It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
In numbers: India-Canada trade and education relations
As tensions rise between the two nations over the killing of a Sikh community leader, here is a breakdown of their trade and education ties.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there are credible allegations that India had a role in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia province.
The Indian government dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and asked Canada instead to crack down on anti-India groups operating on its territory.end of list
Since then, tensions between Canada and India have escalated, with the row centring around Sikhs who demand a separate homeland, called Khalistan.
Here is a look at the relations between Canada and India:
Population
Canada’s population is about 37 million, of which nearly 1.4 million people are of Indian ethnic or cultural origin, making up about 3.7 percent of the country’s total population, according to the 2021 census.
More than 770,000 people reported their religion as Sikh, accounting for about 2 percent of Canada’s population.
India is the world’s most populous nation with 1.43 billion people as of April, according to the United Nations. Sikhs make up only 1.7 percent of the country’s population with the majority living in the northern state of Punjab.
(Al Jazeera)
Trade
Canada-India bilateral trade in goods reached nearly $12bn Canadian dollars ($9bn US dollars) in 2022, a substantial 57 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Canadian government.
Major imports from Canada include fertilisers and energy products such as coal, coke and briquettes while India exports consumer goods, garments, engineering products such as auto parts, aircraft equipment and electronic items.
Canada’s top exports to India in 2022 were fossil fuels and related products worth nearly $1bn US, followed by fertilisers worth nearly $748m, and wood pulp and plant fibres worth about $384m, according to Trading Economics/UN Comtrade data.
(Al Jazeera)
Canada is India’s 17th largest foreign investor, pouring in more than $3.6bn since 2000, while Canadian portfolio investors have invested billions of dollars in Indian stock and debt markets.
Industry estimates show the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Canada and India could boost trade by as much as $6.5bn, yielding a gain in gross domestic product of $3.8bn to $5.9bn for Canada by 2035.
Education
Since 2018, India has been the largest source country for international students in Canada.
In 2022, their number rose 47 percent to nearly 320,000, accounting for about 40 percent of overseas students, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, which also helps universities and colleges provide subsidised education to domestic students.
The share of Canada’s Sikh population has more than doubled in 20 years as a large number of Sikhs have migrated from India in search of higher education and jobs.
(Al Jazeera)
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Canada-India tensions: Five Eyes countries walking diplomatic tightrope
Canada has accused the India government of being behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh leader. Meanwhile, Canada's allies are biting their tongues on publicly condemning India for its alleged involvement. Eric Sorensen explains how the U.S., the U.K., and Australia are walking a diplomatic tightrope, how India has a growing influence on the world stage and how Indian media have become more friendly toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
US urges India to cooperate with Canada in Sikh leader’s murder probe
The US has said it supports Canada’s efforts to probe the killing of a Sikh separatist leader on its soil — in which Ottawa alleges India has been involved — and urges New Delhi to cooperate in the investigation.
“We believe a fully transparent comprehensive investigation is the right approach so that we can all know exactly what happened, and of course, we encourage India to cooperate with that,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council (NSC), said while speaking to CNN.
Canada’s allegation, centring on the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in Surrey, was made on Monday, with Ottawa expelling India’s top intelligence agent over the matter.
Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020. He had denied those charges, according to the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, a nonprofit organisation that says it defends the interests of Canadian Sikhs.
Canada said it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of the Sikh separatist leader.
Meanwhile, PM Justin Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”.
He has also demanded that India treat with “utmost seriousness” the bombshell revelation of its probe into the murder.
In response, India expelled on Tuesday a Canadian diplomat with five days’ notice to leave the country.
New Delhi also dismissed the Canadian accusation as “absurd and motivated” and urged it instead to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil.
While speaking to CNN, Kirby termed Canada’s allegation “very serious” and said US President Joe Biden was mindful of the accusation.
Asked whether the US knew what intelligence Canada based its allegation on, Kirby replied: “I am going to be careful about what I say here to preserve the sanctity of this investigation and leave it for Canada to talk about the underpinning information here and what more they are trying to learn.
“We want to respect that process and it’s their investigation.”
