20th June 2021 – The ongoing farmer protests in and around New Delhi have caused a big rift within the Indian diaspora in Canada. In the recent past, there have been reports of clashes between Hindu and Sikh groups in some parts of the country. The gap between the otherwise friendly communities who share the same cultural legacy has now taken an ugly turn. Some of the school teachers in the Region of Peel have decided to teach about the farmer protests to their teenage students as part of Canadian Curriculum.

A report published in CBC yesterday informed that this has received the irk of the Indian Consulate in Toronto. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/india-farmer-protests-ontario-teachers-1.6071034 According to the report, the Indian Consulate has written a letter in March 2021 to Ontario Office of International Relations and Protocol which is Ontario government’s point of contact for about 100 foreign governments in Ontario. The letter is stern and points that this could poison the relations between India and Canada. 

This news has received positive response from the concerned parents in Peel. They feel that their children should not be the targets of any agenda. It was also informed that Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce is working with the concerned parents and he has met them already. The concerned parents also noted that any non-state actor or group shall not be made part of this discussion. They say that their role is in-significant and the farmer protests in India has nothing to do with Canada or its politics. This is setting up wrong precedent in the society.