Trudeau accuses India of murder of Canadian citizen
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Source: dpa/Justin Tang
Canada suspects India of being responsible for the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian territory. There is “credible evidence,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In a high-profile move, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accuses the Indian government of murdering a Canadian citizen.
“Over the past few weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible leads about a possible link between Indian government agents and the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said in the Canadian Parliament on Monday.
Nijjar, a well-known supporter of an independent Sikh state on Indian territory, was shot dead in June outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
There are many people of Indian origin living in Canada. A particularly large number of them belong to the Sikh religious community. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently expressed his opposition to the so-called Khalistan movement, to which Nijjar was a member, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in New Delhi without directly being named. This promoted secessionism and incited violence against Indian diplomats, Modi said, according to his office.
“Every step must be taken to bring the perpetrators of this murder to justice,” Trudeau continued. Ottawa has expressed deep concern to senior intelligence and security circles in the Indian government. At the G-20 summit, he also addressed Modi directly about the incident.
“I continue to urge the Indian government to work with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” Trudeau said. The head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled, said Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly.
Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada’s national security adviser and the head of Canada’s spy service had traveled to India to meet their counterparts and confront Indian intelligence agencies about the allegations. He spoke of an active murder investigation being led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“Something I could never have imagined”
Trudeau said he knew members of the Indian-Canadian community were angry or scared and urged them to remain calm.
The leader of the opposition New Democrats, Jagmeet Singh – himself a Sikh – expressed outrage and shock at the Indian government’s possible links to the criminal case. He has known for a long time that criticism of human rights violations could lead to not receiving a visa for India. “But to hear the Canadian prime minister confirm a possible connection between the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined,” Singh said.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada described Nijjar as an activist who “often led peaceful protests against human rights abuses taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.” He had spoken publicly for months that his life was in danger because he had been targeted by Indian intelligence services, the association said in a statement.