AMRITSAR: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday arrived at Amritsar's Golden Temple, along with his wife and children. The Canadian Prime Minister, who is on a week-long State visit to India, will meet Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh later in the day. On Monday, Chief Minister Singh had confirmed that he will meet the Canadian Prime Minister and was hopeful that the meeting would strengthen the "close Indo-Canadian business ties as well as the deep-rooted people-to-people relations."
"Look forward to meeting Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau in Amritsar on Wednesday. I'm hopeful that this meeting will help strengthen the close Indo-Canadian business ties as well as the deep-rooted people-to-people relations between our two countries," the Punjab Chief Minister tweeted. The Congress leader earlier refused to meet Trudeau, claiming the Canadian Prime Minister's cabinet members were connected and supported the formation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh state movement.
Earlier in the day, Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu expressed confidence that the meeting would not only strengthen the ties between both the countries but would also help to transform them. "The 20-minute meeting between Captain Amarinder Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can take Punjab 20 years ahead," Sidhu told ANI
What Justin Trudeau wrote in Golden Temple visitors' book
NEW DELHI: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today visited the "beautiful, meaningful" Golden Temple in Amritsar today, and as part of 'seva', or 'service', he rolled 'chapatis' at the communal kitchen there. An overwhelmed Trudeau also recorded his thoughts in the visitors' book at the Sikhs' holiest shrine. "What an honour to be so well received at such a beautiful, meaningful place. We are filled with grace and humility," said Trudeau after paying his respects at the temple, which he visited with his wife and children.
In 1914, Canada refused to let most of 376 passengers from Punjab, a majority of them Sikh, on board the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, get off the ship. The vessel, which had sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver, was forced to return to what was then British India. "This year, we mark the 102nd anniversary of Komagata Maru incident. The passengers of the ship, like the millions of immigrants to Canada since, were seeking refuge and better life for their families. With so much to contribute to their new home, which was Canada, and we failed them utterly," said Trudeau a month before the apology.
Why Amritsar is more important than New Delhi for Canadian Prime Ministers
NEW DELHI: Amritsar is more important than New Delhi for Canada's politicians, and since 2003, every Canadian Prime Minister, bar one, has paid obeisance at the Sikh holy city when on a state visit to India.
Why?
Consider this: By percentage of population, the number of Sikhs in Canada is almost the same as that of Sikhs in India. There are some 5 lakh Sikhs in Canada. They comprise 1.5 percent of Canada's population. And in India, Sikhs make up 1.72 per cent of the country's total population. It's no wonder then that Justin Trudeau today became the latest in a long line of Canadian Prime Ministers to visit Amritsar and the Sikhs' holiest shrine, the Golden Temple. As it is, the Canadian PM has more Sikhs in his cabinet than Prime Minister Narendra Modi has.
In fact, Canada has "the world's most Sikh cabinet", as the Washington Post described it in a November 2015 article. What's more, a Sikh - Jagmeet Singh, of the left-leaning New Democratic Party - is also one of the prominent opposition leaders in Canada. The prosperous Sikh community in Canada is a prominent vote bank and fundraising source for Canadian politicians. That's also why Trudeau apologised in the Canadian parliament two years ago for the Komagata Maru episode.
In 1914, Canada refused to let most of 376 passengers from Punjab, a majority of them Sikh, on board the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, get off the ship. The vessel, which had sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver, was forced to return to what was then British India. "This year, we mark the 102nd anniversary of Komagata Maru incident. The passengers of the ship, like the millions of immigrants to Canada since, were seeking refuge and better life for their families. With so much to contribute to their new home, which was Canada, and we failed them utterly," said Trudeau a month before the apology.
EDITED
AMRITSAR: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was on his maiden visit to India with his family, arrived at Amritsar's Golden Temple last week. He also met Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, at a hotel in Amritsar. The much-awaited meeting went very smoothly, with Singh stating that Trudeau had assured him that his country did not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere.
During the 40-minute meeting between the two leaders, Singh handed over a list of nine 'Category A' Canada-based operatives allegedly involved in hate crimes in Punjab by financing and supplying weapons for terrorist activities and radicalising youth and children in the state. The meeting, which was also attended by Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan, and Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saw Amarinder raise the issue of Indo-Canadians believed to be involved in targeted killings in Punjab and urge Trudeau to take stern action against such elements. Prior to the meeting, Sidhu had expressed confidence saying the one-to-one would not only strengthen ties between them, but would also help transform them.
Dressed in traditional Indian clothes, with their heads covered, the Trudeaus earlier, bowed before the holy book of the Sikhs, and tried to make chappatis at the 'langar' in the Golden Temple as they spent over an hour at the shrine. Wearing an off-white embroidered kurta-pyjama, with his head covered with a 'kesari', Trudeau entered the complex with wife Sophia, who wore a light turquoise kurta and white palazzo, and their children. They first went to the Langar Hall, where they did sewa, and kneaded flour and roll chapatis.
They also did parikrama before entering the sun-soaked and glittering all-gold sanctum sanctorum. They bowed before the Guru Granth Sahib, and were given Siropa- traditional robe of honour, by the head priest inside the shrine. Trudeau also visited the Partition Museum.
