Canada has said that it is investigating the warning issued by Sikhs For Justice general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a video circulating online, asking Sikhs not to travel Air India post-November 19.
“We take every threat seriously, especially when it concerns airlines,” Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez told reporters in Ottawa, reported AFP.
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The video that emerged online last week show Pannun issuing a warning against travelling by Air India. “Don’t fly Air India after November 19, your lives may be in danger,” he warned Sikhs in the video.
Interacting with the Canadian media, however, Pannun claimed that his message was a call to boycott Indian businesses and not a threat. Canada is home to some 770,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the overall population.
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Pannun’s threat comes amid deteriorating ties between India and Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations blaming Indian agents for the June murder of a Canadian Sikh leader near Vancouver. Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat over alleged links to the killing.
India denied the unsubstantiated allegations as “absurd” and instead blamed Canada for providing a safe haven to Khalistani militants in the country.
(With AFP inputs)