Ascertaining Canadian Conservative Ramandeep Brar's presence at farmers' sit-in: MEA

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 8

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said it had noted reports about the presence of Indo-Canadian politician Ramandeep Brar at farmers’ protests at Kundli Border on January 2.

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Government was ascertaining the fact after several journalists asked if Brar had not violated the conditions of the OCI card by going to a political protest.

Brar was backed by Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee President Manjinder Singh Sirsa who said he belongs to a farmer family and “joined us all at Kundli Border to meet farmers’’ as he was in the country. “Calling him an outsider is again the media’s ploy to twist the story,’’ he added.

Brar had handily lost the South Brampton riding in the 2019 elections to Sonia Sidhu of Trudeau’s Labour Party who got nearly half the polled votes

Ironically, Brar is not aligned with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his Punjab-origin party colleagues who have spoken against the tear-gassing of the farmers’ march to Delhi and,  as a result, were told off by the MEA. Sources said Brar is understood to be close to former PM Stephen Harper, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and Alberta premier Jason Kenney, all of whom New Delhi had tried to cultivate.