable as its transnational terrorism and oppression which warrants global sanctions against the state of India. The whole voting process from registration to supervision of ballot boxes and sealing of the ballots at the end of voting day is conducted by Commission’s approved third party staff to maintain the highest level of transparency. The PRC is conducting the voting on the question of “Should Indian Governed Punjab Be An Independent Country?” with two options of “Yes” and No”.