India has been the target of Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s war. By making serious charges against a fellow democracy without a shred of proof, he has violated all conventions and even the bounds of reasonable behavior. He has attempted to question senior Indian career diplomats and accused them of being criminal masterminds. Additionally, he is quickly burning all connections and initiating changes that might continue beyond his term.
The Khalistanis, an armed insurgency force that aims to violently divide India along sectarian lines, support Trudeau’s wildly unpopular administration. Hoodlums, gangsters, narcotraffickers, extortion racketeers, and terrorists are all part of his government, and he has made Canada a center of organized crime by bringing in large numbers of gangland criminals from India on false pretenses of refuge based on forged documents.
Next year, Trudeau will lose badly in the prime ministerial election. According to recent studies that place his Conservative opponent Pierre Poilievre well ahead of him, only 15% of Canadians think he and his Liberal Party deserve to stay in office.
Trudeau thinks that a sour diplomatic dispute with India might be his escape route. It will divert voters’ attention, drag Poilievre into a “foreign interference” dispute, and compel pro-Khalistani leader Jagmeet Singh to support him.
Since Canada is a geopolitical lightweight and Trudeau is aware of his lack of credibility as a global leader, he has been encouraging his “Five Eyes” allies to band together against India during the past few days. Here is a quick reckoner of the many more aspects of this intense diplomatic disagreement that have already resulted in the withdrawal and expulsion of six diplomats from each side:
When the struggling Canadian prime minister appeared before a foreign influence inquiry commission on Wednesday, he made a startling disclosure. When he claimed on the floor of the Parliament in September that the Indian government was responsible for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, he stated Canada had not given India any concrete evidence.
It is uncommon for governments to accuse other sovereigns of carrying out killings on their territory unless they have unquestionable evidence that can be used as evidence in court. Trudeau relied on what he described as “credible allegations,” and even after a year of the alleged investigation, India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) recently clarified that not a “shred of evidence” has been shared with New Delhi thus far. This is in addition to not giving New Delhi any hard evidence, including forensic, audio, video, or even specific information regarding the alleged connection between Nijjar and “agents of Indian government.”
When questioned how “extensive and solid the evidence was,” Trudeau avoided answering, while saying last September that Canada had “credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil.”
It is noteworthy that Trudeau is attempting to link India to an extrajudicial execution case based solely on “intelligence,” despite the fact that his administration has not shown any proof of India’s involvement.
Trudeau ought to understand that intelligence is neither proof nor the truth. It is possible to manipulate, misread, exaggerate, misinterpret, or manipulate intelligence. Last year, the RCMP, his own law enforcement agency, stated that “intelligence reports don’t always translate into evidence,” which prevented it from conducting a criminal investigation into claims of foreign meddling in the 2021 elections.
According to a report in state-funded CBC, David Morrison, Canada’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, told lawmakers in a committee that “intelligence gathered by CSIS (Canadian intelligence agency) and other national security bodies rarely paints a full or concrete or actionable picture” because “Intelligence is not truth.”
Trudeau’s stance has never been viable. Although he rejects numerous dossiers on Nijjar, a designated terrorist wanted in India on charges of bombing, murder, and sponsoring hitjobs, and he dismisses innumerable inputs from the Indian government regarding Punjabi gangsters who have settled in Canada, the world is expected to take his word for it. White privilege is evident in this.
“What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along – Canada has presented us with no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats,” New Delhi said without further ado. “We find it really strange that now people who we wanted to be deported or action to be taken are being told that, RCMP is blaming the Indian side for the crimes committed by these people in Canada,” the MEA said at a follow-up press conference on Thursday, pointing out that Canada has rejected 26 extradition requests from India over a ten-year period.
Nijjar was one of the terrorists against whom India provided Canada with intelligence, including information on more than a dozen murder cases and other criminal activity in India, and against whom Interpol had issued a red flag warning in 2014. Canada decided to downgrade ties with India because of the designated terrorist and separatist leader, who was wanted under India’s Terrorist Act for involvement in several cases, including the 2009 murder of Indian politician Rulda Singh and the 2007 Punjab movie theater bombing that left six people dead and forty injured.