To a question about possible repercussions if it was proved that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the killing, he said: “Let’s not get ahead of where we are. There’s an active investigation and we think it needs to be fully transparent and comprehensive.
“We know that Canada will work to that end. Again, we urge India to cooperate with that investigation … Once we have all the facts and we have conclusions that we can draw from that, then you can start to look at recommendations or behaviours you might want to pursue.”
Separately, another NSC spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, denied reports that the US had “rebuffed” Canada over the matter.
She shared a post on X by Washington Post, which said: “President Biden has aggressively wooed India’s Modi as a counterweight to China. That effort is now complicated by Canada’s explosive allegation that Indian officials may have been behind the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.”
Reacting to it, Watson said: “Reports that we rebuffed Canada in any way on this are flatly false. We are coordinating and consulting with Canada closely on this issue. This is a serious matter and we support Canada’s ongoing law enforcement efforts. We are also engaging the Indian government.”
Previously, the US and Australia had expressed “deep concern” over Canada’s accusations, while Britain said it was in close touch with its Canadian partners about the “serious allegations”.
“We have been in close contact with our Canadian colleagues about this. We’re quite concerned about the allegations. We think it’s important there is a full and open investigation and we would urge the Indian Government to cooperate with that investigation,” a senior State Department official had said.
He said US authorities were in close contact with their Canadian counterparts about allegations the Indian government was involved in the murder and urged India to cooperate with the investigation.
In Canberra, a spokesperson for Australian foreign minister Wong had said Australia was “deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matter”.
“We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India,” said the Australian official.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had said his government backed a Canadian investigation to determine whether India was involved in Nijjar’s killing.
“I think it’s incredibly important that we allow the Canadian authorities to conduct their investigation,” said Cleverly, adding it would be “unhelpful” to speculate on their outcome.
India’s ‘network of extra-territorial killings’
Earlier today, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Canadian accusation showed New Delhi’s “network of extra-territorial killings” had gone global, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
The matter was brought up during a press briefing in Islamabad where the FO spokesperson highlighted that the Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), had been “actively involved in abductions and assassinations in South Asia” the Radio Pakistan report said.
It quoted Baloch as saying that Pakistan had remained a “target of a series of targeted killings and espionage by RAW”.
“In December last year, Pakistan released a comprehensive dossier providing concrete and irrefutable evidence of India’s involvement in the Lahore attack of June 2021. The attack was planned and executed by Indian intelligence,” she said, adding that in 2016, a high-ranking Indian military officer Kulbhushan Jadhav confessed to his involvement in directing, financing and executing terror and sabotage in Pakistan.
She termed “India’s assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil a clear violation of international law and the UN principle of state sovereignty”, according to the report.
“It is also a reckless and irresponsible act that calls into question India’s reliability as a credible international partner and its claims for enhanced global responsibilities,” she added.
Replying to a question about statements by Indian leadership accusing Pakistan of being involved in an operation in Anantnag and supporting fighters there, she said: “Pakistan has said time and again that India has a habit of blaming Pakistan for anything that happens under its watch, especially in IIOJK (Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir). We reject such accusations and concocted stories.”
To a question on Indian threats regarding the issue, Baloch said: “Pakistan has the capacity and the will to defend itself; it has done so in the past and it will continue to do so.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Syrus Qazi said Pakistan was not surprised by the Canadian accusation and the world must recognise the ways of the country it considered “a supposedly indispensable ally”.
Qazi’s remarks came during a press briefing at the United Nations Mission in New York, where he is accompanying interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to attend the 78th UN General Assembly session.
Foreign Secretary Syrus Qazi addresses a press briefing at the United Nations Mission in New York on Tuesday. — DawnNewsTV
“We are aware of the nature of our eastern neighbour, we know what they are capable of … so it is not a surprise for us.
“We caught [one of their] serving naval intelligence officers on our soil. He is in our custody and admitted that he came here to create instability and spread evil,” he said when asked for a comment on the allegation levelled against India.
