Chandigarh -The North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) strongly condemns the reported actions of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) against Indian international students participating in a peaceful demonstration in Calgary, Alberta, and urges External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar to immediately take up the matter with the Canadian authorities.
For nearly ten days, more than 1,000 international students, many of them from Punjab, have been demonstrating against rejected work permits and the looming loss of their legal status in Canada. These students are already facing considerable uncertainty about their education, employment opportunities and future in Canada. Instead of receiving reassurance and a transparent mechanism to address their grievances, they now reportedly face another layer of anxiety because of immigration-status checks at their protest site.
NAPA Executive Director Satnam Singh Chahal said that reports and videos showing CBSA officers arriving at the demonstration and checking participants’ identification, study permits and work authorisations are deeply concerning. “Conducting immigration-status checks at a peaceful demonstration is deeply intimidating and risks discouraging students from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest,” Chahal said.
NAPA believes that immigration enforcement and the legitimate exercise of democratic freedoms must not be unnecessarily conflated. Students who peacefully assemble to raise concerns about work permits, immigration policies and their future should not be made to feel that participation in a demonstration could expose them to immigration scrutiny or retaliation.
Chahal said the issue is particularly sensitive for Punjab because thousands of Punjabi families have made enormous financial sacrifices to send their children to Canada for higher education. “These students are not numbers on an immigration file. They are young Indians who have invested their families’ savings, their education and their future in a legitimate pathway,” he said.
NAPA is therefore urging External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to immediately raise the matter with the Canadian Government and seek a clear explanation regarding the CBSA’s presence and status checks at the Calgary demonstration. The Indian diplomatic mission and consular officials should also remain in direct contact with the affected students and closely monitor the situation.
Chahal further urged Canadian authorities to ensure that peaceful participation in a lawful demonstration does not become a reason for intimidation, discriminatory treatment or adverse immigration consequences. “The students may have immigration problems that need administrative solutions, but their peaceful protest should not become an additional source of fear,” he said.
NAPA also called for a transparent and fair mechanism to address the grievances of students whose work permits have been rejected or whose legal status is at risk. The concerns of these students deserve to be heard through dialogue rather than through measures that could create an atmosphere of fear.
“We strongly urge the Government of India to stand with Indian students abroad whenever their legitimate rights and dignity are at stake. Canada and India have deep people-to-people ties, and the welfare of Indian students must remain an important part of that relationship,” Chahal said.
NAPA will continue to monitor developments and urges both the Indian and Canadian authorities to resolve the matter through dialogue, transparency and respect for the rights and dignity of the students involved.