Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has refused to intervene in the removal of a reference to Sikh (Khalistani) terrorism in a public report released late last year, the pro-Khalistan activist group Sikhs for Justice has threatened political consequences for the ruling Liberal Party if that section is not deleted.

While SFJ’s legal adviser Gurpatwant Pannun sent a letter in this regard to the Prime Minister’s Office, the response indicated that Trudeau does not wish to influence the decision on whether or not to expunge the reference that has proved controversial within a section of the community in Canada.

In its answer to Pannun, the PMO said, “While the Prime Minister appreciates being made aware of your concerns, he will leave the matter to be considered by Minister Goodale.” That referred to Canada’s minister of public safety and emergency preparedness Ralph Goodale who had released the ‘2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada’ in December last year.

This stand has riled the SFJ and it has warned the Trudeau government of a political fallout if the entire section is not removed. “They will face the outcome in the elections. We will take this matter to the grassroots and build up public support in the next three months.

Federal elections in Canada are due in October and groups like SFJ want to make the reference a political issue prior to the polls, if their demand for deletion and a formal retraction are not met.The SFJ openly supports the secessionist Khalistan movement and is the prime mover behind the 2020 Referendum campaign for a separate nation carved out of India. “Labelling ‘Khalistanis’ as extremists and identifying them as a significant national security threat is deeply misleading and unfair to Canadian Sikhs,” Pannun said.