“There must be some truth to the Canadian premier’s allegation, that’s why they levelled it,” he said, adding that the situation was developing, “but going by our experience, we are not surprised”.
Answering a follow-up question, the foreign secretary maintained that most of the time, Indian involvement was found in instability in Pakistan. “Kulbhushan Jadhav] is a living example of it, and the world needs to know,” he added.
In response to a question about conflicts with India, Qazi refused that Pakistan’s responses had been defensive.
“If there is any country that understands India correctly, that’s us. And we are the only country in many respects that is not afraid of India,” he further stated, highlighting that Pakistan had been resolutely protecting its freedom against a rival country 60 times bigger in size.
“We have been doing this for the past 70 years … and will do it again when the need arises.”
Again referring to the India-Canada row, he added, “This is no surprise for us, but the world must realise what are the ways of the country they have made their supposedly indispensable ally.” India, Canada update travel advisory
Today, India warned its citizens against visiting parts of Canada, the latest salvo in a diplomatic row over allegations that New Delhi was involved in Nijjar’s killing.
Without explicitly referring to the row, India’s foreign ministry said it was concerned for the safety of its citizens in Canada because of “politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence”.
“Threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda,” a ministry statement said.
“Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents.”
The advisory did not name specific cities or locations for Indians to avoid.
Earlier, Canada also updated its advisory for travel to India, with Indian media reporting that Ottawa had warned its citizens against visiting occupied Kashmir due to a militancy threat.
A statement on the Canadian government’s website, updated on Monday, said: “Avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping. This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh.” India’s opposition dismisses Canada’s suspicions
India’s main opposition Congress party has backed the government’s rejection of Canada’s suspicions that New Delhi’s agents had links to Nijjar’s murder, and urged a stand against threats to the country’s sovereignty.
Congress spokespersons backed what they called India’s “fight against terrorism” and criticised Trudeau.
“Trudeau’s defence of declared terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is absolutely shameful and shows how much the present Canadian regime is in bed with Khalistani sympathisers,” Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a senior Congress lawmaker, posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sikh separatists demand that their homeland “Khalistan”, meaning “the land of the pure”, be created out of Punjab. Its creation was the goal of a bloody Sikh insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s in India’s northern state of Punjab during which tens of thousands were killed.
As the ruling party at the time, Congress led the fight against the separatists and eventually suppressed the campaign, but New Delhi remains wary of any revival.
“Our country’s interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times,” Jairam Ramesh, the chief spokesperson of Congress, said in a posting on X.
“The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country’s fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.”
The insurgency also took the lives of key Congress leaders prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, and Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was killed in a bomb blast by Sikh separatists in 1995.
The row over the Sikh leader’s killing is the latest in an escalating row between India and Canada.
There were signs of a brewing crisis before PM Trudeau revealed the probe into Nijjar’s death on Monday.
Modi had expressed “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” during his meeting with Trudeau at the G20.
Canada had also suspended negotiations for a free-trade agreement with India, and last week its trade minister cancelled a trip to the country planned for October. ’Shocked, but not surprised
A representative of the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, Mukhbir Singh, has said his countrymen may have been “shocked” by Trudeau’s assertion “but it was no surprise to the Sikh community”.
“For decades, India has targeted Sikhs in Canada with espionage, disinformation and now murder,” he alleged.
Balraj Singh Nijjar, son of the slain leader, said: “It was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out.”
He added, referring to government authorities: “Hopefully, you can take this a step further and get specific individuals.”
The head of Canada’s New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, an ally of Trudeau, called for the inclusion of India in a probe launched in September of alleged interference in Canadian affairs by other countries, especially China.
“In my experience, as a Sikh Canadian, there have always been suspicions that India was interfering in the democratic rights of Canadians. Yesterday’s announcement confirms that these suspicions are valid,” Singh said.
A SPAT between Canada and India over the murder of a pro-freedom Sikh activist in a Vancouver suburb has turned ugly, with both states expelling diplomats and exchanging accusatory rhetoric.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and prominent advocate for Khalistan, was killed outside a gurdwara he headed in June.
