The Congress and the BJP units in Punjab on Tuesday criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for alleging a “potential link” between the Indian government and the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Canadian Prime Minister said his government had “credible allegations” linking Nijjar’s killing with the “agents of the Government of India.”
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
State Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring called Trudeau’s statements as “ridiculous”.
“It is ridiculous what Trudeau has said. Canadian PM is directly blaming India. How can he blame India without any proof? His statement could be detrimental to Punjab. What he has said is provocative. Thousands of people talk about Khalistan … It is unfortunate that someone was murdered. Someone killed someone, how can be India held responsible for this?” he told The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress-turned-BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh, in a statement, said that it is an “irrefutable fact” that the Trudeau administration in Canada has given a “free hand to anti-India forces in the country”.
He termed Trudeau’s statements “highly irresponsible”, and said, “Trudeau, unfortunately, walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.”
He further said that the Canadian PM by levelling such allegations was only trying to “deflect” the attention from his own failures “to curb anti-India activities in that country”.
Meanwhile, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Akali Dal said, “We, the Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, have made unparalleled sacrifices for the independence, security and integrity of the nation and there can never be a compromise on that. The current developments around relations between India & Canada are extremely worrying as this will adversely affect the lives and livelihood of our people, especially our young students in Canada.”
“The recent statement of the Canadian Prime Minister is a cause of serious concern. The Shiromani Akali Dal urges both the governments of Canada and India to settle the matter not with a confrontationist but with a statesman-like approach,” it added.
Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema also said that the diplomatic crisis was a “very serious issue: and urged PM Modi to come out with the facts.
The Aam Aadmi Party leaders have meanwhile not commented on the issue yet, and said it would decide on commenting only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the issue.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing: How did the controversy start?
Speaking in Canada’s Parliament, Trudeau said that he brought up Nijjar’s murder with PM Modi during the G20 Summit, which was held in New Delhi from September 9-10. The Canadian PM said that he has told PM Modi that any kind of involvement by the Indian government would be unacceptable.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said that if the allegations were proven true, “this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” Joly said.
Reacting sharply to Joly’s remarks, India rejected Trudeau’s claims, calling them “absurd and motivated”.
On Monday, amid investigations into the allegations, Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat. And a day later, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat who was asked to leave India within next five days.