'This Is Not What Allies Do': Trudeau Critics Call Out Canada's 'Khalistan Problem' As India Ties Collapse

Amid an escalating diplomatic row with India, the accusations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are probably way too big to be deemed true by experts, professionals, and even journalists of his own country. Trudeau may have accused India of choosing to use its diplomats and organising a crime to attack its citizens, however, experts believe Canada has failed to provide compelling evidence to the public. As Canada on October 14 named Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma as a ‘person of interest’ in its probe into Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, some believe Trudeau is a “habitual liar” and that his country has a record of shielding terrorists.

India and Canada expelled each other’s diplomats and announced the withdrawal of their High Commissioners on Monday, Later, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) laid out stunning allegations accusing agents of the Indian government of playing a role in “widespread violence” in Canada, including homicides and warned that this poses “a serious threat to our public safety”.

And all this began last year when Trudeau alleged the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing. India had strongly rejected the charges.

(Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey on June 18, 2023.)

CANADIAN JOURNALIST QUESTIONS TRUDEAU’s CLAIMS

Daniel Bordman, a senior journalist from Canada believes the people of his country are still in the “trust me bro” phase after diplomats were expelled on both sides. He also was of the opinion that the step could cost Canada billions in trade.

In a post on X, Bordman wrote, “Justin Trudeau again fails to provide compelling evidence to the public after escalating the tensions with India. Diplomats have been expelled and we are still in the “trust me bro” phase. This could end up costing Canada billions in trade. All to appease Jagmeet and the gang of Khalistani ministers.” (sic).

“Canadians who have watched Justin Trudeau and his entire cabinet embrace chaos and terrorism on our streets won’t believe he actually cares about Canadian safety. It is highly unlikely that they are being truthful on the India file,” (sic), Bordman in a separate post.

In yet another social media post, quoting a part of a report, Bordman referred to Nijjar as a “terrorist”, and wrote, “Trudeau’s accusation against India has morphed from they were involved in the killing of one terrorist on Canadian soil, to the Indian government is running an entire criminal network through Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. A few problems: Bishnoi’s gang was just responsible for killing a key political ally of the ruling BJP and the man is in a f*cking Indian prison right now! (sic).

(Incarcerated gangster 31-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi, alias Balkaran Barar, was all of five when the infamous blackbuck poaching case involving Bollywood star Salman Khan took place in 1998 during the filming of ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan, irking the Bishnoi community which revers the animal. Twenty-six years down the line, the notorious gangster’s deep resentment against Salman even while in prison continues to make headlines. Recently, several social media posts suggested Lawrence Bishnoi claimed the responsibility of gunning down former Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique (66), known to be close to the Bollywood actor, by three assailants in Mumbai last week.)

On Monday, as Bordman was questioned on the decision by India to withdraw its High Commissioner and other diplomats, he said, “There are elements within the Khalistani apparatus, they are all over this. The Khalistani elements are in full attack mode. They are taking this as a total victory and slamming India. The vast majority of Canadians are incredibly fed up with Trudeau’s government, they don’t see the media as credible. So many Canadians will just look at this, shrug their shoulders and probably even side with India.”

Quoting his own statement, Bordman on Tuesday reiterated that “The Trudeau government faces major credibility problems on all fronts. They will likely not be able to rally the public to their side in a fight with India.”

Later, Bordman also slammed the Canadian government for failing to curb rising extremism, warning that the “tacit support of extremism from the highest levels of government is starting to have consequences.”

Speaking on incidents where Indian diplomats were endangered and temples were defaced with Khalistani slogans, Bordman told news agency ANI, “This problem is not just for Indian diplomats, a lot of Canadians feel this way. The most violent and anti-Canadian among us get the most preferential treatment.”

He also detailed how extremist activities have increasingly threatened communities across the country, saying, “Jihadists march through our streets and openly call for the murder of all Jews and ethnic cleansing. A Jewish school was shot up for a second time. Someone drove by and shot twelve bullets into a Jewish girl’s school. Canada’s sort of gone off the rails.”

