Act against depiction of Indira Gandhi’s assassination at parade: India urges Canada

New Delhi: Minister of State for Ministry of External Affair Meenakashi Lekhi came down heavily on Canada for not acting against the depiction of the assassination of former PM India Gandhi in a parade in Brampton.

A day after the reports of the parade, Meenakashi Lekhi on Thursday said that an offence cannot be celebrated, adding that any assassination is a crime in any democratic governance, according to NDTV.

Meenakashi Lekhi reminded Canadian authorities that the government must act as the incident falls under the ‘purview of law and order’.

‘Any assassination or murder is a crime in any democratic governance. So, something which is an offence cannot be celebrated and thus all that is happening in Canada falls within the purview of law and order and the government must act upon it,’ news agency ANI quoted the minister as saying.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also expressed concern pointing out that the underlying larger issue is the ‘space’ given to the separatist and adding it ‘is not good for relationships’.

‘I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence. I think it is not good for relationships, not good for Canada,’ Jaishankar reportedy said.

Meanwhile, condemning the incident, High Commissioner for Canada in India Cameron MacKay said he was ‘appalled’ by the reports of depiction of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

‘There is no place in Canada for hate or for the glorification of violence. I categorically condemn these activities,’ he reportedly tweeted.

Indira Gandhi, the only woman Prime Minister of India in two separate spells in office, was shot dead by her bodyguards on October 31, 1984.