It has come to light that two of the three persons accused of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar entered Canada on student visas. Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar arrived in Canada from India’s Punjab on student visas in 2019. Brar started studying at Calgary’s Bow Valley College on 30th April 2020. He moved to Edmonton on 4th May 2020.
A spokesperson for the college verified that Karan Brar had enrolled in the Hospital Unit Clerk programme in 2020. The program lasted eight months, however, Karan Brar continued to stay in Canada even after his studies had ended. This raises serious questions over why the Canadian authorities allowed Brar, who arrived on a student visa, to stay in Canada even though was not studying anything for years.
In a 2019 video, Karan Brar said that he applied for a student visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services in Bathinda, Punjab, and received it within days. The average Canada student visa processing period is 7 to 9 weeks. The video was shared to the Facebook page of EthicWorks Immigration Services, however, it has now been deleted.
#BreakingNews #Exclusive #HardeepSinghNijjar #KaranBrar
— Sameer Kaushal 🇨🇦❤🇮🇳 (@itssamonline) May 4, 2024
Old Video of Karan Brar while endorsing a immigration company in 2019.#RCMP #IHIT #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/ZakDmf70jf
Student visa business that the Canadian economy thrives on and the incompetence of Canadian agencies
As of December 2023, Canada had over a million international student visa holders. According to the Canadian government, international education contributes $22 billion to the Canadian economy, supporting over 200,000 jobs. Recently, Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma pointed out that Canada at present has around 427,000 Indian students who inject close to $18 billion into the Canadian economy. Speaking at the recent Council on Foreign Relations Montreal (CORIM) conference, Verma also talked about how the shady visa agents and education “outlets” are duping Indian students and said that “Brand Canada got a bad name in education.”
"Brand Canada got a bad name in education.." over Indian students being duped by "unethical outlets", Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma; Points,'Brand Canada needs to reinstate its position..'
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 8, 2024
Vdo ctsy: CPAC pic.twitter.com/8DdZEO6zYH
Besides providing substandard education in exchange for high tuition fees, Indian students also fall victim to fraudsters. Last year, one such agent was arrested in Jalandhar who gave fake offer letters to his victims. Over 700 Indian students faced deportation threats in Canada last year after the fraud agent was arrested. It was shocking that the Canadian agencies, including Canadian Border Security Agency, allowed many of these students to study and complete their degree on the very same ‘fake offer letters’.
It is alarming that Canadian agencies like Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and CBSA have in many instances failed to determine whether International students carried fake or forged documents and approved their studies.
Nijjar failed to get Canadian citizenship twice, yet lived and died in Canada
It is, however, not shocking that people like Karan Brar arrived in Canada on a student visa and stayed there for years even after their study had been completed. Notably, Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was allegedly shot dead by the three arrested accused, including Karan Brar, had submitted forged documents and performed a marriage of convenience to obtain Canadian citizenship. The Khalistan Tiger Force chief Nijjar was shot dead in Surrey by two unidentified assailants on 18th June 2023.
Interestingly, Nijjar arrived in Canada in 1997 with a false identity. He arrived at Pearson Airport in 1997 using a fraudulent passport in the name of “Ravi Sharma”. In his first attempt, Nijjar submitted an affidavit to the immigration officials in June 1998 that his life was in grave danger in India. The officials, however, found that the affidavit was fabricated. The officials categorically said they did not believe Nijjar was ever arrested and tortured by the police.
As this plan didn’t work out, Nijjar took a “plan B” path to get Canadian citizenship, and just eleven days after immigration officials refused his claims, he married a woman from British Columbia who sponsored him to immigrate as her spouse. It was reportedly found that Nijjar’s supposed wife was sponsored by a different husband in 1997. Despite his best efforts, the authorities back then rejected Nijjar’s application. Later, Nijjar challenged the decision in court in 2001 and lost. Even though Nijjar’s applications to gain Canadian citizenship were rejected, he claimed to be a Canadian citizen.
Trudeau government’s blame game against India to divert public attention from its own mistakes
Months after Nijjar’s killing, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, notorious for mollycoddling Khalistani terrorists and allowing their anti-India activities on Canadian soil unchecked for his political gains, accused the Indian government of assassinating Nijjar. Trudeau tried to scapegoat India for his own government’s incompetence. The Canadian PM had the audacity to blame the Modi government in India for his own policy of importing terrorists, slacking on law and order to offer student visas, and failing to monitor if international students overstayed in the country even as their studies had been completed.
Trudeau’s government has openly supported Khalistani terrorists, protecting and enabling them to continue their anti-India activities. This explicit backing for Khalistani terrorists has been a huge thorn in the India-Canada relationship, driving bilateral relations to rock bottom.
Canadian authorities have even allowed Khalistani terrorists to intimidate and harass Indian diplomats in Canada. Several terrorists and wanted criminals from India have been staying in Canada and carrying out their criminal activities with active backing and sanctuary from the Trudeau government.
The Trudeau government launched a tirade against the Indian government over Nijjar’s killing even though it had no credible evidence beyond rhetoric. The Trudeau government was quick to blame India, however, it should answer as to why it allowed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020 to live and gave him space to become politically strong in Canada.
The Indian government has also time and again warned the Canadian government to refrain from granting visas to people of criminal background, however, the warnings fell on deaf ears. Following the arrest of Kamalpreet, Karan Brar and Karanpreet Singh in the Nijjar assassination case, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that Canada has been issuing visas to people with links to organised crime despite warnings from New Delhi. He added some people in Canada, with ‘pro-Pakistan leanings’, have organised themselves politically and taken the shape of an influential political lobby.
Interestingly, the Khalistan sympathisers in Canada have been fostered and protected by the Trudeau government even when they engage in anti-India and anti-Hindu activities including attacks and vandalism of Hindu temples by Khalistanis. In the name of freedom of speech and the right to protest, Justin Trudeau has genuflected before the Khalistani separatist terrorists. Be it allowing anti-India protests wherein the Indian tricolour is insulted, hateful and provocative sloganeering is done to allowing Khalistani terror groups to conducting farcical ‘referendums’ challenging India’s sovereignty, the Liberal Party has given a free pass to the Khalistanis to thrive on Canadian soil even at the cost of ruining diplomatic ties with India.
While Hardeep Singh Nijjar employed illegal methods to gain Canadian citizenship and it is to this day not clear if he was even a legitimate citizen of Canada, Justin Trudeau, while attacking India last year, had called him a “Canadian citizen” and even expelled an Indian diplomat triggering India to give a befitting response. PM Trudeau’s admiration for Khalistani terrorists is widely known. In fact, Trudeau has Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party (NDP) as its alliance partner. Singh is known for his pro-Khalistan and anti-India views. The NDP leader has also been vehemently accusing the Indian government of Nijjar’s killing, even though the Canadian police have not given any evidence regarding India’s link to the murder.
It may be out of political compulsion to appease Khalistani terrorists and a requisite coverup, that the Trudeau government decided to blame India for Nijjar’s assassination. However, people obtaining student visas, staying in the country even when their education was completed, or submitting forged documents and still managing to get clearance from the Canadian authorities and end up indulging in criminal activities as in case of Nijjar’s murder is Canada’s own problem. The Canadian government cannot blame India for its own failures.
Instead of blaming the Indian government to deflect attention from its own failures, the Liberal Party-led government should focus on fixing its own mistakes. As warned by EAM S Jaishankar, Canada should refrain from giving visas to people with criminal linked to organised crime besides ensuring that the Canadian security agencies do not let student visa holders overstay in the country.
