The proposed Khalistan referendum event scheduled to take place at a school in Surrey, Canada, on September 10 has been officially cancelled.
The board of trustees at Tamanwis Secondary School revoked permission for the event following concerns raised by 40 societies with both the City of Surrey and the Provincial Government, The Indian Express reported.
The ostensible reason for withdrawing permission was that promotional materials for the event featured images of the school, alongside images of a weapon.
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Ritinder Matthew, the Surrey school board’s associate director, communication, said, “Earlier today, our district cancelled a community rental of one of our schools due to a violation of our rental agreement. Promotional materials for the event featured images of our school, alongside images of a weapon. Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organisers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media.”
“As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this,” Matthew said.
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The school’s hall had been rented by an Ontario resident for what was described as a “community event.”
The local community initiated a campaign against the event after organisers associated with Sikhs For Justice led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, displayed posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, and weapons throughout the city.
The Concerned Residents of Surrey group demanded an immediate halt to the process by the Surrey School District, preventing any local school from being used to promote terrorism.
A statement from the Concerned Group of Residents further revealed that the event organisers had fraudulently booked Tamanwis School without disclosing the nature of the event, which infringed on the unity and integrity of another sovereign nation.
Maninder Gill, president of the Surrey-based Friends of Canada and India Foundation, “welcomed the decision” on behalf of his organisation, Hindustan Times reported.