As a result of Canada’s allegation that India may have participated in the murder of a Sikh activist on its land, a rising diplomatic crisis has resulted in the expulsion of top diplomats from both Ottawa and New Delhi, further deteriorating relations between the two nations.
The diplomatic expulsions followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declaration that Canada was looking into “credible allegations” connecting India to the June murder of renowned Sikh leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Over the past few weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential connection between agents of the government of India & the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said in parliament on Monday. He also vowed that his administration would take all necessary measures “to hold perpetrators of this murder to account.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly identified the expatriate Indian ambassador as the chief of the Indian spy service in the nation and said that Canada had expelled him.
She assured reporters in Ottawa that although “today we’re acting by removing a key diplomat, we are going to get to the bottom of this,” and that Trudeau has spoken up about the matter with both US President Joe Biden & British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
In retaliation, India’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that a senior Canadian diplomat based there had been dismissed.
In a statement, it stated that the relevant diplomat had been instructed to depart India within the following five days. The government of India’s rising concern over Canadian diplomats’ meddling in our internal affairs and their participation in anti-Indian activities is reflected in the decision.
Nijjar was a well-known Sikh leader in western Canada when, according to the local police, two masked gunmen shot and killed him in his truck in June in front of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.
His passing stunned and infuriated the Sikh community in Canada, one of the biggest outside of India & home to more than 770,000 followers of the religious minority.
Following Trudeau’s remarks, the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee (OGC) and British Columbia Gurdwaras Council (BCGC) called on the Canadian government to “immediately suspend all intelligence, investigative, and prosecutorial cooperation with India.”
In a joint statement, the groups emphasized that “Canada’s comprehensive response must reflect the gravity of India’s role in the premeditated murder of a Sikh dissident living in Canada.”
Balraj Singh Nijjar, Nijjar’s son, spoke with journalists on Tuesday from the parking area where his father was killed. The 21-year-old praised Trudeau and other elected officials from Canada.
According to Canadian network CBC, the younger Nijjar claimed that it was only a matter of time until the truth would be revealed. We felt relieved that the news was finally reaching the public when we heard it today, he said.
According to an announcement from the World Sikh Organization, Hardeep Singh Nijjar frequently led nonviolent protests against what the advocacy group called the “violation of human rights proactively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.” He was a vocal advocate for the establishment of a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan.
A number of organizations connected to the Khalistan movement are categorized as “terrorist organizations” under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which makes the movement illegal and declares it a threat to national security.
The Home Ministry’s list of UAPA terrorists included Nijjar’s name.
In 2020, the Indian National Investigation Agency alleged him of “trying to radicalize Sikh community throughout the world in favor of the creation of ‘Khalistan,'” adding that he had been “trying to incite Sikhs to vote for secession, agitate contrary to the Government of India, and carry out violent activities.”
On Tuesday, India declared that it disagreed with Trudeau’s claims and referred to them as “absurd and motivated.”
According to a statement made by the nation’s foreign ministry, “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.”
Such speculative claims aim to divert attention away from Khalistani terrorists and radicals who have received protection in Canada and are still a threat to India’s territorial integrity. It has long been a source of worry that the Canadian government is doing nothing about this.
According to Adrienne Watson, spokesman for the National Security Council, the White House is “deeply concerned” about the accusations.
“We continue to communicate often with our Canadian partners. It is crucial that Canada’s probe continues and the offenders are prosecuted, she added.
No one has been detained by Canadian authorities in relation to Nijjar’s slaying. However, in an update in August, police said they were looking into three individuals and provided a description of a potential getaway car while pleading with the public for assistance.
The claims have “deeply concerned” Australia as well, according to a representative for Penny Wong, the foreign minister of that nation.
We work closely with our partners on new advancements. We have expressed our concerns to India at senior levels, according to a statement provided to CNN.
“We recognize that some Australian communities will find these stories to be especially troubling. All Australians can freely and safely voice their opinions in our dynamic and resilient multicultural culture thanks in large part to the Indian diaspora.
Damaged relationships
Relations between the two nations are likely to worsen as a result of Canada’s accusations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian administration.
According to local media, an ongoing trade agreement between them has been put on hold because of “certain issues which are of serious concern.” India’s commerce and trade minister said this.
One of the sources of contention has long been the question of activity within Canada’s sizable Sikh diaspora.
The Indian leader “conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-Indian activities of extremist elements in Canada,” according to a statement from the Indian government, during their side meeting while Modi was hosting the Group of 20 (G20) leaders in New Delhi earlier this month. Modi did not meet privately with Trudeau.
The two presidents’ relationships have been tense for a while.
Many interpreted Trudeau’s itinerary during his 2018 visit to India, which featured few official engagements, as a “snub” from New Delhi.
Analysts at the time identified a particular cause of dispute as Trudeau’s alleged support for Sikh protestors.
The Canadian politician had previously been spotted at a Sikh gathering in Toronto in 2017, where separatist flags and banners of an extreme Sikh leader who had been murdered in an Indian Army operation in 1984 were on display.
The Indian government issued the following statement in response to Trudeau’s claims on Tuesday: “That Canadian politicians have openly expressed sympathies for such elements remained a matter of deep concern.”
It was noted in the statement that “the space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking, and organized crime, is not new.” We implore the Canadian government to take swift and forceful legal action against all anti-Indian groups operating on its territory.
Assistance to Khalistan abroad
Guru Nanak established the Sikh religion in Punjab in the 15th century, and it now has around 25 million adherents worldwide. Less than 2% of India’s 1.4 billion population are Sikhs, but they make up the majority in Punjab, a northern state that historically had a sizable and robust Sikh empire.
Around the time India gained independence from Britain in 1947, some Sikhs called for the creation of a nation in the state of Punjab specifically for adherents of their faith. This is when the modern Khalistan movement first gained traction.
Punjab, which was split in half, experienced some of the greatest violence as the former colony was swiftly partitioned along religious lines, sending Muslims to the newly founded nation of Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs to the newly independent India.
According to academics, this was also the time when Sikhs started to fight more vigorously for their political and cultural independence, and the Khalistan movement rose to prominence.
Many people have died in violent fights that have broken out between movement supporters and the Indian government throughout the years.
It culminated in 1984 when then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave the order for Indian soldiers to invade the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in Sikhism, to kill Sikh separatists. Following that operation, Gandhi was slain by her Sikh bodyguards, which infuriated the Sikh community greatly.
In the days that followed her passing, deadly violence broke out, killing over 3,000 people, predominantly Sikh.
An Air India flight that had departed from Toronto airport was attacked by Sikh separatists a year later, killing all 329 passengers, including many Canadians of Indian heritage.
While there are still a small number of Khalistan supporters in India, the movement continues to elicit sympathy from certain Sikhs living abroad, particularly in Canada, Britain, and Australia.
The idea of Khalistan is supported by a tiny but vocal minority of Sikhs, with periodic referendums staged to find a consensus to create a separate homeland.