The already strained bilateral relationship has now entered a state of coma in the course of two Canadian and one Indian news cycles, both of which were replete with explosive allegations and tit-for-tat diplomatic maneuvers. And Justin Trudeau is ultimately responsible. The Canadian prime minister has made the decision to sever all diplomatic ties with India by making outrageous, unfounded accusations, perhaps as a diversionary tactic to rescue his waning political career.
There are two ways to interpret Justin Trudeau’s alarming remarks from Monday in the Canadian Parliament, in which he said that it was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty” that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a “Canadian citizen,” had been killed on Canadian territory.
A leader of the Sikh separatist movement named Nijjar was assassinated on June 18 in the vicinity of Vancouver. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a brief statement in which it declared that India had “completely rejected” the accusations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated,” and asserting that “such unsubstantiated allegations seek to divert attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been given shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The first explanation is that Trudeau is trying to accomplish two goals at once because he received such a beating from the opposition during his train wreck of a trip to India, during which he was reprimanded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cut a lonely, sorry figure, and was forced to stay back due to an aeroplane technical issue. Recover his declining popularity, handle complex local issues by making foreign meddling the bogeyman, and demonise India, an easy target, to further solidify the crucial Khalistani voter base.
The second explanation we must take into account is that Canada may have incriminating information. On the basis of this information, Trudeau stated in the Parliament that Canadian “security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India” and Nijjar’s death. Trudeau stated that the alleged killing “is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves” despite not providing any evidence to support his claim.
One thing needs to be made clear before we look at the options. In either case, Trudeau lacks the moral authority to lecture about “rules”. India has repeatedly asked Canada to extradite Khalistani separatists who are accused of engaging in anti-Indian activities, as well as running drug and terror networks, but Canada has refused. India had Nijjar high on its wanted list.
A crucial component in the Khalistani machine, Nijjar was the subject of a “red corner notice” from Interpol in 2016. He is wanted by the NIA and Punjab Police for his role in over 10 incidents of targeted killings in Punjab, sponsoring secessionist operations, conducting terror camps, and connections to Pakistani agents. He is a declared terrorist in India under the Unlawful operations Prevention Act. In other words, the Trudeau administration shielded him because he was a rotten apple.
Nijjar reached Canada in 1997 and claimed refugee status, having used a false passport to enter the country, according to the Canadian media. Despite the fact that his application for asylum was denied, he married a woman who sponsored his immigration 11 days later. Although he appears to have afterwards been granted citizenship, that was also rejected.
Under the Trudeau administration, Canada has consistently turned a blind eye to Khalistani threats to kill Indian diplomats, attempted arson attacks on Indian diplomatic facilities, and tableaus commemorating the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This is in addition to protecting bad apples like Nijjar rather than turning them over to India.
Let’s get to the meat of the charge now. According to the Hindustan Times, a “senior Canadian diplomat” who worked as the station chief for a Canadian intelligence organisation in India was expelled from New Delhi after Canada dismissed a senior Indian diplomat.
According to Justin Trudeau, his administration is “pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India” and Nijjar’s passing. Observe the words closely. In a subsequent statement made a day later, Trudeau appeared to walk back his outrageous and incendiary claims from Monday, when he made them in the Parliament building through a dramatic declaration meant to stir up controversy. He said, “Canada is not trying to provoke India by suggesting it was linked to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, but wants New Delhi to address the issue properly.”
It might not have been a coincidence when Trudeau was pressed by the opposition to provide supporting documentation after India’s “complete rejection” of him.
The matter becomes even more puzzling when we realise that, according to accounts in Indian media from August, Canadian police “did not consider India to be involved in the act” when looking into the murder of Nijjar in June. How did circumstances shift so drastically?
The New Democratic party of Khalistan supporter Jagmeet Singh supports the minority Justin Trudeau government. It has now come to light that during the G20 summit in New Delhi, India’s national security advisor Ajit Doval “engaged his Australian, UK and Canadian counterparts over the rise of Sikh fundamentalism and violence against Indian assets in their respective countries,” and while other nations were responsive, the “Canadian NSA was unfazed.”
Trudeau’s rash accusations have seriously damaged bilateral relations between the two countries and put the lives of Indian diplomats stationed in Canada and Hindu Canadians at risk all in the name of saving his own skin. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a legal advisor for the outlawed separatist organisation SFJ, reportedly threatened to have non-Sikh Indians leave Canada on Tuesday.
It is incredible to think that the Trudeau administration expelled a senior diplomat from a friendly nation (despite the deterioration in relations that is primarily the product of Trudeau’s political manoeuvres) on the basis of a vague report of “potential links” that has not even been completed. Even if there is some substance to the claim at this point, Trudeau has jeopardised the investigation by making the accusations public in such a spectacular way.
But maybe it was his aim all along. After all, it was the Justin Trudeau administration that prohibited the Modi administration from engaging in outreach with the Khalistani separatists in 2015. The director of the Sikh Human Rights Group was met by Prime Minister Modi in late 2015 through Jasdev Singh Rai, a crucial intermediary between the Indian government and Sikh separatist organisations, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
According to the paper, “Rai’s electronic travel authorization (ETA) was denied by Ottawa in late 2016… as a result, Rai and BJP leader Ram Madhav were unable to proceed with a planned meeting in Toronto with radical Sikh groups.”
Trudeau should think about one alternative before lighting the matchstick and watching the mayhem unfold. He may have succeeded in ensuring Modi a second term in the forthcoming elections.
