Politic?

Interesting Analysis of Violence-Promotion

"It's always been seen as a symbol of rebellion [portrayal of AK-47 in political messaging]."
"Anything I've ever done in this country, anywhere in the world has always been pushing the idea of diplomacy resolution. But at the same time, we see the right of our people to defend themselves when needed in Punjab."
"It has nothing to do with Canada."
"[The SLF -- Sikh Liberation Front] overtly supports the establishment of Khalistan by any means necessary within the spectrum of Gur-sidhant -- the Guru's teaching --."
"The last resort, the picking up of arms, is what we're mandated to do within the Khalsa, once you've gone through the process of trying everything you can."
"We're not talking about doing any of those things in the present day. But we're still being maligned as ... extremists for that."
Moninder Singh, president, Surrey, British Columbia Sikh Gurdwara

"AK-47s aren't symbols of peace, they're devastating weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists."
"If ... you're a Khalistani and you want to dismember India, AK-47s aren't symbols of peace."
Ujjal Dosanjh, former British Columbia Premier, Khalistani opponent

"To those who scream 'peace ... peace', I want to ask, where and how will this peace come?"
"Khalsa jee, peace will come from the bullet leaving the barrel of the gun."
Jugraj Singh Toofan, 1980 Khalistan militant

The Sikh Liberation Front logo. sikhliberationfront.com

When Public Safety Canada issued its latest terrorism report last December it listed "Sikh (Khalistani) extremism" as a potential public threat within Canada. According to Moninder Singh, a co-founder of the Sikh Liberation Front with its logo featuring three images of AK-47 assault rifles and Moninder Singh's own SLF-linked Instagram account which includes quotes from and tributes to militants who fought the government of India in the 18980s and 1990s, this is an outrage.

No evidence exists of extremist activity, he claims. The document smeared the entire Sikh community in Canada. And Mr. Singh and his supporters have taken a vow to bar Liberal politicians, formerly wholeheartedly supported by the Sikh community at large, from speaking at the Surrey Khalsa Day parade, regarded as the largest such parade outside India itself.

That outraged push-back by the politically engaged in the community of Sikhs resulted in the Liberal government agreement that the references to Sikhs and Khalistanis appearing in the report as advocates for a Sikh homeland in Punjab state and doing so with threats and violence, would be removed. It is not as though Canada has not experienced violence from Khalistani extremists in the past. Canadian Sikh terrorists bombed Air India Flight 182 in 1985, a deadly attack that killed 329 passengers and crew.

This, following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India by her Sikh bodyguards after Indian troops had invaded the Golden Temple at Amritsar to remove Sikh terrorists who had taken refuge in the Sikh holy place. Which led Hindus to respond with riots that the ruling Congress party did nothing to stop, an ensuing rampage seeing the slaughter of over 8,000 Sikhs, in 1984. According to Moninder Singh, the Punjab-based militants committing their acts of terror did so in a "completely valid" manner.

On Mr. Singh's Instagram account one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi and a suicide bomber who killed a chief minister of Punjab state along with other 17 people are quoted approvingly. The SLF's use of Kalashnikov imagery represents merely an emblem of resistance, certainly not meant to represent a call to arms. Ujjal Dosanjh, a former federal Liberal Member of Parliament, has seen rap videos posted by Sikh Canadians "waving around AK-47s", vowing to bring about a Khalistani homeland.

On a recent visit to Punjab by Mr. Dosanjh he was met with Indian Sikhs who thought the movement in Canada was a "joke". The SLF logo quotes Sikh scripture meaning "brave is the one who fights for the faith, willing to be cut to pieces but never abandoning the arena". However, neither he nor the SLF support the use of force to promote the establishment of Khalistan, insists Mr. Singh. On his Instagram account with its tribute to one of Gandhi's two assassins, when Satwant Singh was asked what he would do if his gun jammed, he said: "My arms are very long, I will strangle her to death if I must".