Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opted for a sharp escalation of the tensions between Canada and India that have been rising for months on Monday. In a bombshell statement in the Canadian parliament, Trudeau accused the Asian superpower of possible involvement in the assassination of a local Sikh leader on Canadian soil. The sensational allegation brings his government into direct conflict with that of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who accuses Canada of not taking tough enough action against Sikhs who advocate an independent homeland.
According to Trudeau, Canadian security services have information that India is behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in the western province of British Columbia. He was shot dead on June 18 by two masked men at a Sikh temple in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. The 45-year-old Nijjar is part of a separatist movement for the formation of an autonomous state for Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab. He was considered a terrorist by India.
“In recent weeks, Canadian security services have been actively investigating credible allegations of a possible link between agents of the Indian government and the murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau revealed Monday in the House of Commons in Ottawa. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
India’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday dismissed Trudeau’s accusation as “absurd.” “Similar allegations have been made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and have been completely rejected,” the ministry said.
Discussed at the G-20
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, in connection with the issue, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said after Trudeau’s statement. Rai is the head of Canadian operations for India’s foreign intelligence service. Neither Joly nor Trudeau provided further details about the intelligence on which the accusation is based. Trudeau said he discussed the issue “in no uncertain terms” with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi last week. He called on India to work with Canada to “get to the bottom of this issue.”
India has previously denied involvement in Nijjar’s killing. Members of the Sikh community in Canada pointed an accusing finger at India immediately after his death. With approximately 770,000 people who identify as Sikh, Canada has the largest population of the ethnic-religious minority group outside of Punjab. Some of them seek an independent state, Khalistan – a separatism fiercely opposed by India. The movement, which reached a violent peak in the 1980s when thousands of people were killed, has been banned in India. But within diaspora communities in Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, some remain committed to it.
Nijjar fought for an independent state for the Sikhs in Canada, including by planning a non-binding referendum among the community in Surrey on the question of whether Punjab should secede from India. India accused him of involvement in a bomb attack in Punjab; he denied that.
Khalistan
The Modi government has criticized Canada for tolerating “anti-India activities by extremist elements in Canada,” concerns that Modi also raised with Trudeau at the G20 summit. Trudeau has previously assured India that Canada does not support an independent Khalistan, but does support the right of Sikhs in Canada to freedom of expression and demonstrations within the law.
Trudeau’s explosive statement puts further strain on the relationship between Canada and India, which already deteriorated after Nijjar’s murder. Earlier this month, Canada suspended talks with India on an impending trade deal. A trade mission scheduled for October has been postponed. After the G20 summit, the inconvenience increased when Trudeau had to stay in India for two days longer due to a technical problem with his plane.
Nijjar was the third prominent Sikh leader to be killed in recent months. In June, Avtar Singh Kanda, alleged leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force group, also died in the British city of Birmingham in circumstances that have not been clarified. And in May, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, whom India considered a terrorist, was shot dead in Lahore, Pakistan.
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Trudeau urged India to “affirm that its position on extrajudicial operations in another country is clearly and unequivocally consistent with international law.” The Canadian Prime Minister discussed the issue by telephone with key allies, including US President Biden, British Prime Minister Sunak and French President Macron.
Support opposition
Trudeau received widespread support in parliament, including from opposition parties. “If true, these allegations constitute an outrageous violation of Canadian sovereignty,” said Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre. “We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as authorities investigate this murder because the truth must come to light.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the social democratic NDP, which supports Trudeau’s minority government in parliament, himself has a Sikh background. “We know that the Indian government’s practice is one of division, violence, persecution and targeting those who are critical of the government,” Singh said. “Now is an important moment to send a clear message as a democratic country.”