CHANDIGARH: The diaspora in Canada are concerned about the recent development in Punjab regarding the suspension of SMS and mobile internet services, excluding voice calls, in the interest of public safety as police take action against the chief of “Waris Punjab De” and Khalistan -Ideologues Amritpal has initiated Singh and his helpers.
“I’m receiving calls from my residents and am deeply concerned by reports from Indian Punjab of texting and internet outages,” tweeted Sonia Sidhu, MP for Brampton South, on Sunday.
“I hope the situation is resolved soon and Canadians traveling to the region can connect with their families and friends in Canada.”
Joining the issue, Mississauga-Malton MP Iqwinder S. Gaheer tweeted, “I am disturbed by what I am hearing from constituents and the reports from Punjab, India: Authorities have enacted and are preventing the mass disruption of internet services this gatherings of more than 4.”
“Civil rights and freedoms should be protected in a democracy.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government to immediately reach out to their Indian counterparts to express their concerns about the suspension of civil liberties and security of Canadians abroad, tweeting: ” I am deeply concerned to report that India has suspended civil liberties and imposed an internet blackout across the state of Punjab.
One user replied to him, writing: “What a hypocrite you are!
Another user finds Jagmeet Singh disrespectful. “Draconian measures were taken when the trucker protests in Canada were crushed. Jagmeet Singh ji you supported @JustinTrudeau’s crushing of a democratic peaceful movement now you want him to go wild over suspension of mobile texts (home internet works fine) in Punjab !”
“If you are so worried about Punjab then come to India Punjab. It’s easy to make judgments when you’re in a different corner where you really don’t know what’s going on,” wrote another user.
“Human rights are the foundation of any democracy,” said the charity United Sikhs. “The Indian state is setting up its own #humanrights abuse record in every way it can to oppress the Sikhs of India. Why is there a mass atrocity of human rights abuses against Sikhs in India? What are the reasons for the arrest of Amritpal?”
Meanwhile, a massive police search continued on Sunday’s second day to arrest Sikh radical Amritpal Singh, the head of Waris Punjab De.
Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal told the media that Amritpal Singh has been declared a “fugitive”.
Police searches are now mainly concentrated in Jalandhar district, where he eluded police when they tried to intercept his vehicle to arrest him.
Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh told the media the police should have arrested him before he left the house. “We have no information on his whereabouts. They searched our home for three to four hours but found nothing illegal.”
He called the police action “unjustified” and said his son was weaning the youth off drugs. “Why the police don’t take action against criminals and drug users,” he asked.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Chahal said the six Amritpal gunmen had been caught. “A manhunt for Amritpal Singh is ongoing and we hope he will be arrested soon. A total of 78 people have been arrested so far and further searches and raids are ongoing,” he added.
“During the nationwide operation, nine weapons have been seized so far, including a .315 caliber rifle, seven 12 caliber rifles, a revolver and 373 live cartridges of various calibers,” police said in a statement on Twitter Saturday evening.
“Waris Punjab De-Elements are implicated in four criminal cases relating to spreading class disharmony, attempted murder, attacks on police officers and creating obstacles to the lawful performance of government officials’ duties. FIR stands for Ajnala Police Station Attack registered. ‘ it added.