In addition to using a phony passport to enter Canada, Nijjar had fabricated his age, applied for and been denied asylum several times, married a woman for convenience in order to obtain citizenship, and was the mastermind behind the outlawed terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
According to the Trudeau administration, Nijjar was a plumber who “cared deeply about his community” and a nonviolent supporter of Sikh independence. However, he had ties to a weapons smuggling network and extortion ring, directed hit jobs against Canadian targets, and delivered fiery speeches advocating for violent action against Indian targets.
In addition to other offenses, India charged Nijjar with “operating terrorist training camps in British Columbia for supporters ready to carry out attacks in India” and “operationalizing, networking, training, and financing” KTF members.
It is troubling to observe that despite Canada temporarily placing him on a “no-fly list” and freezing his financial accounts, the Trudeau administration continued to exalt him without ever charging him. To commemorate the first anniversary of his passing, the Canadian Parliament even held a moment of silence.
This isn’t shocking considering that Trudeau has been directly linked to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice and a designated terrorist who has a history of threatening to kill Indian political figures and diplomats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the strict UAPA rule, Pannun has been charged by India’s NIA for threatening passengers on Air India aircraft. Last December, Pannun, who holds dual citizenship with the United States and Canada, threatened to assault the Indian Parliament.
The Canadian state broadcaster provided the platform. Pannun acknowledged on Wednesday that he has communicated often with Trudeau’s office over the previous few years, reportedly discussing “alleged espionage networks run by India on Canadian soil.”
A previous letter he wrote to Trudeau has also come to light, in which he accuses “Indian agents” of killing Nijjar and calls for the dismissal of Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma “for Nijjar’s assassination, which in every sense is an act of state terrorism by India.”
Beyond Khalistani vote-bank politics, a Trudeau-Pannun connection has far-reaching consequences. It is blatantly stupid and complicit for a head of state to maintain regular contact with a terrorist group that publishes “kill lists” against Indian diplomats and leaders, places “bounties” on their heads, and displays posters extolling Talwinder Singh Parmar, the Khalistani terrorist responsible for the 1985 bombing of Air India flight “Kanishka,” which killed 329 people on board.
Trudeau’s government has labeled Indian journalists who regularly cover stories or post on X (previously Twitter) as “potential foreign information manipulation and interference,” despite his inability to curb Chinese and Pakistani meddling in Canadian domestic affairs.
Canada’s claims to be a “rule of law country” are seriously damaged by the censorship and cancellation of Indian voices as pro-government, “Modi-aligned,” or even “Godi media”—a childish slang term that highlights the regime’s blatantly inconsiderate and heartless attitude.
When Canada’s foreign ministry, no less, labels Indian journalists as “Modi-aligned” for pointing out that Nijjar was a terrorist, that Pakistan is launching a Khalistani movement in Canada to counter India’s influence, and that Canada has turned into a haven for criminals of all stripes, it is clear that the regime has gone insane and is paranoid.
One of the little-known aspects of this dispute has been Pakistan’s contribution to the survival and tempo of the Khalistani separatist movement, which uses violence to divide India in order to establish a separate homeland for Sikhs. As journalist Francesca Marino notes, it is important to note that Khalistanis only target India; they never strike Lahore, the former capital of the vast kingdom of Punjab.
Pakistan’s intelligence agency has been actively working behind the scenes to expose the extremist movement that threatens India’s territorial integrity and national security, as well as to counter Indian influence in Canada. Punjab will experience retaliatory unrest in response to Khalistani instability in Canda.
Pakistan’s meddling has been verified by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). According to Vanessa Lloyd, a senior officer in the Canadian secret service, “engagement of Pakistan is consistently in balance with trying to reduce the influence of India.” Pakistan’s support for Khalistani extremism is closely linked to its influence.
It is evident that the so-called Khalistani movement is a manufactured one, supported by Pakistan and encouraged by the United States, which chooses to turn a blind eye in order to contain a growing force.
