Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Reuters.
A US skilled has termed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declare of a “potential link” between Indian authorities brokers and the killing of a Khalistani chief a “shameless and cynical action” and urged the US not be a part of it.
Collaborating in a panel dialogue on the Hudson Institute think-tank, Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute, claimed Trudeau is enjoying into the arms of people who find themselves wanting on the Khalistani motion as a motion of ego and revenue.
Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat every after Trudeau alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” within the killing of a outstanding Sikh separatist chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as “absurd” and “motivated”.
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Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Pressure (KTF) and considered one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a money reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot useless by two unidentified gunmen outdoors a gurdwara in Surrey within the western Canadian province of British Columbia on 18 June.
What’s putting about Trudeau’s “shameless action and cynical action” is that whereas he’s making a press release now, the killing of Karima Baluch that was carried out allegedly with Pakistani help is a police matter and has not been taken to the Prime Minister’s workplace, Rubin mentioned.
“So, the question then becomes why the discrepancy if not populist political posturing? … That might help Justin Trudeau in the long term but that’s not what leadership is. We really need our politicians on both sides of the aisle here and in Canada, (there is a) need to be much more responsible because they’re playing with fire,” he mentioned.
It appears, Rubin mentioned, that some outdoors arms try to revive the Khalistan motion.
“I don’t think it will work,” he mentioned, including he wouldn’t need the US to provide legitimacy to this kind of “cynical manoeuvres by outside powers”.
“It would be a mistake to suddenly see a separatist movement and argue that this is legitimate. And I worry less so with the United States but more so with what we see in Canada right now with Justin Trudeau, that same knee-jerk reaction playing into the hands of people who are looking at the Khalistani movement as a movement for ego, a movement for profit and for politics,” he mentioned.
After Trudeau’s remarks in Parliament, Canadian International Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of “a senior Indian diplomat”.
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly’s remarks, India rejected Trudeau’s claims, calling them “absurd and motivated”. The Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) has additionally requested a Canadian diplomat to depart India throughout the subsequent 5 days.
Jassee Singh, founder and chairman of Sikhs of America, mentioned the Khalistani motion doesn’t signify the voice of nearly all of Sikhs within the US.
“Sikhs in India are not in favour of Khalistan. Today, Sikhs are in the Indian Army defending the nation, whether it’s against China or Pakistan,” he mentioned.
“There are one million Sikhs living here (in the US) and only a few of them, a very, very small percentage shows up for protests demanding Khalistan,” he mentioned.
Dinsha Mistree, analysis fellow on the Hoover Establishment, mentioned if Canada retains pushing this narrative, then “we can see some big challenges there”. He additionally underlined the significance of intelligence sharing.
“For me, it is just very surprising. Again, the San Francisco consulate is not too far away. I don’t think any arrests have been made since this consulate was vandalised twice. If you don’t stop these smaller things, (then there is a) danger that they might snowball into bigger things,” he mentioned.
In July, India’s consulate in San Francisco got here below assault from Khalistan supporters, who tried to set the diplomatic facility on hearth, within the second such act of violence inside months.
A video by Khalistan supporters, dated 2 July posted on X, confirmed the act of arson on the Indian Consulate. The video, with the phrases “violence begets violence” emblazoned over it, additionally confirmed information articles associated to the demise of Nijjar.