Canada MP removed from ruling Liberal Party caucus for calling colleagues ‘Khalistani extremists’
Last week, Ramesh Sangha had attacked Liberal MP Navdeep Bains and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in an interview to a media organisation.
Ramesh Sangha, Member of Parliament from Canada’s Brampton Centre, was on Monday removed from the ruling Liberal Party caucus for allegedly making unsubstantiated accusations against a number of his colleagues, CBC News reported. He is now listed as an Independent MP on the Parliament website.
Mark Holland, chief government whip, said his office was informed last week about Sangha levelling “baseless and dangerous” accusations against fellow MPs. “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,” a statement from Holland said. “Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for many Canadians to experience suspicions because of their background; we all know where this can lead.”
Holland, however, did not mention the comments made by Sangha. He said Sangha was removed from caucus after consulting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
According to Toronto Sun, last week Sangha in an interview to Y Media, attacked Liberal MP Navdeep Bains and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, both of whom are Sikhs. It was later shown by a Punjabi-language website, Baaznews.
In that interview, Sangha suggested that Bains and Sajjan are both Khalistani “extremists”. It is a term coined for those who demand for a separate Sikh homeland. “If you state you’re an extremist, or a Khalistani, and we have seen this in America, are leaders with extremist ideas fit to be ministers,” he asked. “I have my doubts.”
Sitting Liberal MP, @sangharamesh accused @NavdeepSBains of being a terrorist sympathizer few days ago.
— Jas Oberoi | ਜੱਸ ਓਬਰੌਏ (@iJasOberoi) January 25, 2021
It was picked up by @BaazNewsOrg because they have Punjabi speaking staff.
Today, Sangha was fired by PM Trudeau for the unprofessional bigoted comments.
Career finished! pic.twitter.com/1bO2CI6Ast
Bains had resigned from the federal Cabinet last month, citing family reasons. However, Sangha suggested he might have stepped down because of his extremist views.
In 2019 too, the MP had said that his party was “pandering” to Sikh separatists, according to Global News.
Holland said it is unacceptable to spread false information, which can have consequences. “It is utterly unacceptable to do to anybody, to spread false information for the purposes of mischaracterising who they are,” the chief government whip said. “It is a terrible thing to do to any human being. It is an egregious thing to do to a fellow teammate.”
Sangha, a lawyer first elected as a Liberal MP in 2015, has not spoken about the matter yet.
