OTTAWA: The Liberal Party has removed Brampton Centre MP Ramesh Sangha from its Parliamentary caucus. The chief Government whip, Mark Holland, said in a statement that the action was taken because Sangha was “making baseless and dangerous” accusations against a number of his colleagues.’
“As we have made clear time and time again, we will not tolerate conspiracy theories or dangerous and unfounded rhetoric about Parliamentarians or other Canadians,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for many Canadians to experience suspicions because of their background; we all know where this can lead.”
It is alleged that Ramesh Sangha had made comments about his party colleague and former Minister of Science and Innovation, Navdeep Bains, who resigned from the cabinet last month saying that would not be running in the next election. He cited family reasons and the desire to be with his growing children as the reason for quitting his government post.
Sangha also criticized another cabinet member, hinting that he too was not fit to be a minister
Holland said he had consulted with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before acting on Sangha. In Canada, a party Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party’s Members of Parliament and a government speak often speaks with the authority sanctioned by the Prime Minister.
“The Liberal caucus continues to stand firm against racism and intolerance,” Holland said, adding “It is utterly unacceptable to do to anybody, to spread false information for the purposes of mischaracterizing who they are … It is a terrible thing to do to any human being. It is an egregious thing to do to a fellow teammate.”
Sangha is a former lawyer who was first elected in 2015. He will now sit as an Independent.
In a Punjabi-language television interview last year, Sangha had said that some members of the Liberal government were sympathetic to Sikh separatists who want to carve out a country called Khalistan from the Indian state of Punjab.
Although there is no separatist campaign in India today, it is said that there are several individuals in Canada, the US and the UK who are vocal in their demand for a Sikh nation and falsely accuse the Indian government of committing atrocities against Sikhs
Last year, Punjab’s chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh also alleged that some ministers in Trudeau’s cabinet had pro-Khalistani leanings.
The National Post last year quoted Sangha as saying that “There is no doubt, there cannot be two opinions that the Liberal Party is pandering [to] Khalistan supporters.”. One thing is for sure, when we raise this issue, it will raise an anti-India slogan or demand the division of India on some ground. In that, ultimately our relations, the Canada-India relationship will certainly develop cracks.”
A statement from the Prime Minister’s office said in. 2019: “Canada’s position on a united India is unwavering and we are unanimous as a government on this issue. Canadians have the right to freedom of expression and speech and they have the right to peacefully express their views.”