More than 55,000 Canadian Sikhs voted in the Calgary Khalistan Referendum at the Municipal Plaza voting centre — dedicated to nine pro-Khalistan Canadian Sikhs who were assassinated by the Indian army in armed conflict.
The first vote was cast by the family of Shaheed Dilawar Singh Babbar Jai, the human bomb who assassinated the then-Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in August 1995.
Thousands of Sikhs queued from 4 am till 6 am at Calgary’s iconic Municipal to take part in the Khalistan Referendum voting for the creation of an independent state of Khalistan for the Sikh nation.
The nine Canadian national Sikhs assassinated by India for their political beliefs are: Shaheed Lakhbir Singh Rode, Shaheed Bhupinder Singh Kooner, Shaheed Harjinder Singh Para, Shaheed Talwinder Singh Parmar, Shaheed Surinder Singh Shinder Commando, Shaheed Balbir Singh Khaira, Shaheed Jathedar Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Shaheed Mohinder Singh Kooner and Shaheed Surinder Singh Ravi.
Sikhs who gathered outside the city hall carried flags of Khalistan and decorated the road outside with large posters of Sikhs who embraced martyrdom for the Sikh causes — and are revered by Sikhs across the world.
The banners carried pictures of Sikh heroes and paid tribute to them.
Throughout the day, Calgary’s town hall echoed with slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad”, “Punjab banay ga Khalistan”, “Delhi banal ga Khalistan,” “Rajasthan banay ga Khalistan”, “Modi, stop terrorism against Sikhs”, “India is a terrorist state”.
The Sikhs said they will adhere to the principle set by their Gurus and will always look up the examples set by Sikhs freedom fighters, including Nijjar.
Veteran Khalistani leaders and President of the Council of Khalistan Dr Bakhshish Singh Sandhu said the turnout had amazed everyone.
All the phases of voting in the Khalistan Referendum are being held under the guidance and supervision of a panel of non-aligned direct democracy experts from the PRC.
The whole voting process from registration to supervision of ballot boxes and sealing of the ballots at the end of voting day is conducted by Commission’s approved third party staff to maintain the highest level of transparency.
The PRC is conducting the voting on the question of “Should Indian Governed Punjab Be An Independent Country?” with two options of “Yes” and “No”.
The Khalistan Referendum voting started on October 31, 2021, from London, United Kingdom and has so far been held in several cities across the country.
