Overview

• Viral footage from June 16 in Canada shows Khalistani activists using Sikh children to desecrate India’s tricolour and kick Prime Minister Modi’s portraits on the eve of the G7 summit.
• Senior Sikh figures including Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Harbhajan Singh and Vikramjit Singh Sahney condemned the use of children as politically manipulative and inconsistent with Sikh teachings.
• Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri dismissed the protesters as “kiraye ke tattu,” or hired agents, and said their foreign funding sources had dried up.
• The incident adds to longstanding diplomatic strain after Canada’s 2023 accusation of Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the subsequent expulsion of diplomats.
• Community voices praised Modi’s Sikh-focused initiatives like the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and justice measures for 1984 riot victims, and urged Canadian authorities to curb anti-India extremism.