India- Canada
India’s ‘Most Wanted’ Khalistani, Nijjar’s Terrorist Past “Exposed” in new Canadian Media Report
Rashmi Talwar
Amritsar 26th June 2024———— Barely had the Canadian Parliament held a minute’s silence as a mark of ‘respect’ for the slain Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar – India’s designated Terrorist a ‘Canadian Media Investigation’ report, spilled the beans about the gory story of Nijjar.
Terrorist designate Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing by unknown gunmen a year back, in Vancouver BC, Canada became a major political issue last year. India’s ‘Most Wanted’ terrorist of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) caused a huge diplomatic rupture between India and Canada when the latter accused India of staging the killing of the Canadian citizen Nijjar.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had taken umbrage to the killing of its citizens on Canadian soil by a foreign country. The Canadian CM Trudeau felt it was an issue of ‘free speech’ which India termed as ‘separatist terrorist propaganda’, by Nijjar against India, that was the motive for India having a hand in the killing. However, Trudeau’s defence and his apparent standing are proving weak.
The Canadian Media has just published an exhaustive investigation that takes a deep dive into Nijjar’s life: “His childhood in Punjab; links to Khalistanis; his escape from India to Canada; and his new career in Canada”. The lengthy report quotes Nijjar’s sermons. In one of these sermons to Sikhs of Canada, Nijjar exhorts to listeners –“We will have to take up arms, we will have to dance on the edges of swords, those who advocate peaceful methods, we need to leave them behind. What justice will we get otherwise?” The report in ‘The Globe and Mail’ doesn’t sound like activism it sounds like a call to violence! A report from of Canadian TV Channel states.
The Investigative report notes that -Nijjar had unmistakable ties with KTF (Khalistan Tiger Force) a designated terror group by India. Apparently, Nijjar was asked to hide this organisation but for some reason, he declined. Nijjar also ran some military camps in Canada training Canadian Khalistani radicalized youth to handle weapons.
The pertinent question arose following this report – ‘Did Canada’s Trudeau government know about this?’ The report states that the chances of the Trudeau-led government, knowing about Nijjar’s activities, were apparent. “Nijjar’s Bank accounts and businesses had been frozen, he was placed on the ‘No-Fly List’, and even Canadian cops questioned him multiple times”. So definitely something was brewing and the government was aware of Nijjar’s activities and was keeping close watch on him, says an expert on Foreign Affairs.
Only four years back in 2019, Canada’s Public Safety Department listed a list of “Top Five Terrorist Threats” among them was “Sikh Extremism” The likes of “Nijjar”, pushed back against the labelling of their Sikh movement on the Terrorist Threat list. So Justin Trudeau was seen to get personally involved in this, eventually leading to his Government’s exclusion of “Sikh Extremism” from the list. Trudeau’s alleged behaviour of blocking out ‘Sikh Extremism’ from the list seems to be out of place with Canada’s Public Safety Department’s findings, proving that the present incumbency led by Trudeau was well aware of Nijjar and likewise Sikh Extremist activities.
Nijjar’s politics also advocated violence from Canadian soil, yet the same soil honoured Hardeep Singh Nijjar in its Parliament with the minute’s silence bestowing respect on the deceased terrorist.
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Broader points of The Canadian Press Investigation
One year ago, two gunmen rushed into a temple parking lot in Surrey, B.C. Canada, and killed Sikh Separatist Hardeep Nijjar. In September – after protests, rallies for the Sikh homeland, and a terse G20 summit in New Delhi – Justin Trudeau stood up in the House of Commons and linked “agents of the Indian government” to the assassination. Relations soured between India and Canada and Canada downsized diplomatic staff in India; India suspended visa services for Canadians. Something of a stalemate between relations continued: New Delhi demanded evidence of its involvement, and Ottawa wanted cooperation with the evidence that’s been shared.
Canadian Media Investigators- Nancy Macdonald and Greg Mercer spent months sorting rhetoric from reality to write an in-depth profile of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It consisted of thousands of court records, and interviews analyzed the evidence and even geo-located photos for this investigation.
The investigation led to speaking to people close to Nijjar for months and spending time in Surrey. there were parts of Nijjar’s past that people were not comfortable discussing, and it was tough sledging to get people to open up. A lot of nights, it would take to make sense of the often-conflicting things told about Nijjar. By digging into the Khalistan separatist movement in North America, the key players, examining India’s evidence against them, and developing sources in Canadian law enforcement and with Indian lawyers.
Even Nijjar’s exact age was an issue. There’s a lot of disinformation often without compelling proof, which further complicates things. Trying to get people to speak about Nijjar’s complex past was extremely challenging, Nijjar- was a Sikh activist and plumber.
