Canada’s emergency preparedness minister is defending an official request he made to use Canadian soldiers as a backdrop for a concert by Punjabi pop star Diljit Dosanjh, one of India’s biggest actors and singers.
As first reported in The Globe and Mail, Harjit Sajjan received a letter mid-April asking if Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members would participate in Dosanjh’s show in Vancouver on April 27.
According to a statement from Sajjan’s office, the minister then forwarded the request “along with his endorsement” to Minister of National Defence Bill Blair, who passed the request onto the CAF.
“Minister Sajjan agreed the concert would be a good opportunity for the Canadian Armed Forces to engage with and expand connect to a diverse community of young Canadians, along the lines of the CAF outreach and recruiting events at professional sporting events,” Sajjan’s press secretary Joanna Kanga told CBC News in an email.
The statement said Sajjan paid for tickets to the show for his family with his own money and joined them at the Vancouver event.
Kanga told CBC News that Sajjan endorsed the request — which ended up being denied — because Dosanjh “is the biggest Punjabi artist in the world” and the artist’s tour was “a major cultural event and a moment of pride for Canadians of Punjabi descent.”
“As the MP for Vancouver South, and minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, Minister Sajjan will continue to support historical achievements with great economic and cultural benefits for Vancouver,” Kanga said.
Request ‘would not be feasible’
The Department of National Defence told CBC News in a statement that it considered Sajjan’s request but “determined that meeting this request would not be feasible due to the tight timeline and personnel availability.”
“It is crucial that participation in such events does not impact domestic or international operations, and our operational readiness must be sustained at all times,” the statement said.
The department said that as part of the CAF’s public relations activities, it participates in activities like the Calgary Stampede, multicultural festivals and sporting events across the country to boost recruitment and reach out to the public.
This is the second time in as many months that Sajjan has found himself at the centre of media attention.
Last month, The Globe and Mail, citing unnamed sources, reported that Sajjan had “instructed Canadian special forces to rescue about 225 Afghan Sikhs” — members of a religious minority in Afghanistan — who were “not considered an operational priority for the Canadian military as they had no link to Canada” during the fall of Kabul.
Sajjan said he did relay information to the armed forces provided to him by a Canadian Sikh group — a non-governmental organization that was encouraging Canada to rescue Afghan Sikhs and resettle them in this country — but “did not order” Canadian Special Operations Forces to rescue Sikhs in Kabul.
Canada, India tensions over Punjab
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stopped by the Rogers Centre in Toronto earlier this month to shake hands with Dosanjh and wish him luck before his show.
Trudeau later posted on X that that “Canada is a great country — one where a guy from Punjab can make history and sell out stadiums.”
According to multiple media reports, that post earned the prime minister a rebuke from Sardar R.P. Singh, a national spokesperson for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who accused Trudeau of “deliberate mischief through wordplay.”
Singh took issue with Trudeau describing Dosanjh as “a guy from Punjab” rather than from India.
Stopped by the Rogers Centre to wish <a href=”https://twitter.com/diljitdosanjh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@diljitdosanjh</a> good luck before his show.<br> <br>Canada is a great country — one where a guy from Punjab can make history and sell out stadiums. Diversity isn’t just our strength. It’s a super power. <a href=”https://t.co/EYhS0LEFFl”>pic.twitter.com/EYhS0LEFFl</a>
—@JustinTrudeau
In India, the Punjab region is central to the Khalistan independence movement, which campaigns for an independent Sikh homeland in the northern part of the country.
The issue of Khalistan independence has been at the centre of a diplomatic dispute between Canada and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Last year, Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a prominent Sikh-Canadian activist, president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. and a key proponent of the Khalistani movement — was shot dead in the parking lot of the gurdwara on June 18, 2023.
Trudeau has said repeatedly there is credible information pointing to the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjar’s death.
“Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau told the House of Commons in September.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
India denies those connections and has accused Canada of giving free rein to the more extremist elements of the Khalistan movement for years.
“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” India’s ministry of external affairs said in a statement after Trudeau made his allegations.