National Desk, 23rd March: On the afternoon of March 22, supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a protest outside the Indian consulate in Toronto following the arrest of its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Despite a snowstorm blanketing the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), around 20 volunteers gathered in front of the consulate, demanding the release of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal while chanting slogans.
One of the protesters, Sudeep Singla, who has been associated with the party in Canada since 2011, expressed deep disappointment, stating, “We knew this (the arrest) is going to happen, but we were still very upset.”
The protest was organized swiftly despite the challenging weather conditions. Although security prevented the demonstrators from entering the mission’s premises, they managed to submit a memorandum to a consulate official.
The Indian consulate has heightened security measures since last summer in response to threats made by pro-Khalistan organizations following the June 18 shooting of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.
Singla highlighted that AAP supporters in Canada were “very agitated,” leading to numerous phone calls and online meetings following the news of Kejriwal’s arrest in Delhi.
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