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Singh has been at the forefront of opposition to the Public Safety Canada terrorism report, which for the first time last December suggested “Sikh (Khalistani) extremism” was a threat. He and other Sikh leaders say there’s no evidence of extremist activity, and that the document unfairly smeared the whole community. As president of a gurdwara — a Sikh temple — in Surrey, B.C., Singh had vowed to bar Liberal politicians from speaking at the city’s Khalsa Day parade Saturday, touted as the largest outside India. The government eventually agreed to remove the report’s references to Sikhs and Khalistanis — those advocating for a Sikh homeland in Punjab state.

Photo by sikhliberationfront.com

In an interview with the National Post, Singh said the SLF’s use of Kalashnikov imagery was not meant as a call to arms, merely as an emblem of resistance. Some national flags, including Mozambique’s, include firearms, he said.

“It’s always been seen as a symbol of rebellion,” he said.

“Anything I’ve ever done in this country, anywhere in the world has always been pushing the idea of diplomacy, resolution,” said Signh. “But at the same time, we see the right of our people to defend themselves when needed in Punjab. It has nothing to do with Canada.”

Not everyone in the Sikh community, though, sees the SLF and its branding as innocuous.

“AK-47s aren’t symbols of peace, they’re devastating weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists,” said Ujjal Dosanjh, a former federal cabinet minister and steadfast opponent of the Khalistani movement. “If … you’re a Khalistani and you want to dismember India, AK-47s aren’t symbols of peace.”