“I’m officially launching my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada.”

This was Jagmeet Singh’s first tweet after being elected as the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) – the third biggest political force of the country. Singh became the first-ever visible minority member to lead a major national party in Canada. Born to Punjabi Sikh parents in Scarborough, Ontario, this kid went on to become a successful lawyer, a martial artist, a budding politician and now a potential, future PM. Normally, even a humbler achievement of a person of Indian-origin invokes thunderous applause and victory sagas back home in India, but this one did not.

Singh does not have many friends in Delhi. He has always been a staunch anti-Congress voice due to the party’s role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and has been the strongest force in Canada with respect to getting these riots termed as ‘genocide’. He has also maintained the stance that these riots were an attempt by the government to eliminate the Sikh community from India. He was, thus, denied a visa to India by the UPA government back in 2013.

It is worth noting that Singh does not restrict himself to speaking up for Sikh justice alone. His approach of standing in solidarity with those side-lined and the minorities, in general, has won him many followers in Canada. For this very reason, along with the Congress, he has also been a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – due to the Sangh Parivar’s active role in numerous anti-Muslim riots.

He strongly believes that minority voices in India are stifled and critics of the government are victimised. The hyper-nationalist BJP government of India doesn’t see him as a natural ally either. This was apparent during Singh’s campaign, as there were numerous reports of Indian High Commission in Ottawa meddling with his affairs and trying to influence people against him. Singh claimed that many of his donors backed out at the last moment alleging pressure from the Indian government. Few of the Hindu organisations in Canada actually campaigned openly against Singh and asked people to avoid voting for him.

This was all at the Central government level. And in spite of being a Sikh, Singh isn’t popular with any of the political parties in Punjab either. This became apparent after one of his recent interviews, in which he categorically said that he considers self-determination to be a ‘basic right’. He added that such a demand can be made in Quebec, Catalonia or Punjab.

However, Punjabi politicians from Captain Amarinder Singh, chief minister of Punjab to the Akali Dal spokesperson to AAP head Bhagwant Mann pounced on him in one voice, rejecting his thought process. It is worth noting that Jagmeet has been raised in Canada, a country where freedom of speech, expression and self-determination is engraved as tenets.

He isn’t labelled as an anti-national by the nationalist Canadians when he says so for Quebec – a province in Canada. In any of his speeches or interviews, he has NEVER supported or called for an armed rebellion against the Indian state. He has never said that terrorism in Punjab was justified. All he has ever asked for is giving the people the right to choose.

Indian political discourse has miles to go before it can even think of matching what Canada achieved on October 1, 2017. Jagmeet Singh’s election is not just his win, it’s a win for democracy, tolerance and humanity, it’s a win for Canada.