Interestingly, the Canadian government has been spreading the myth that Indian diplomats are not only spying but also interfering in Canadian domestic affairs and operating a spy network that monitored hostile Khalistani elements and relayed the information to gangster networks. This propaganda is being spread by the country’s law enforcement agency, the RCMP.
Indian diplomats and consular officials stationed in Canada allegedly used their official positions to carry out covert operations, including gathering information for the Government of India, either directly or through their proxies; and other individuals who acted willingly or under duress, according to the RCMP statement issued on Monday.
Evidence also indicates that agents of the Government of India have gathered information from a wide range of organizations both in Canada and outside. Threats and coercion were used to get some of these people and companies to work for the Indian government. Members of the South Asian community are then targeted using the data gathered for the Government of India.
Such propaganda has also been promoted by Canadian media.
This argument is fictitious and self-serving. The most esteemed officials in the world are Indian envoys, who are all career diplomats with impeccable credentials and a distinguished record. They are the result of the Indian Foreign Service, which is part of the Ministry of External Affairs and is responsible for diplomatic, consular, and commercial representation abroad.
In order to serve and safeguard their country, diplomats everywhere—not only in India—would be failing in their job if they did not gather intelligence in the host country where they are stationed and monitor hostile elements.
Also Read: How US is trying to destabilise India by meddling in local politics
It is unimaginably ridiculous to regard the Indian mission’s monitoring of anti-Indian Sikh fanatics as participating in transnational persecution, as former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal says on X (previously Twitter). Every mission monitors those who are antagonistic to the nations they represent in order to deny visas, combat their propaganda locally, and, when practical, forge connections. Observe Canada’s complete hypocrisy. Retired Indian military and security personnel who apply for visas are asked about their service locations, which is private, and are not granted visas if they had served in Kashmir.
Indian ambassadors are slandered by Canadian propaganda for carrying out their duties. It is a self-projection, if nothing else, as the Hindustan Times reports that Canada’s envoys have allegedly been attempting to “radicalize the Sikh community in Punjab by fueling the so-called farmers’ movement as well as orchestrating the human rights narrative with the radical Sikhs against the Modi government.”
Trudeau’s relentless efforts to mobilize the Five Eyes partners—an elite white boys’ club consisting of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom—who exchange intelligence, surveillance data, and other sensitive material as part of a multilateral alliance have been fascinating to watch. Trudeau has been pressuring his allies to come out strong against India, presumably in an attempt to use the alliance network’s influence to pull himself out of the hole.
In a brief communication to India, the United States stated that Canada’s accusations are “serious” and that “we have wanted to see India take them seriously and cooperate with Canada’s investigation.” Almost all of the allies obliged. They have decided to take a different route. In response, the UK states that it has “complete faith in Canada’s judicial system.” It is crucial to respect sovereignty and the rule of law. Britain’s second statement was this one. Evidently, the Trudeau administration was not pleased with the first one, which was of a restricted, pro-forma type.
US President Joe Biden’s statement at the Israeli execution of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel, on Friday ironically demonstrated the Anglosphere club’s imperial attitude and supercilious exceptionalism: “Today… proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.”
US President Joe Biden’s statement at the Israeli execution of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel, on Friday ironically demonstrated the Anglosphere club’s imperial attitude and supercilious exceptionalism: “Today… proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.”
An American-designated terrorist may have nowhere to hide, but how dare India, a third-world, impoverished upstart without even a seat on the UN Security Council, call someone a “terrorist” and then execute him? How daring is India to even try to do this on an Anglosphere club member’s territory?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the US Justice Department indicted former Indian intelligence official Vikash Yadav on Friday for allegedly leading a failed attempt to neutralize Pannun in New York last year.
With US financial support, the Anglosphere maintains its legal dominance, and nations like India—the world’s most populous nation, its largest democracy, and its fifth largest economy—are merely rule-takers with little rights. The unwritten but unassailable geopolitical law of white supremacy is the appropriation of power along racial lines.
