India-Canada Tensions Escalate: Embassy Staff Member Expelled Following Assassination Accusation

In a further escalation of tensions between India and Canada, India has expelled a senior Canadian diplomat and accused Canada of interfering in its internal affairs. 

Knewz.com is reporting that the dispute stems from accusations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in British Columbia in June. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has since stated that the Canadian government is investigating the allegations of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s murder.

Trudeau emphasized that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an “unacceptable violation of sovereignty,” per AP News.

However, India’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and in turn accused Canada of harboring terrorists and extremists.

Indian authorities have long accused Nijjar of ties to terrorism and offered a cash reward for his arrest. 

Nijjar, however, vehemently denied these allegations and continued working with a group called Sikhs For Justice to organize an unofficial Sikh diaspora referendum on independence from India at the time of his death.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer and spokesperson for Sikhs For Justice, claims that Nijjar had been warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being a target for assassination. 

Nijjar’s son, Baraj Singh Nijjar, has since spoken up and expressed relief at the Canadian government‘s proactive approach to the matter and stated that his family and the Sikh community have long believed that the Indian government was involved in his father’s killing.

The dispute over Nijjar’s death has strained relations between Canada and India, with Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi having frosty encounters during the recent G20 meeting in New Delhi. 

Canada also canceled a planned trade mission to India in the fall as a result of the spiraling diplomacy.

The souring relations are rooted in the Sikhs For Justice movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan. This idea has been a target of the Indian government since the 1980s when a Sikh insurgency emerged. 

The insurgency was suppressed through a crackdown that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including prominent Sikh leaders of the era.

India has repeatedly demanded that Canada take action against the Sikh independence movement, which is banned in India but has considerable support in countries with sizable Sikh diaspora populations, such as Canada and the UK. 

Canada has a Sikh population of over 770,000, representing about 2% of its global population.

Critics of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s government, accuse it of seeking to suppress dissent using sedition laws and other legal tools. 

These accusations come after allegations of increasing attacks on religious minorities, particularly Muslims, by Hindu nationalists. 

Trudeau has called on India to cooperate in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing and has emphasized the need for proper processes. 

The allegations have also raised questions in the UK, a close ally of Canada in the intelligence-sharing alliance known as the “Five Eyes.” 

Sikh activists in the UK have called for a reinvestigation into the death of Avtar Singh Khanda – a UK-based Sikh activist who died in June – as they suspect foul play. 

The British government, however, remains steadfast in its views that there is nothing suspicious about Khanda’s death.

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