"Politically Condoned Hate Crimes"

"In the light of the current environment where tensions have  heightened, we are taking action to ensure the safety of our diplomats."

"Out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to temporarily adjust staff presence in India."

Global Affairs Canada

"You are aware of the security threats being faced by our high commission and consulates in Canada."

"This has disrupted their normal functioning."

"Accordingly, our high commission and consulates are temporarily unable to process visa applications. We will be reviewing the situation on a regular basis."

"[Canada has a] growing reputation [as a place that shelters religious extremists, and that it's a country] that needs to worry about its international reputation."

Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson, Indian Ministry of External Affairs

Sikhs protest for the independence of Khalistan in front of the Indian consulate in Toronto in July  Getty Images

 

According to Canada's foreign affairs department some of its diplomats abroad in India had received threats on social media platforms. This is part of an unfolding backlash in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claims in the House of Commons as it resumed after a long summer break Monday, charging the government of India's having sent agents to Canada to assassinate a Canadian-Sikh Khalistani leader in British Columbia.

New Delhi's response was bemused and swift; absurd allegations. It had no involvement in the June 19 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a committed secessionist who worked tirelessly on agitating for a Sikh homeland in India's Punjab, called Khalistan. Mr. Nijjar was deeply involved in agitating the Canadian Sikh population toward voting in a 'separation' referendum. He was also president of a Surrey, British Columbia gurdwara.

As it happened, he was also a wanted felon, back in India. He had entered Canada, claiming refugee status failing on his application to divulge information that would have disqualified him from entry to Canada. Nonetheless, his application was refused. He then turned to an oft-used ruse, marrying a woman with Canadian citizenship, who then sponsored him as an immigrant. India had asked for his extradition, registering his status as a terrorist with Interpol.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Associated Press)

 

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to India last week to attend a G7 conference, he had a brief meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Mr. Modi expostulated during that meeting India's frustration with Canada's tolerance and indifference to Canadian Khalistanis' threat to India. A threat that saw a terrorist calamity with a bomb placed aboard an Air India jet in 1985, killing 320 onboard as it blew up midair, an act of Khalistani terrorism.

Khalistan protests continue to take place in Canada, during which threats to the life and limb of Indian diplomats based in Canada are issued. Posters of champions of the Khalistan movement who have been involved in murder are revered and marched through demonstrations through the streets of Canada in Vancouver and Toronto. As are hateful posters of assassinated former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, where her visage is mutilated and covered with blood.

This is the atmosphere that Narendra Modi chastised Justin Trudeau for permitting. During their brief ten-minute meeting, where it was made clear that Canada's inattention and inaction in response to such blatant hate messages is unseemly for a collegial democracy, Justin Trudeau insisted it was he who had chastised Mr. Modi -- for having been responsible for the death of a Canadian citizen -- Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Relations between India and Canada could not possibly have sunk any lower. A deep-freeze, caused by Mr. Trudeau's injudicious charge of involvement in murder by the Indian government that will not any time soon result in a reestablishment of relations. A situation that will cost Canada greatly; the slander against a trusted ally, the sinking of trade between the two nations, an international community response that increasingly views Trudeau as a theatrical poseur and unreliable colleague.

Each country has now expelled senior diplomats from their missions over these stark tensions. India is furious that despite India sharing information relating to criminal acts on Canadian soil, Trudeau took no action. As for the charges of the Indian government involvement in an assassination in Canada, it is scornfully charged as being "politically driven", reflective of a huge Sikh-Canadian population toward whom Trudeau is playing the part of defender against an India that wants its sovereignty whole.

India has had a long grievance with Canada, accusing it of being a haven for Sikh separatists, taking no notice of the need to protect Indian missions and consulates from the group's violent protests. New Delhi issued a warning for its citizens living and studying in Canada -- addressing a huge student population at Canadian post-secondary institutions -- to exercise caution wherever anti-India activities take place, with "politically condoned hate crimes".

Protesters chant outside of the Consulate General of India office in response to the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)