In a startling disclosure, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s parliament the authorities were “pursuing credible allegations” that Indian “agents” were linked to the murder. In a related move, Ottawa expelled a diplomat described as India’s top intelligence agent in the country.
Meanwhile, New Delhi on Tuesday asked a Canadian diplomat to leave the country apparently due to involvement in “anti-India activities”, while an Indian foreign ministry spokesman described Mr Trudeau’s claims as “absurd”.
Bilateral ties had steadily been declining over the Khalistan issue, as Canada hosts a large Sikh diaspora, and many Canadian Sikhs support the movement for a separate homeland. Due to these facts, Mr Trudeau had received a somewhat frosty reception during the G20 moot in New Delhi earlier this month, compared to the warm welcome other foreign leaders received. With public allegations, things have come to a head.
Assassinations by states on foreign soil of elements they consider undesirable is part and parcel of international espionage. But perhaps Israel takes the cake where subterfuge is concerned.
Tel Aviv’s agents have for decades been taking out targets across the globe. Most of the victims have been Palestinian militants and activists, while lately members of Hezbollah and those linked to Iran’s nuclear programme and security institutions have topped the list.
Considering the cosy relationship between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, perhaps the Indians have taken a page out of Mossad’s handbook in organising the hit on an individual they considered a ‘terrorist’. Other states, too, indulge in such activities.
However, despite India’s posturing, this issue is unlikely to fizzle out, as the Canadian PM would not have made such a major announcement without strong proof.
Along with assuring a large ethno-religious community that their safety matters, Canada will also pursue this murder to protect its reputation as a state where the rule of law is respected, as Mr Trudeau noted.
States may indulge in such underhanded behaviour, but the blowback can be embarrassing if things go awry, as the Indian government is discovering.
Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2023
CBC As It Happens·Q&A
Trudeau went public with India allegations because it was going to come out in the media: minister
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Harjit Sajjan says Trudeau wanted to ensure Canadians had 'accurate information'
Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of emergency preparedness, says his government went public with allegations linking India to a murder on Canadian soil to ensure Canadians had 'accurate information' about the case. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Justin Trudeau stood in Parliament on Monday and announced: "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
The Sikh leader was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18. India has vehemently denied involvement in his death and called Canada's allegations "absurd."
Nijjar was a supporter of a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state. India branded him a terrorist and accused him of leading a militant separatist group. His supporters deny this.
Minister Harjit Sajjan, the Liberal MP for Vancouver South, says the investigation into Nijjar's death is still ongoing, but Trudeau wanted to ensure Canadians had "the accurate information" about the story before it made headlines. Here is part of Sajjan's conversation with As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
What evidence is there to support the allegations the prime minister is making?
First and foremost, there is a police investigation currently undergoing and they're independent to conduct their investigation. It would be very inappropriate for me to discuss anything about that.
Why not wait until after the RCMP has finished its investigation? Why did the prime minister come out with what he said before that?
It was important for the prime minister to make the statement that he did because some information was going to ... come out within the media.
The safety of Canadians is very important and making sure that they have the accurate information. And that's one of the reasons why the prime minister went out with this statement.
You can't share the evidence with us. But how specific [have] the prime minister and other officials ... been able to be with the Indian government? Because you've heard what they've said. They've called this all "absurd" and are rejecting it outright.
Our government officials at various agencies have spoken with their Indian counterparts on this, and the prime minister has also raised this.
And I also just want to clarify one thing based on your question. When it comes to the evidence, it's the police that hold the evidence. And they, alone, decide the next actions on this.
Do you worry, though, that the prime minister coming out with this before that investigation is finished … has hampered any potential attempts to get the kind of co-operation you need from India in this?
I can assure you that the decision for the prime minister to go out … was done with the full consultation of the appropriate agencies involved.
And, again, we would prefer not to have to come out, but because if there were stories that were going to be coming out, it's important for the prime minister to make it very clear what is taking place based on, you know, the amount of information that could be provided.
