{"id":321114,"date":"2023-09-25T16:46:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T11:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=321114"},"modified":"2023-09-25T16:46:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T11:16:58","slug":"india-canada-ties-khalistan-nijjar-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/magazine\/india-canada-ties-khalistan-nijjar-killing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Delhi-Ottawa Rift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kenneth Tiven<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute between Canada and India over the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist, is escalating dramatically based on alleged electronic intelligence linking Indian officials and diplomats to the killing. The Canadian national broadcaster reports there is pressure for the government to release the \u201ccredible allegations\u201d. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations in New York on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on India to cooperate with Canadian authorities to \u201cuncover the truth\u201d behind the killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration\u2019s efforts for a rapprochement between India and the USA on a number of issues is not helped by an acrimonious dispute between Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Sullivan, the top US national security adviser said this is a \u201cmatter of concern for the White House\u201d and that officials were in talks with their Indian counterparts. \u201cThere\u2019s not some special exemption you get for actions like this,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cRegardless of the country, we will stand up and defend our basic principles and we will also consult closely with allies like Canada as they pursue their law enforcement and diplomatic process,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This entire issue blew into the open on Monday when Trudeau told Canada\u2019s parliament that Nijjar\u2019s murder outside his Sikh Gurdwara in British Columbia in June may have been done by Indian government agents. Trudeau must have known things would go downhill as he had briefly raised the issue with Modi at the G20 meeting. \u201cAny involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trudeau\u2019s inherent Canadian politeness barely masks his penchant for direct speech, which has often startled political observers at home and abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s ministry of external affairs \u201ccompletely rejected\u201d Trudeau\u2019s claims which it described as \u201cabsurd” and politically motivated. It accused Canada of providing shelter to \u201cKhalistani terrorists and extremists\u201d who threaten India\u2019s security by seeking an independent Punjab nation. \u201cWe urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,\u201d the Indian ministry said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Nijjar became influential within the Sikh temple a decade ago, it shifted towards a more intense position on the issue of separatism. Today, the yellow flags of a theoretical Khalistan are around the grounds of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple near Vancouver. This is the largest temple in British Columbia which is the centre of the Sikh diaspora in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada is believed to have the largest concentration of Sikhs outside of Punjab, nearly 800,000 people among the 1.4 million people of Indian ethnic or cultural origin there. Sikhs are about 2% of Canada\u2019s population, with Ottawa having designated this past April as Sikh Heritage Month. Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in June in his vehicle by two masked gunmen in the busy car park of the Gurdwara in Surrey, a city about 30 km east of Vancouver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sikh community in Canada has shifted with the second-generation, the children of Sikhs who fled to Canada after violence in India in the 1980s, according to Canadian experts. They add it is not easy to measure how the entire Sikh community in Canada feels on the issue of separatism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diplomatic responses to political statements were quick to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said she has ordered the expulsion of \u201ca senior Indian diplomat\u201d. Joly said allegations that an agent connected to the Indian government was behind the death of Nijjar are \u201ctroubling and completely unacceptable if true.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her office said that diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India\u2019s foreign intelligence agency, in Canada. \u201cMy expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this,\u201d Joly said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours later, India said it had expelled a Canadian diplomat with five days\u2019 notice to leave the country. In a statement early Tuesday, India\u2019s foreign ministry said the Canadian high commissioner, or ambassador, in New Delhi had been summoned and told: \u201cThe decision reflects the government of India\u2019s growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities,\u201d the ministry added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descriptions of Nijjar vary dramatically depending on who is talking. His leadership of the Temple and the community is praised, with his passing lamented since being gunned down by two men who escaped. Nijjar vocally championed activist groups, including the Khalistan movement, which seeks to carve out an independent Sikh homeland in India called Khalistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a prominent Sikh separatist leader, he publicly campaigned for Khalistan\u2014the creation of an independent Sikh homeland in the Punjab region of India. Most of this effort has been outside of India, because in recent years, the Modi government has cracked down on such sentiments and any opposition to its Hindu nationalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has in the past described Nijjar as a terrorist who led a militant separatist group\u2014accusations his supporters say are unfounded. They say he had received threats in the past because of his activism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indian response is simply that \u201csuch unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity,\u201d a ministry statement said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is proving to be a delicate matter for the Biden administration, which has been mending fences with the Indian government as it seeks to strengthen bilateral  relationship across Asia. In June, India\u2019s prime minister received a warm welcome at the White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trudeau\u2019s departure from India after the G20 was delayed because of technical problems with his aircraft. His national security adviser instead went directly to London to brief the British government in person that Canada\u2019s relations with India were about to get a whole lot worse. Concurrently, there were also a flurry of conversations between Trudeau and the leaders of the US, Britain and France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States says it\u2019s asserting support for Canada in the midst of a foreign-affairs crisis that places it in an uncomfortable quandary. A report in The Washington Post said Ottawa had tried and failed for weeks to get its allies to publicly condemn the Nijjar murder. Late Tuesday, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation said the US administration had specifically reached out to dispute the Post story. That same US official then pointed to a statement made Monday night by Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House national security council, which called on the Indian government to co-operate with the Canadian investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on Canada\u2019s west coast, Moninder Singh, a spokesman for the British Columbia Sikhs Gurdwaras Council, told the BBC that the community appreciated \u201cthat at least the prime minister stood up and acknowledged that there is a foreign hand behind this murder\u201d. After Trudeau\u2019s comments, several large posters and tributes to Nijjar were visible at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. The World Sikh Organization in Canada welcomed Trudeau for confirming what it thinks is widely believed in the community. Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities and had been designated as a \u201cterrorist\u201d in July 2020. He had been warned by Canada\u2019s spy agency about threats against him, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which alleged he was \u201cassassinated in a targeted shooting.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, but he has repeatedly said he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate. Canada has its own history of dealing with separatism. In the 1960s, Quebec was the centre of a terrorist movement attempting to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada and establish a French-speaking nation. As a result in 1969, French and English were both declared the official languages of Canada, where previously Canada had one official language: English. In 1974, French became the official language of the province of Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, India\u2019s foreign minister criticized Canada for allowing a parade float depicting the 1984 assassination of then-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the RCMP is leading the murder investigation. \u201cWe\u2019ll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda. Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the more than 800,000 international students in Canada at the end of 2022, more than 320,000 were from India, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data. India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs advised Indian nationals and students, that \u201cin view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors from India rank as Canada\u2019s fourth largest international air travel market, according to the census. In 2021, the 89,500 tourists from India spent $3.4 billion, the most of any group visiting Canada. Canadians visiting India spent $93 million, the most of any group visiting Canada. Canadians visiting India spent $93 million the same year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With more than $13.7 billion in export trade, India was Canada\u2019s 10th largest two-way merchandise trade partner in 2022, while imports to India totalled $5.3 billion, ranking ninth. After the frosty encounters between Narendra Modi during the Group of 20 meeting, trade talks have been paused and a planned trade mission to India has been cancelled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The acrimonious dispute between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the killing of a prominent Khalistani supporter in Canada has turned into an international crisis. Is there a way out of the diplomatic impasse? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2,56744],"tags":[13789,3002,128374,36,128375,77250,74040,4380,128376,128377,15,50189],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25154257\/Lead-India-Canada-diplomatic-crisis-Tiven-min.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}