As the controversy around Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s bizarre claims pertaining to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and India’s befitting response has sparked debates, a vicious narrative is being pushed that the menace of Khalistani extremism started to strain India-Canada relations from 2015 onwards while the Narendra Modi-led government held the reins of power at the center and BJP-Akali Dal alliance in Punjab.
Former Ambassador KC Singh during an IndiaToday show hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai on September 19th said that since 2015 the BJP ally Akali Dal is responsible for creating the feeling that Sikhs are being persecuted. Singh further asserted that it was Union government representatives who called the participants of the Farmer’s protest “Khalistanis”. Singh blamed the Indian government, claiming that following Operation Blue Star, the Khalistan menace had settled and it only resurfaced following the 2015 desecration incident. The former diplomat insinuated that it is pointless on the part of the Indian government to blame Canada’s Trudeau government for its step against India.
As reported earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi was making desperate attempts to garner support from the country’s western allies for its baseless anti-India allegations. Trudeau’s attempts to corner the Modi government fell flat as the Indian government did not give any opportunity to the Canadian PM to push his vicious narratives against India during the G20 summit in New Delhi. PM Modi did not hold any bilateral talks with the Canadian PM, rather the two leaders had a pull-aside meeting wherein PM Modi expressed strong concern over Khalistani extremism in Canada.
Interestingly, while the narrative is being pushed claiming the upsurge of Khalistan elements in Canada and the Indian government’s perusal of the issue with Canada is a ‘recent, Modi regime’ phenomenon, history suggests otherwise. Back in 2010, the then Prime Minister Dr. Mammohan Singh had warned his Canadian counterpart Stephan Harper over the rising support among Canadian Sikhs for Khalistani elements active in Punjab.
PM Singh met PM Harper on the sidelines of the G20 summit and expressed India’s objection with regard to Canada allowing the Khalistani ‘movement’ to thrive.
Two years later, the Indian government once again warned Canada’s ruling dispensation led by the Conservative Party of Canada which now sits in the opposition against the issue of Khalistani extremism in Canada. The then Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Preneet Kaur had told PM Harper during his six-day visit to India that the “revival of anti-India rhetoric in Canada” has become a major concern for India.
A CBC News report suggests that Minister Kaur’s comments came after several Khalistani flags and seals at parades and temples were seen in British Columbia back then. While the then-Canadian Prime Minister said that Canada supports a united India, he downplayed the Khalistani terrorism movement by calling it “marginal”.
Canada’s negligence towards the rise of the Khalistan movement there and its lethargic attitude towards India’s warnings and concerns over the anti-India activities on Canadian soil have persisted over the years no matter which party was at the helm of power there.
Pokharan nuclear test, Kanishka bombing and Canada’s surging hostility towards India
On May 18, 1974, India achieved a historic feat as it conducted a successful nuclear bomb test in Rajasthan’s Pokharan. However, Pierre Trudeau, the then Prime Minister of Canada and father of present Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused India of misusing the Canada-made CANDU reactors for its nuclear bomb.
Since then, Pierre Trudeau turned hostile towards India. This coincided with the rise of Khalistani extremism in Canada with the influx of Khalistani elements into the country seeking refuge. Pierre Trudeau had refused the extradition request of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar in 1982. In that year, the Indian government under then-PM Indira Gandhi had sought the extradition of Parmar, who was accused of killing police officers. However, the Pierre Trudeau-led government declined the request citing a bizarre reason that India, although a member of the Commonwealth did not recognise the British queen as its Head of State.
Notably, Babbar Khalsa, the Khalistani terrorist group, was led by Talwinder Parmar. In 1985, the group attacked an Air India plane named Kanishka in mid-air off the coast of Ireland while it was flying from Montreal to London. In total, 329 persons were killed in the incident, with 268 of them being Canadian nationals.
The horrendous bombing transpired after the Pierre Trudeau government shielded Talwinder Parmar by rejecting India’s request to extradite the Khalistani terrorist. Ironically, Parmar was never convicted. The Khalistani terrorist was killed by Punjab Police in 1992 in an encounter.
Parmar was allowed to thrive in Canada and carry out his planning and execution of the bombing under the nose of Canadian intelligence and law enforcement officials. Police officials were aware that he was planning an attack. However the RCMP and CSIS ignored the intel.
In 2010, Justice John Major-led commission of inquiry gave a report in which Canadian police and spy agencies were blamed for grave negligence and hampering the investigation. In the report, Justice Major said that the authorities should have known that the Indian aircraft was a terrorist’s target. He called the failure of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canada’s spy agency, Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS) to prevent the bombing “inexcusable”.
Former EAM SM Krishna had raised the issue, stated that despite intelligence, Canada failed to prevent the Kanishka attack
Canada’s failure in preventing the Kanishka Bombing by the Khalistani terrorists is evident from the response by the then Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna to MP Sobhana Bhartia back in 2010 wherein the minister disclosed that the Canadian intelligence agencies had crucial information pertaining to the possibility of a bomb attack on an Air India flight. Minister Krishna added that the Canadian government agencies “failed to appreciate the nature and seriousness of the threat of Sikh extremism.”
The Canadian Commission of Enquiry’s investigation of the bombing of Air India-182 found that Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) surveillance was “ineffective”. The minister stated citing the Enquiry Commission findings that despite knowing about the risk of sabotage, Transport Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Protective Policing exhibited a lack of flexibility by continuing to rely on anti-hijacking security measures that did not address the threat of bombing. In terms of airport security, there was a lack of coordination and communication within the RCMP as well as between the RCMP, Transport Canada, and airlines.
In April 2010, Liberal Party leader and MP, Ujjal Dosanjh also warned against the rising “Sikh extremism” in the country saying that “it is getting worse”.
“It’s more entrenched, it’s more sophisticated and sometimes it’s double-faced,” Dosanjh said back then. He added that second and third-generation youths are being poisoned. Dosanjh said that the “militancy” emerging among the Khalistan elements is worse than what it was a generation ago at the time of the Air India flight bombing.
Canada continues to shield Khalistanis
Over the years governments changed in Canada, from Conservative Party to the ruling Liberal Party, the governments there have failed to crush the Khalistani elements in the country despite repeated warnings from the Indian governments. With time and resources, sometimes active patronage from the political leaders, the Khalistanis have turned into a significant vote bank for the Liberal Party. PM Trudeau has been hell-bent on defending the Khalistani terrorists, and their anti-India activities including the pointless referendums, attacking and defacing of Hindu temples as well as forming an alliance with political parties like the New Democratic Party (NDP) which has been openly backing Khalistani terrorists and their ‘demands’.
Under Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Indo-Canadian ties have been strained owing the Trudeau’s deliberate incompetence in acting against Khalistani terrorists targetting Hindu temples, carrying out anti-India activities and even openly threatening Indian diplomats. PM Trudeau’s standard response in this regard has been that his government supports “freedom of expression” and the right to protest even if it comes at the cost of ruining relations with India.
The Freedom of Expression excuse is another massive irony because Trudeau’s own government had ruthlessly clamped down on Canadian truckers protesting against stringent Covid mandates.
In his pursuit to please his pro-Khalistan vote-bank, Trudeau has chosen to alienate and antagonize a major global economy and trade partner, all in the name of ‘supporting’ a wanted criminal and terrorist who was repeatedly denied citizenship by the Canadian authorities.