Making sure to give calm to Canadians is an absolute priority for us. And this is one of the reasons why the prime minister went out, is to give confidence and calm to Canadians — and just in case somebody is trying to use certain information to divide Canadians, which we have seen many times in the past.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, pictured in 2019, centre right, was fatally shot outside a Sikh temple in June. The federal government says Canadian authorities have credible evidence that 'agents of the government of India' were involved in the killing. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
What do you say, though, to Canadians who worry that things aren't calm and that they may not be able to be protected by police? Because, as you well know, Hardeep Singh Nijjarwas warned by CSIS. The community in British Columbia, the Sikh community, people at the heart of this story, have said they have repeatedly told your government that something like this could and would happen. So why wasn't more done to protect him?
First of all, these types of operational questions will have to be answered by the RCMP. But one thing I can tell you [is] when it comes to the work that is done, there's a lot of work that happens also behind the scenes. Some can be talked about, but most of it can't. And I can say with absolute surety that when there is credible information, a threat to someone, our intelligence agencies and our police agencies do act swiftly on this.
And right now, because there is an ongoing investigation, we can't talk about the details of the case, obviously.
WATCH | Members of Sikh community react to Trudeau's announcement:
Shock, anger as Trudeau links India to killing of Surrey Sikh leader
1 day ago
Duration10:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says India may be responsible for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh community leader in Surrey. Some of his supporters in Surrey say they hope justice will be served.
[Gurpreet Singh], an independent journalist who had interviewed Mr. Nijjar, told us last night on the program that {Mr. Nijjar] had been given a bullet-proof vest. He was allowed to use that. So were there not enough credible claims to protect him further?
I'm not going to get into details of what took place and what did not take place. But I can assure you and Canadians, when there is credible information by our intelligence agencies, they work very closely with the police agencies to make sure that the individual has the important information.
Former B.C. premier and former federal Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh was speaking to our colleagues at CBC News. And while he doesn't condone, he said, what has happened here and this killing, he said that your government has become, as he put it, a friend of the Khalistanis, not of India.
So do you feel Canada is doing enough to draw a line between allowing freedom of expression in this country, but also making sure that it is not fuelling further conflict?
With absolute due respect to the former colleague, I absolutely disagree with his assertion on this.
I'll be honest with you. My face turns blue [from] how many times we have said this. I don't know what else, sometimes, what we can do. The prime minister, myself, many other ministers, we've been very clear on our approach with this.
We absolutely will fight for the right for any Canadian to express their viewpoint peacefully. Anybody who crosses the line is absolutely unacceptable.
We do not advocate for the break up of any other country, and especially India, and I've been very public about this in the past.
I feel for all the Canadians who have constantly been questioned on their loyalty and who they are, and in some cases just because they bring up a certain viewpoint that they might have, and they do it in a peaceful manner, and they get labelled in a certain way.
We, as a very strong democracy, want to protect our independence, our police, our judicial system and freedom of the press and also the freedom to express their viewpoints peacefully.
With files from CBC News. Interview produced by Morgan Passi. Q&A edited for length and clarity
Justin Trudeau Accuses India of a Killing on Canadian Soil
The Canadian leader said agents of India had assassinated a Sikh community leader in British Columbia in June. India called the accusation “absurd.”
India Accused of Killing Sikh Leader in Canada
Justin Trudeau said it was “unacceptable,” and the Canadian foreign minister said Ottawa had expelled a top Indian diplomat. Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter. We’ve been clear we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference. As of today, and as a consequence, we’ve expelled a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
By Ian Austen and Vjosa Isai Ian Austen reported from Ottawa, and Vjosa Isai from Toronto.
NEW YORK TIMES Sept. 18, 2023
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Monday that “agents of the government of India” had carried out the assassination of a Sikh community leader in British Columbia in June, an explosive allegation that is likely to further sour relations between the two nations.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Trudeau said that he had raised India’s involvement in the shooting of the Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Group of 20 summit meeting earlier this month “in no uncertain terms.” He said the allegation was based on intelligence gathered by the Canadian government.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Trudeau told lawmakers. He said Canada would pressure India to cooperate with the investigation into the killing of Mr. Nijjar, who advocated Sikh separatism.
