The tone is solemn and without convolution. It is before the House of Commons in order to address “ all Canadians “, after urgently summoning the leaders of the opposition, that the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, bluntly accused India of being responsible for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the leader of a Sikh temple killed shot in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023.
Building on the work carried out in recent weeks by Canadian security organizations, Justin Trudeau declared, Monday, September 18, that there were “credible evidence of a possible link between agents of the Government of India and the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen”.
“The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil constitutes an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”, he insisted. A few moments later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, announced the expulsion of a “ top Indian diplomat », Pavan Kumar Rai, head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the Indian foreign intelligence agency, in Canada.
Justin Trudeau specified that he “ personally and very clearly » discussed this issue with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, during the G20 summit held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. He asked “with the greatest firmness” the Indian government to cooperate in clarifying this matter, insisting that it intended that the “ perpetrators of this murder be held responsible for their actions “.
A “terrorist” for New Delhi
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, campaigned for the creation of a free state, the “ Khalistan », with a Sikh majority, in the current territory of Punjab. In 2016, he wrote a letter addressed to Justin Trudeau in which he said “ unfairly targeted by New Delhi » for his peaceful activities. “ I have never believed in violence, I have never supported it, and I have never been involved in violent acts », he wrote.
He was nonetheless considered a “ terrorist » by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Indian government agency dedicated to combating terrorism. Mr. Modi had also expressed his “deep concerns about the continuation of anti-Indian activities by extremist elements in Canada”, according to a press release released after his meeting with Justin Trudeau at the G20. New Delhi suspects the Canadian government of turning a blind eye to the activities of radical Sikh nationalists who advocate the creation of an independent Sikh state.
You have 38.76% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.