Trudeau denies provoking India
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied accusations that his government is provoking India after he told the Canadian parliament that New Delhi may have been responsible for the murder of Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Canada’s police have this afternoon called their investigation into Nijjar’s murder a “top priority”, while the Canadian PM has urged the Indian government to “take this matter with the utmost seriousness.” He added: “We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate.”
The spat between the two countries escalated after Canada expelled an important Indian official last night. India retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.
On Monday, Trudeau told parliament in Ottawa: “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected the claims as “absurd” and politically motivated. “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
In a strong-worded statement, the ministry said: “Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.”
Nijjar, 45, was shot outside a Sikh temple in a Vancouver suburb on 18 June. In 2020, India designated him a terrorist and last year offered a cash reward for any information leading to his arrest. Not only was Nijjar a prominent supporter of an autonomous Sikh state in northern India, but New Delhi alleged that he was involved in an attack on a Hindu priest in India.
Strained Indo-Canadian relations are not new.
India has for some time accused Canada of harbouring Sikh separatists who support the creation of an autonomous state – called Khalistan – in the Punjab region in the north of the country near the Pakistani border. This is the birthplace of the Sikh religion.
Canada has the largest Sikh population outside of the Punjab. According to the 2021 Canadian census, Sikhs account for 2.1 per cent of the population – a figure that has doubled in the last 20 years.
In 1985, Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant and Khalistani separatist group planted a bomb on an Air India flight from Montreal to London, killing all 329 passengers. In the 1980s and 1990s, India suppressed the violent Khalistani separatist movement with bloodshed on both sides.
Due to Canada’s freedom of speech laws – recent changes to which have been plagued by controversy – many Khalistani protests have been allowed to take place in Canadian cities, much to the chagrin of the majority Hindu Indian government. Specifically, back in June New Delhi vehemently condemned the Canadian authorities for allowing a float at a Sikh separatist parade that depicted the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards in 1984.
Tensions have escalated again this month. Canada unexpectedly halted bilateral trade talks which both parties were committed to completing this autumn. What’s more, less than two weeks ago on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, Modi put serious pressure on Trudeau for his relaxed approach to “anti-Indian” activities in Canada.
Pierre Poilievre, conservative leader of Canada’s main opposition, has since urged Trudeau to be more transparent: “The prime minister needs to come clean with all the facts. We need to know all the evidence possible so that Canadians can make judgements on that.”
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life