Montrealers celebrate India's 70 years of independence
Hundreds turned out to march in Montreal Sunday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of India's independence.
The 15th edition of the parade, which celebrates the country's liberation from colonial rule, took place in the city's Park Ex neighbourhood.
Participants said the parade is an opportunity to bring together people from India's vast and diverse diaspora.
"This is called united Park Ex, united Quebec, united Canada," Jatinder Singh Bhandari told CBC News at the festivities.
Surashri Shinde, who was there too, said living in Canada makes it hard "to be part of the Indian culture, but by participating in the Indian parade, I can be part of the Indo-Canadian community."
She said the 70-year mark since India's independence made her think "of my ancestors and all that they've been through. So hearing all their stories, I like to be a part of it, especially now."
"I like the unity and support from everyone," she said. "The fact that the whole Indian community, and even the Canadian community, comes together to be part of the cultural program."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was at the Pride Parade beforehand, was in attendance.
Free from U.K. rule
The parade celebrates the day, Aug. 15, 1947, India raised its national flag and became a dominion, finally independent of colonial rule from the United Kingdom.
The day coincides with the creation of Pakistan, resulting in unrest and violence over religious divides.
In some ways, Sunday's parade crossed those divides. A number of those who started the Montreal parade 15 years ago are from Pakistan.
Nizam Uddin of the city's South Asian Association is Pakistani and admitted there were some tensions in his community over his presence at the parade.
"They give me a hard time, sometimes, they [say], 'Why you go there?' But to me, we have to fight," he said.
"We don't want to bring back home problems here."