India accuses Nijjar of coordinated terrorism from Canadian soil. Investigation findings established Nijjar was surrounded by Sikh militants as a boy; and had close relationships with several militants responsible for killings in India. As he grew older, he was linked to the militant Khalistan Tiger Force, although his leadership of that group is in dispute. Part of the reason Canada is hesitant to extradite people to India is because of the concern that torture is used to extract confessions. Nijjar certainly called for violence and associated himself with known Sikh militants.
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MP Chandra Arya strongly objected to bestowing respect on Nijjar in Canadian Parliament
Hardeep S Nijjar the man who ignited the diplomatic row between India and Canada in the eye of a firestorm, when shown respect with a minute of silence in Canadian Parliament raised heckles of several MPs. One among them was Chandra Arya, the MP for Nepean, Canada.
Arya, a Liberal member of Parliament criticized his own government’s decision saying- it was inappropriate for MPs to stand in the House of Commons last week for a moment’s silence to mark the anniversary of the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He noted a finding in a “Globe and Mail investigation” published this weekend that Canadian authorities had concerns about Nijjar’s ties to extremism.
In an interview Arya said when Parliament decides to hold a moment of silence; it is “a very exclusive and limited to a few great Canadians who have immensely served Canadians for most of their life”, and added –“Mr. Nijjar was not one of these people! That the ‘credible allegations’ that he was killed by a foreign government was considered to be good enough to elevate him to be one of the most respected Canadians, is wrong,” he added.
Arya has in the past advocated for Canada to strengthen ties with the Indian government and has been an outspoken critic of Khalistan separatist groups.
Arya said-“The Globe and Mail investigation showed Nijjar entered Canada on a fake passport, called for violence and associated with Sikh militants in his campaign to create an independent state called Khalistan in present-day Punjab, India. The investigation also showed Nijjar was on Canada’s no-fly list and that authorities had picked him up for questioning on three occasions.”
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Kirk Lubimov wrote on LinkedIn, and ‘X’ social networking sites wrote – “Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar who Justin Trudeau PM claims was assassinated with “credible potential links” by agents with ties to India’s Government is shown shooting weapons in a ‘training camp’ in British Columbia’ Canada. “Is that an AK47 (prohibited in Canada) can’t tell what the other gun is. He wrote while posting a video of gun training by Nijjar and his associates a while ago. Kirk a blue-tick-marked, Canadian expert in economics, policy, innovation and thought commands a following of 26,200.
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Trudeau list of Faux Passé
· Praise for Nazi Veteran- on 22nd September 2023, Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian Canadian was invited to the House of Commons of Canada to be recognized by Speaker Anthony Rota, the Member of Parliament for Hunka’s district.
He was applauded in the Canadian Commons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to tender an apology to Canada’s Parliament, following his revelation as one who fought in the SS Division Galicia of the military wing of the Nazi Party, the Waffen-SS. “This is a mistake that deeply embarrassed parliament and Canada,” Speaker Anthony Rota, who has assumed responsibility for inviting Yaroslav Hunka, resigned. The incident drew global condemnation.
· Without offering any proof Justin Trudeau stood up in the House of Commons and linked “agents of the Indian government” to the assassination of killed Sikh Separatist Hardeep Nijjar in BC Canada. The allegations soured relations between India and Canada. Canada had to downsize diplomatic staff in India; India suspended visa services for Canadians. Something of a stalemate between relations continued: New Delhi demanded evidence of its involvement, and Ottawa wanted cooperation with the evidence that’s been shared. One year ago, two gunmen rushed into a temple parking lot in Surrey, B.C. Canada, and killed Sikh Separatist Hardeep Nijjar. In September – after protests, rallies for Sikh homeland.
· Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s visit to India during the G20 summit in New Delhi –remained a terse affair. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his delegation faced travel disruptions in India as their official aircraft, an Airbus A310, developed technical issues. The malfunction had left them stranded in Delhi, causing uncertainty and a potential delay in Trudeau’s return to Canada. This incident highlighted the need for Canada to replace its ageing VVIP aircraft fleet. Compare this to other countries, such as the United States and India, who have already taken steps to upgrade their VVIP travel capabilities.
· In 2018 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s entourage to India included Jaspal Atwal, a man convicted of attempting to assassinate a Punjab minister, to official receptions during his visit to India. The invitation resulted in the rapid fraying of relations between the two countries. The revelation was among the highlights of a 50-page special report prepared by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and tabled in Canada’s Parliament. The report stated that the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi prepared the invitation lists for official reception in Mumbai and New Delhi and provided them to the PMO. Jaspal Atwal’s presence at the Mumbai reception on February 20, where he was photographed with Trudeau’s wife, triggered a controversy that led to the high commission rescinding his invitation to a second event in New Delhi
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Rashmi Talwar Saanjh-Togetherness 