India’s foreign ministry rejected the Canadian allegations on Tuesday morning as “absurd” and politically motivated, saying that Canada had long provided shelter to “Khalistani terrorists and extremists” who threaten India’s security. Khalistan is what Sikh separatists call the independent state they seek to create.
The ministry said that Mr. Modi had “completely rejected” the allegations when Mr. Trudeau presented them to him. “We urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,” the ministry said in a statement.
It later said that it had moved to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India.
The allegation that India’s government was involved in a political killing in Canada is likely to further corrode relations between the two countries. Earlier this month, Canada suspended negotiations on a trade deal with India that were scheduled to have been concluded this year — because of the assassination allegations, it now appears. During the G20, Mr. Modi excluded Mr. Trudeau from the list of leaders with whom he held formal bilateral meetings.
Mr. Trudeau said many Canadians of Indian origin — they make up about 4 percent of the population — had been angered by the killing and in some cases feared for their personal safety. There are about 1.4 million Canadians of Indian heritage, many of whom are Sikhs; they include Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, which is keeping Mr. Trudeau’s minority government in power. Singh is a common surname and middle name in Punjab.
Mr. Nijjar, 45, was shot near a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. At a news conference in June, investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said he had been ambushed by masked men, but would not say whether the attack appeared politically motivated.
Mr. Nijjar was known for his advocacy of the creation of an independent Sikh nation, Khalistan, that would include parts of India’s Punjab state, and India had declared him a wanted terrorist.
Citing the police investigation, neither Ms. Joly nor Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of public safety, offered any details about Indian involvement in the killing. But Mr. LeBlanc said that Jody Thomas, Mr. Trudeau’s national security adviser, as well as the head of Canada’s intelligence service, had traveled over the past few weeks “to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with these allegations.”
It was unclear from the two minister’s remarks how forthcoming the Indian government has been or what cooperation, if any, it has offered.
Ms. Joly said she planned to discuss India’s actions during meetings with Canada’s allies after she travels to New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly.
The announcement came on the same day that a judge opened a public inquiry into interference by foreign governments. It was prompted by allegations that China is meddling in Canadian politics, but Mr. LeBlanc said that reviewing India’s actions are within the inquiry’s mandate. “Obviously these allegations are at a much more serious level,” he said.
Mr. Nijjar was vocal about the threats to his life, which were shared with Canada’s spy agency, the World Sikh Organization of Canada, a nonprofit, said in a statement.
“If these allegations are true, they represent an outrageous affront to Canada’s sovereignty,” said Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party. “Our citizens must be safe from extrajudicial killings of all kinds, most of all from foreign governments.”
Mr. Singh, the New Democratic Party leader, broke with protocol to address the House of Commons in Punjabi as well English and said he had spoken with Mr. Nijjar’s son. “I could hear the pain of that loss in his voice,” Mr. Singh said. “I can only imagine how much more painful it is going to be knowing this potential connection.”
Rumors about possible retribution by India against those critical of its government have stoked fear within the Sikh expatriate community and discouraged many from returning to that country, Mr. Singh said. But Canada, he said, had been seen as “a beacon of safety.”
“That safety and security that so many Canadians feel has now been rocked,” he said.
Sikhs are a relatively small religious group, with about 25 million adherents worldwide, most of them in India.
A violent Sikh insurgency that took shape in India in the 1980s killed a number of government officials. The government responded with widespread human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings, according to human rights groups.
In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the military to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in Sikhism, which had been fortified by heavily armed Sikh militants. The government said hundreds of people were killed in the clash, but others put the death toll in the thousands.
In retaliation, two of the prime minister’s Sikh body guards assassinated her, prompting riots in which thousands of Sikhs were killed.
In 1985 a bomb exploded on an Air India flight from Toronto to London, killing all 329 people on board. It remains Canada’s deadliest terrorist attack and worst mass murder.
After a prolonged investigation and trial, two Sikh separatists from British Columbia were acquitted in 2005 of murder and conspiracy in that explosion as well as a second blast that killed two baggage handlers in Japan. Many witnesses had either died — some were murdered — or apparently been intimidated out of testifying. Wiretaps by Canada’s intelligence agency had been erased before they could be used as evidence and physical evidence was destroyed in the blast.
