Members of Indian community take on Pro-Khalistanis in the street in Canada: report
text_fields
Photo courtesy of The Hindustan Times
Toronto: Several members of the Indian community in Toronto have taken out a march Saturday carrying Indian flags.
This comes alongside pro-Khalistan rally outside the Indian consulate in the city where the two groups were in tense face off.
A line of police personnel with barricades separated two groups from engaging in violence.
Police closed off a section of Bloor Street, where the consulate is, to traffic.
Pro-India demonstrators raised slogans like "Bharat Mata ki jai", "Vande Mataram" and "Long Live India".
Police subdued one of the two persons from pro-Khalistan side when they rushed towards the pro-India side while pushing back the other.
Police pinned to the ground the more aggressive one of the two, while apprehending the other.
A spokesperson for Toronto police told The Hindustan Times over email that both the persons were apprehended but later released without charges.
Though outnumbered, the pro-India group didn’t back away even when two Khalistanis tried to barge into them.
After both groups were dispersed by the police, a member of the Indian community said that they were successfully able to demonstrate resistance to the Khalistanis, according to the Hindustan Times.
Another pro-India demonstrator said breaching of the police barricade by the Khalistanis exposed their ‘ violent side’.
Earlier the ‘Khalistan freedom rally’ poster that called India’ High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma and including Consul General Apoorva Srivastava ‘ killers’of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar sparked outrage.