Remove Khalistan T-shirts, Surrey students told

(CBC) - Fifteen students who showed up at Princess Margaret Secondary School wearing T-shirts promoting an independent Sikh homeland on Friday were asked to remove them as a sign of respect, according to Surrey school officials.

The T-shirts showed a photo of well-known Sikh militant Sant Jarnail Bhindranwale and the name of the Sikh nation, Khalistan, according to Surrey School District communications manager Doug Strachan.

Strachan said there was a range of negative reactions to the clothing.

"I think it's safe to say that even within the Indo-Canadian community Khalistan, and the pursuit of it, is something that is controversial in that community. Whether that is political or the violence related to that, there were some concerns expressed," said Strachan on Monday.

The students did not wear the shirts on Monday and were not disciplined by the school board, even though they could be under school board policy, said Strachan.

Sant Jarnail Bhindranwale was a leader in the Khalistan independence movement in India who was killed by the Indian army while occupying the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1981. The controversial figure is viewed by some in the Sikh community as a martyr and others as a militant extremist.

In Canada, several groups associated with the Khalistan movement are banned as terrorist organizations.