Prime Minister Trudeau acknowledges there is fear in Canada’s Sikh community following the arrest of the Indian national, but emphasizes the “rule of law.”
Canada’s investigation into India’s alleged involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Vancouver last year is “political coercion,” India’s foreign minister says after three Indians were arrested in connection with the killing. Ta.
Canadian police on Friday arrested three people on suspicion of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder and said they were investigating their links to the Indian government “if any.” He immigrated to Canada in his 1997 year and obtained citizenship 18 years later.
He was wanted by Indian authorities on charges of terrorism and murder conspiracy, but he denied the charges. On June 18, 2023, he was shot and killed by a masked assailant in the parking lot of the Sikh temple he led in a Vancouver suburb.
Nijjar’s killing sent diplomatic relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into a tailspin last year after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had “credible suspicions” that Indian intelligence was connected to the crime.
India rejected the claims as “absurd” and suspended visa processing, forcing Canada to significantly reduce its diplomatic presence in the country.
“It is their political coercion in Canada that we blame India for,” Indian news agency Press Trust quoted Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as saying on Saturday.
Jaishankar said New Delhi is trying to convince Ottawa not to grant visas or political legitimacy to Sikh separatists because it is “causing problems” for them. Ta. [Canada], both for us and for our relationships. ”
He added that Canada “has not shared any evidence with us in any particular case.” [and] Police agencies also do not cooperate with us. ”
Jaishankar said India would wait for Canadian police to share information about the arrested men, adding that the suspects “are clearly Indian nationals from some sort of gang.”
“We have to wait for the police report,” he said. “But, as I said, one of the concerns we’ve been conveying to them is that we’re allowing organized crime from India, specifically Punjab, to operate in Canada.”
The three Indian men, all in their 20s, were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta’s capital, on suspicion of first-degree murder and conspiracy. They are accused of acting as assailants, drivers and lookouts in his murder last June. Canadian police said they were aware “other persons may have been involved” in the murder.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau spoke at an event celebrating Sikh heritage and culture in Toronto on Saturday, even as he acknowledged that many Sikhs in Canada are “feeling anxious and perhaps even fearful right now.” He appealed for trust in the judicial system.
“Let us remain calm and remain steadfast in our commitment to our democratic principles and our justice system,” he said.
“This arrest was important because Canada is a nation of laws with a strong, independent judiciary and a fundamental commitment to protecting all of our citizens,” Prime Minister Trudeau said.
Nijjar claimed an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan carved out of India. A separatist movement in the 1980s killed thousands of people but was crushed by Indian security forces. While the movement has largely died down in India, it maintains support among a vocal minority in Canada’s Sikh diaspora, the largest community of about 770,000 people.
India has repeatedly warned the governments of Canada, the United States and Britain that Sikh separatists are attempting to fight back.
In November, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted an Indian national living in the Czech Republic on suspicion of plotting a similar assassination attempt on U.S. soil.
A Washington Post investigation found last week that Indian foreign intelligence officials were involved in the plot, a claim New Delhi rejected.
