Ottawa [Canada], October 16 (ANI): Representatives of a Gurdwara in British Columbia whose president was shot dead in 2023 and the Sikh separatist group he was involved in have said that their communities will not feel safe until Indian consulates in Vancouver and Toronto are closed, CBC News reported.
The demand from the Gurdwara representatives comes after the expulsion of six Indian diplomats by the Canadian government, including the high commissioner. Furthermore, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) claimed on Monday that it had evidence of their alleged involvement in crimes, including homicide and extortion, targeting the so-called Khalistan independence movement.
Earlier, the Canadian government said it had credible intelligence of the Indian government’s connection to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside Gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.
Nijjar was the leader of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in British Columbia’s Surrey, where community members addressed a news conference. However, the Indian government has rejected Canada’s allegations, terming them “absurd” and “politically motivated.”
Gurkeerat Singh, a spokesperson for the gurdwara, said, “The safety and the security of Sikhs will still be in question” unless Indian consulates are closed, according to the CBC News report.
Sikhs for Justice member Jatinder Singh Grewal said Canada previously expelled an Indian diplomat in September last year, and since then, the RCMP has indicated the threat to Sikhs in Canada has increased.
He referred to the expulsion of an Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai in 2023, who he claimed headed an Indian intelligence agency based in Ottawa.
On Monday, the Canadian government announced its decision to expel six diplomats, including the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, due to the criminal accusations.
The RCMP said on Monday that there were six Indian diplomats they sought to question about the violent activities in Canada, and those six diplomats were expelled by Canada.
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats hours after it summoned Canada’s Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler and conveyed that the “baseless targeting” of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
“The Government of India has decided to expel the following six Canadian Diplomats: Mr. Stewart Ross Wheeler, Acting High Commissioner; Mr. Patrick Hebert, Deputy High Commissioner; Marie Catherine Joly, First Secretary; lan Ross David Trites, First Secretary; Adam James Chuipka, First Secretary; Paula Orjuela, First Secretary,” a Ministry of External Affairs release said.
“They have been asked to leave India by or before 11:59 pm on Saturday, October 19, 2024,” the release added.
Grewal stressed the people who allegedly pulled the trigger were “merely tools,” and the real issue was who gathered information on Sikhs in Canada and allegedly provided that information to criminals to threaten and harm Sikh community members.
He claimed that the RCMP has mentioned that Indian diplomats in Canada are actively monitoring, looking at the behaviour and activities of pro-Khalistani Sikhs, and then providing the information to individuals back in India, according to CBC News report.
On Monday, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said that the probe has revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada had allegedly leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, including gathering information for the Indian government, either directly or through proxies.
The RCMP told The Canadian Press it was carrying out an investigation into three homicides across the country over the past two years with possible connection to India. However, the Mounties did not mention whether those included Nijjar’s killing, CBC News reported.
Grewal said shutting down Indian consulates in Toronto and Vancouver would remove the shield the individuals get while serving at diplomatic positions. He further said, “We can’t allow this to continue because it endangers Canadian safety and Canadian sovereignty.”
India on Monday “strongly” rejected a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were “persons of interest” in an investigation and termed it as “preposterous imputations” and part of the political agenda of the Justin Trudeau government.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023. However, the Canadian government has not shared a single piece of evidence with the Indian government despite many requests from them.
The MEA said, “We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics.”
MEA noted that Trudeau’s hostility has long been in evidence and added that his cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. It noted that the Canadian PM’s “naked interference” in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was ready to go in this regard.
The Ministry of External Affairs accused the Trudeau-led government of providing space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada, which included death threats to them and Indian leaders. The MEA asserted that all these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. (ANI)
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