A third Sikh man was found guilty of manslaughter for his role in making the bombs and, later, of perjury at the murder trial.
About a year ago, Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the men acquitted in 2005, was shot to death. Two men were later arrested, but the killing rattled the Sikh community in British Columbia.
Facebook is Blocking Canadians’ Posts About the Assassination of a BC Sikh Leader. Their Posts Were Targeted by India’s Government.
Canadian Sikh Facebook users receive notifications that their posts are being taken down because they’re in violation of Indian law
by Rumneek Johal, Reporter
PRESS PROGRESS September 18, 2023
Canadian Sikh Facebook users posting about the assassination of a Sikh community leader are seeing posts disappear and accounts suspended in response to legal demands by the Indian government.
Many Facebook posts and pages that have been flagged as being in violation of Indian law involve content relating to the legacy of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader who was assassinated outside of a Surrey gurdwara in June of this year.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that Canadian intelligence was pursuing “credible allegations” that “agents of the Government of India” had assassinated Nijjar in Surrey, BC this summer.
“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
Since Nijjar’s assassination in June, a number of Canadian Sikh Facebook users say their posts about the community leader have been censored or unpublished by Meta following interventions by the Indian government.
BC Sikhs, a Facebook page that represents British Columbia’s Sikh community, currently remains “unpublished” after admins received a notice that the page was removed for failing to follow Meta’s standards on “dangerous individuals and organizations.”
“Your page has been unpublished,” reads a notice sent to BC Sikhs that was reviewed by PressProgress. “This is because BC Sikhs goes against our Community Standards on dangerous individuals and organizations.”
BC Sikhs (Facebook)
Certain posts were also flagged or taken down, requiring the BC Sikhs account to appeal Facebook’s decision.
One Facebook post which was restricted includes a photo of an event promoting a discussion on “the legacy of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”
BC Sikhs was notified that “access to (their) photo has been restricted due to a legal request.”
“Access to your photo has been restricted within India because Facebook has been notified by the authorities under an emergency order pursuant to Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” the notice states.
“If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate authorities for further information.”
BC Sikhs (Facebook)
The Information Technology Act in India allows the government to block content “in the interests of the defence, sovereignty, integrity, or security of India or its relations with foreign states, public order, or the incitement of a cognisable offence relating to these categories.”
Other Sikh Facebook users based in Canada have reported similar experiences.
Sarbraj Singh Kahlon, a Vancouver journalist with Radio Punjab, told PressProgress his Facebook account was restricted after he posted about protests about Nijjar’s assassination at the Indian Consulate in Vancouver and posts commemorating the anniversary of his death.
Meta did not respond to multiple requests for comment from PressProgress, but did request additional time to look into the matter.
After PressProgress brought the issue to Meta’s attention, BC Sikhs said their appeals were suddenly reversed and their page and posts were restored.
“We found that our review team made a mistake taking your post down,” read an updated notice sent September 17. “Our priority is keeping the community safe and respectful, so sometimes we have to take precautions.”
BC Sikhs (Facebook)
“The BC Sikhs social media pages have been an active community news and events outlet for almost 20 years,” an admin for the BC Sikh’s Facebook page told PressProgress.
“The recent restriction of our content, and unpublishing of our Facebook page, is a result of direct interference by Indian intelligence agencies.”
The group said “decades of India’s interference in Canadian politics has to end here.”
In a statement to PressProgress, the World Sikh Organization also accused India of foreign interference by targeting members of Canada’s Sikh diaspora who are critical of the Indian government.
“The Prime Minister of Canada has publicly said what Sikhs in Canada have known for decades- India actively targets Sikhs in Canada,” World Sikh Organization President Tejinder Singh Sidhu said in a statement.
“India cannot be allowed to disregard the rule of law and the sovereignty of foreign states. The Sikh community will not be intimidated or frightened by the actions of the Government of India.”
