Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on Monday the expulsion of six Indian diplomats from Canada amid an extremely tumultuous few days for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The announcement comes one day after Trudeau told Ottawa reporters that there are “credible allegations” the Indian government is actively attempting to murder Canadians.
“Intelligent officials began invested credible allegations regarding India’s direct involvement in the killing of Canadian Citizens last summer, confirming the Indian government’s involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Najjar,” the Prime Minister said.
An RCMP statement also supports the claim that Indian diplomats collected info on Canadian citizens using criminal means and fed it to criminal groups, who took out violent acts using that very info.
Trudeau said that RCMP investigations remain ongoing, and will end up in trials in the coming months.
The RCMP has made attempts to cooperate with the government of India, which India has rejected.
Trudeau also said, “India made a fundamental mistake in thinking they could support criminal activities against Canadians, including murder, extortion, and other violent acts, which is unacceptable for any democratic country that upholds the rule of law.”
Trudeau further mentioned that he spoke with Prime Minister Modi last week about the importance of a meeting between national security advisors in Singapore, which needed to be taken “seriously”.
The Sikh community was mentioned by name by Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly multiple times, highlighting the sectarian equation behind this entire scandal.
Curious timing
The development comes two days after it was reported that Trudeau is facing internal Liberal revolt on his leadership, with over 30 Liberal MPs signing a document in support of him stepping down.
To this, Trudeau said that Parliamentarians should put aside partisan stripe and curiosities, at a time when the Canadians’ safety is at stake.
In response to the expulsion announcement, the government of India decided to expel six Canadian diplomats, who were asked to leave India by or before 11:59 on Saturday, October 19, according to a Monday press release by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs condemned the Trudeau government for “providing a space to violent extremists to intimidate Indian diplomats in Canada” and “fast-tracking the citizenship applications for some individuals who entered Canada illegally, disregarding multiple extradition requests from the government of India”.
India’s BJP
Understanding the sectarian equation between Sikhs and Hindus, and the Hindu ruling party in India, Bharatiya Janata Party, known short as the ‘BJP’ is crucial to understanding the Indian government’s reaction strategy.
India’s statement highlighted the state of mass immigration in Canada, which notably includes a significant population of Sikhs motivated by separatist ideas, sometimes violently so.
In past months, Pro-Khalistan independence groups inside of Canada, have glorified terrorists such as Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind behind the 1985 Air India combing that claimed 329 lives, including 280 Canadians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history.
