Binit Patnaik, Lumami
In the aftermath of the success of Indian diplomacy at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi, there came a diplomatic shocker from the Canadian capital. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while speaking in the Parliament made unsubstantiated claims of India’s involvement in the killing of a radical Sikh terrorist on Canadian soil earlier this year.
Canada even expelled a top Indian diplomat from its country. India too booted out a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move. The diplomatic sparring between the two nations is a new low in their relationship over the years.
The issue of Sikh extremism and its security repercussions for both countries date back decades. The single biggest terror attack in Canada’s history that killed all 329 passengers on board the Air India Kanishka flight AI 182 in the year 1985 also had credible links with Khalistani separatist elements.
The Canadian Intelligence had later been accused of committing a “cascading series of errors” in the matter, which could have otherwise been averted. Out of the 320-odd passengers, most of them were Canadian citizens. It is only natural for one to wonder as to why did the Canadian authorities not pursue investigation into the matter with fairness.
Unfortunately, most of those Canadian citizens on board were originally Sikh immigrants and only later became Canadian citizens. The differential treatment meted out to immigrant citizens is not only disturbing but also smacks of racism.
While Trudeau claims to be a champion of democracy and protector of Freedom of Speech, his bigotry is out in the open when he extends protection to terror elements operating from Canada.
Recently, a Congress leader was murdered in broad daylight in India’s state of Punjab and Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, who is also wanted by the National Investigative Agency (NIA), Arsh Dalla had claimed responsibility for the same. Dalla remains a free man as of today, despite repeated warnings from Indian authorities to their Canadian counterparts.
Similarly, many other gangsters of Indian origin too operate with impunity from Canada and carry out occasional mischievous acts through hawala funding of local gangsters here in India.
It is quite absurd as to how and why does Mr. Trudeau show so much urgency off late in the death of a criminal named Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was also on Interpol’s notice.
The G20 humiliation in the hands of PM Narendra Modi could be a reason. Trudeau was not only rejected for a bilateral meet with Modi but also strongly warned about India’s concerns regarding the rise of anti-India activities from within Canada.
The Sikh lobby in Canada’s vote-bank politics may be another plausible reason for Trudeau’s misplaced seriousness and staunch support towards such extremist elements within Canada. While the number of Sikh MPs extending support to Trudeau may be in double digits, it is also worthy of noting that most of them have links with the Khalistani separatist elements.
Trudeau’s weakened show in 2020 elections meant that he was in dire need of such extremist elements to stake claim on Prime Ministership. Trudeau has had to take a blatantly anti-India stance in his foreign policy since then.
Back in 1982, Justin Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau, who was the then Canadian PM had rejected Indian PM Indira Gandhi’s requests to extradite the Babbar Khalsa terrorist Talvinder Parmar to India. The non-cooperation by the Canadian authorities cost 329 innocent lives as Parmar orchestrated the bombing of the ill-fated Air India flight later in 1985. Justin too has followed his father’s footsteps in supporting Sikh radical elements. He is even encouraging baseless referendums disdainful of Indian sovereignty.
The nature of attacks on India’s unity and integrity from Canada may have remained more or less the same but India’s global stature has increased manifold over these years. The fact that Canada’s allies the USA, UK, Australia and others gave it a cold shoulder and declined ganging up against India prior to the G20 summit in New Delhi, shows the tilt in the new world order.
Canada needs to accept the new reality that India has now stopped taking lessons on subjects like democracy, Freedom of Speech and Expression from the self- proclaimed leaders of the free world.
A day after making a reckless statement in the Canadian parliament, Justin Trudeau was seen going into full on damage control mode while saying he never meant to provoke or escalate tensions with India, but it was a tad bit late as his duality had been exposed out cold in the open.
Now that the trade talks between India and Canada have been indefinitely suspended, the recent episode will only worsen the souring relations.
Amid mounting pressure from all corners, Justin Trudeau is certain to have a rocky road ahead with all the answering to do domestically and abroad.
There can be a few doubts about whether the election season has begun in New Delhi, but it has certainly begun in Ottawa.
(Binit Patnaik is a freelance writer dealing with Indian Political System and International Affairs)