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Oct 30, 2023 5:49 PM - The Canadian Press

Thousands of people voted for Khalistan referendum in Surrey

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Referendum co-organizer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said in a statement Sunday evening that organizers are planning more in Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal in 2024. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

More than 200,000 people turned out to vote in two unofficial referendums at the centre of Canada's ongoing tensions with India, officials said Sunday, after the latest one in the Metro

Vancouver municipality of Surrey wrapped up in the evening.

A second referendum on Khalistan, an independent state in India proposed by some Sikhs was held today at the same Surrey gurdwara where activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June.

Sarbraj Kahlon, news director at Radio Punjab who was at the referendum site, called the latest vote a success after 65,700 people turned out in Surrey Sunday to cast ballots.

He added the result of the non-binding referendum is expected later in the night.

Organizers have said the first one in British Columbia on Sept. 10 was so popular that voting couldn't be completed in one day.

Referendum co-organizer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said in a statement Sunday evening that organizers are planning more in Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal in 2024.

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