Ratnesh Dwivedi, Academic and Foreign Correspondent
Pakistan is pass é, Canada is India's new enemy No.1.
-Times of India
Recently, the Canadian government accused Indian agents of involvement in the assassination of Nijjar in June. However, these absurd accusationsappear to be driven by motives of Canadian domestic political interests. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, over the years, the Indian government has provided a large volume of information about criminal cases to Canadian and submitted numerous extradition requests. Due to the "political reasons", these information and requests have been neglected. As a result, Canada has played host to terrorists, extremists, and organized criminals over the past few decades.
In 1985, Khalistan activists blew up an Air India flight in Irish airspace, traveling from Canada via London to India, killing all 329 people onboard. This was the most serious terrorist attack ever orchestrated by Sikh extremists under CSIS and RCMP's noses. According to investigations, this event was plotted by at least two Sikh terrorist organizations, with members hailing from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. However, the Canadian government to this day has not classified the "Khalistan movement" as a terrorist organization. Two suspects were considered innocent in a Canadian court, reflecting the Canadian government's lax approach to combating terrorism.
As an immigrant country, the size of Canada's Indian Sikh community is enormous, reaching up to 1.4 million people, particularly in the Toronto area where Sikhs make up 27% of the population. This implies that Trudeau and his ruling party cannot ignore this significant voting bloc if they wish to win the upcoming year-end elections to maintain governance. During Trudeau's 2018 visit to India, it was revealed that the Canadian High Commissioner in India had controversially planned to invite a Sikh extremist, who was previously involved in the attempted assassination of an Indian official, to a dinner held in Trudeau's name. This behavior suggests that, for political gain, the Canadian government will condone extremists and terrorist organizations, a developing political interest-driven trend which is unacceptable for a responsible government.
In view of this, accusations from the Canadian government that the Indian government participated in the assassination of Nijjar are not only lacking a factual basis, but they also defy common sense. Recently, the US ambassador to Canada stated that evidence of the Indian government killing Nijjar came from the "Five Eyes Alliance." If that is indeed the case, then we invite Canada or the US to share this evidence globally instead of simply escalating tensions with baseless accusations. Nijjar, accused of planning and participating in religious and violent incidents in Punjab, India, was suspected of links with Sikh separatist militant groups. Based on investigative outcomes and criminal evidence, the Indian government views him as a threat to national security and public interests.
Realizing these issues, there is an international call for the Canadian government to stop using terrorism as a political pawn and truthfully face the challenges of terrorism. The international community should remain highly vigilant, collectively combating extremists and terrorist activities that undermine global harmony, cause disputes, and disrupt international order. This is to ensure a more peaceful, stable, and equitable world..