The Canadian government announced an inquiry into foreign interference earlier this year, with a preliminary report to be tabled in February.
The inquiry’s terms of reference do not mention India by name, but states that “the commissioner will examine and assess interference by China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors.”
Hardeep Nijjar met CSIS every week before killing that Trudeau links to India: son
Balraj Nijjar says he also attended a meeting between his father and the RCMP last year in which they were told about threats to his father's life
Nono Shen and Brenna Owen
VANCOUVER SUN Published Sep 19, 2023 •
The son of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar says his father was meeting regularly with Canadian intelligence officers in the months before he was shot dead in British Columbia, in a killing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says has been credibly linked to India. Police officers attend the scene of a shooting outside of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib temple, in Surrey, B.C., Monday, June 19, 2023.
PHOTO BY JENNIFER GAUTHIER /The Canadian Press
The son of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar says his father met regularly with Canadian intelligence officers in the months before he was shot dead in B.C. last June, a killing that’s been credibly linked to India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday.
Balraj Singh Nijjar, 21, said his father had been meeting with Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers “once or twice a week,” including one or two days before the June 18 murder, with another meeting scheduled for two days after his death.
The meetings had started in February and had increased in frequency in the following three or four months, he said in an interview on Tuesday.
He said he also attended a meeting between his father and the RCMP last year in which they were told about threats to Nijjar’s life.
His father was advised to “stay at home,” he said.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement that advocates for a separate Sikh homeland inIndia’s Punjab region — was gunned down by two masked men in the parking lot of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where he was president.
Trudeau told Parliament that intelligence services were investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing.
India’s government has denied the accusation as “absurd and motivated.”
Over the years, Balraj Singh Nijjar said his father had received hundreds of threatening messages telling him to stop his advocacy for Sikh independence.
“If you don’t stop talking about Khalistan, we’ll kill you. We know where you live. We know you go to this gurdwara,” he said of the messages.
He said they would always report the threats to the police, but neither he nor his father wanted to hide, and they felt protected under Canadian law.
“We weren’t worried about safety because we weren’t doing anything wrong. We were just using freedom of speech,” he said.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S.-based spokesman for the group Sikhs for Justice and a close associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said Nijjar had asked Canadian authorities whether he should wear a bulletproof vest in the weeks before he was gunned down.
The New York-based lawyer said Nijjar asked about the vest in April or May, and the agencies responded to the effect that they could not provide one.
Nijjar had also told him a year earlier that Canadian authorities had informed him of a threat to his life, Pannun said in an interview on Tuesday.
He said that call came shortly after the July 2022 shooting death of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who had been acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings.
A 2005 Canadian government report concluded that the bombings that killed 331 people were carried out as a result of a conspiracy by Sikh Khalistani separatists that was “planned and executed” in Canada. Only one man, bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat, was ever convicted.
“He called me and (for the) first time specifically told me that Canadian agencies told him that the next target could be Nijjar,” Pannun said, referring to his conversation with Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
He said the Canadian authorities told Nijjar he shouldn’t go to his gurdwara at his usual times, and he should avoid being seen in public.
Pannun said he wasn’t aware of any precautions Nijjar may have taken to protect his personal security, but he believes his friend chose to go about his daily life despite the warnings because his campaigning in Canada was peaceful.
“Since the Khalistan referendum is a peaceful and a democratic process, and he is in Canada, where freedom of speech and expression is inherently a democratic, fundamental right,” Pannun said.
India takes a very different view and had previously accused both Pannun and Hardeep Nijjar of terrorism and separatism.
Nijjar had been the main co-ordinator in Canada for an unofficial global referendum on Sikh independence in India, Pannun said.
He said there are two versions of Nijjar in the public eye — one concocted by the Indian government accusing him of terrorism, and the true version.
“He was peacefully advocating for (the) Khalistan referendum.”
Outside that work, he said Nijjar helped support community members in need.
A media officer for the RCMP in B.C. said a request to confirm the warnings and advice given to Nijjar had been forwarded to the Mounties’ national headquarters. CSIS did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
(Al Jazeera)
