Chandigarh: The High Commissioner for Canada in India, Cameron MacKay in early June said he was appalled by reports of an event in Canada that celebrated the assassination of late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “There is no place in Canada for hate or for the glorification of violence. I categorically condemn these activities,” he said in a tweet.

His reaction came after social media was abuzz with videos depicting a tableau depicting the assassination of the late Prime Minister by her Sikh bodyguards as part of a five-km-long parade by the Indian diaspora in Brampton on June 4. The tableau depicted Khalistan flags with a poster that said “revenge”.

People in Punjab were aghast over the development. They had said India should summon the Canadian High Commissioner to strongly object to the inclusion of Indira Gandhi assassination tableau in a parade. Intelligence agencies here believed that it seemed to be linked with the 39th anniversary of the Indian Army’s ‘Operation Bluestar’ in Amritsar that was carried out between June 1 and 8, 1984, claiming several lives and leaving the Golden Temple and its complex damaged.

‘Operation Bluestar’ was a military action ordered by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to flush out militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale holed up in the Golden Temple complex. Earlier, a Hindu temple was vandalised with ‘anti-India’ graffiti in Brampton province, leaving the Indian community in shock. The Indian Consulate General in Toronto had issued a statement condemning the attack on the Gauri Shankar temple.

India had already summoned the Canadian High Commissioner to convey “its strong concerns about the actions by pro-Khalistani extremist elements against Indian diplomatic missions in Canada in recent times”.