A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, September 18, 2023. Thousands of Sikh voters are expected to turn out today in the Metro Vancouver municipality of Surrey, to vote in an unofficial referendum at the centre of Canada's ongoing tensions with India. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
SURREY, B.C. – Voter turnout was steady Sunday in the Metro Vancouver municipality of Surrey among those casting ballots in an unofficial referendum at the centre of Canada’s ongoing tensions with India.
The referendum on Khalistan – an independent state in India proposed by some Sikhs – was being held at the same Surrey gurdwara where activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June.
Sarbraj Kahlon, news director at Radio Punjab who was at the referendum site, said voter turnout picked up as the day progressed and temperatures warmed.
“In the morning the turnout was a bit low but now as we reach another phase of the day, there is a large turnout,” he said.
Kahlon said the results of the vote, expected Sunday evening, are not binding.
“The organizers just want people to come, attend and just unite under one flag,” he said. “As you know, this is a non-binding referendum but the organizers, they say, the United Nations they are watching it closely.”
Sunday’s vote marks the second round of the referendum in British Columbia, after organizers said the first ballot on Sept. 10 was so popular that voting couldn’t be completed in one day.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in the House of Commons on Sept. 18 that there were “credible allegations” potentially linking India’s government to Nijjar’s killing.
Referendum co-organizer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said Trudeau’s statement has created more open conversations around India and its handling of the Khalistani independence movement, while allowing its supporters to become more vocal without fear of retribution.
Nijjar was an organizer of the Khalistan referendum in Canada, and votes have also been held in several other locations around the world.
The Indian government has denied involvement in Nijjar’s death and has long maintained that the Punjabi independence movement undermines India’s national security.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2023.
