As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Canada for the G7 summit, an unsettling scene greeted international media: young children brandished “Khalistan" flags and even defaced a Hindu temple in Surrey with secessionist graffiti. These images of toddlers taught to chant separatist slogans sparked outrage in India and around the world.

Spokesman Sudeep Singh of the revered Patna Sahib Gurdwara, the birthplace of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji warned that “the way children were used in the protests is highly condemnable". Similarly, Sikh seminary leader Sarchand Singh Khyala condemned the videos as “spreading hatred by brainwashing children". Dressed-up flags and violent symbols at public parades horrify many Sikhs abroad who see these stunts as political theatre, not Sikhism.

Mainstream Sikh leaders make the same point: Khalistanis in Canada are a tiny fringe, not the Sikh community. In late realisation of sorts, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has emphasised, “Many supporters of Khalistan in Canada… do not represent the Sikh community as a whole."

Leading Sikh voices echo this. Jasdip Singh Jassee of Sikhs of America reminds Americans that “the vast majority of Sikhs globally, including in the US and Canada, do not support separatist agendas". In India, religious seats like Takht Patna Sahib and Damdami Taksal have publicly denounced the protests.

Their message is unequivocal: the Khalistan protesters are not Sikh martyrs. Patna Sahib’s spokesman notes that all of Sikhism’s pending issues are being resolved in India, so “there should not be such protests" against PM Modi, “no Sikh can tolerate this".

In fact, these Khalistani stunts run directly counter to Sikh teachings. Sikhism emphasises service and harmony, not hate or violence. Provincial Sikh leaders emphasise, “Sikhs have protected mandirs (Hindu temples)", as their sacred Dharmic duty. Yet last April in Surrey, vandals scrawled “Khalistan" on the pillars of Shree Lakshmi........

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