According to Bordman, law-abiding, patriotic Canadians are being treated like criminals, while extremists act with impunity.

Even last year in September, when Trudeau first alleged that Indian agents were behind the shooting of Nijjar, Bordman had described it as a “major scandal” and had claimed an enormous threat of Chinese meddling in Canada as Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party has, during several election cycles sought support from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

CLAIMS AGAINST TRUDEAU’s CLAIMS

Faran Jeffery, Deputy Director of UK-based think tank ITCT, in an X post, mentioned that “Khalistanis are separatists” and the Canadian government was doing everything it could to establish that Canada was on the side of the separatists.

“Khalistanis are separatists. And they are not shy of acknowledging that. This is not a Modi vs Canada problem. This is an India vs separatist problem – and Trudeau’s govt is doing everything it can to establish that Canada is on the side of the separatists. This is not what allies do,” Jeffery wrote, as he quoted another post.

In another X post, Jeffery wrote, “Khalistanis are mostly followers of Sikhism (yes, Sikhs are the Indians who wear those turbans and are sometimes mistaken for Muslims in the West). But not all Sikhs are Khalistanis. In fact, most Sikhs are not Khalistanis. Sikhs serve in all Indian institutions and have the same rights as any other Indian. In fact, some would argue that they even have more rights than Hindus, since many Sikhs in India have special permits to carry weapons including deadly swords. That’s something that’s unique to them in India. Sikhs have held the highest positions in the Indian system, including in the civil govt as well as the Indian Armed Forces. Sikhs have even held the position of the Indian military chief.”

“The Khalistani ideology is a political ethno-separatist ideology that’s held by very few Sikhs,” he added.

“Many non-Khalistani Sikhs are afraid of Khalistanis because of their violent tendencies. And that fear factor has allowed Khalistanis to establish a foothold in plenty of Sikh temples in the West, which isn’t great for normal Sikhs or the West,” he wrote.

“The Western govts will have to decide where they stand on this issue, because it is very unlikely that India will show any leniency towards separatism,” (sic) Jeffery wrote.

Analyst Chris Blackburn said, “Canada has a Khalistan problem.”

Reminding Canada of the Montreal-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 bombing, Blackburn wrote, “Its NatSec establishment were embarrassed by the inquiry into Air India 182. The worst terror attack in Canadian history was executed by Khalistanis. It could have been stopped. Plus, its political system is now rife with radicals who are spinning for Khalistan. They push conspiracy theories surrounding the terror attack.”

(On June 23, 1985, the Montreal-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London’s Heathrow Airport. The incident killed all 329 passengers on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent. The bombing was said to have been executed by Sikh militants in retaliation for ‘Operation Bluestar’ undertaken by the Indian Army in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple. In a statement, the government of Canada later described the attack as “the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history”. In June this year, the Canadian Police said that “investigations into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 remain active and ongoing.”)

Strategic thinker, author and commentator Brahma Chellaney said the problem is Canada’s long record of shielding Sikh terrorists.

“With India-Canada ties already at their lowest point ever, each side now has expelled six diplomats. The core issue bedeviling ties is Canada’s long record of shielding Sikh terrorists, learning little from the 1985 twin, Canada-originating Air India bombings that killed 331,” Chellaney wrote on X.

Iranian Prisoner Salman Sima claimed Trudeau is a “habitual liar”.

“Justin Trudeau is a habitual liar. He wants us to believe that there is massive plot from India to attack Canadians. As a former political prisoner of the Islamic Republic, I can differentiate between facts and state propaganda.”

“For the last year, Justin Trudeau and the RCMP have allowed the Jihadists and Khalistanis to take over our streets and attack the Jewish, Iranian, Christian and Hindu communities. Churches, temples and synagogues were vandalized. This is one of the consequences of unvetted mass immigration to Canada. No one should be blamed except Trudeau. No one believes that Liberal+NDP government care about the Canadian people. They appease terrorists,” (sic), Sima wrote, adding ‘hashtag TrudeaMustGo’.  

Another X user posted, “Justin Trudeau supports a radical Indian separatist movement here in Canada. They assassinated 329 Canadians decades ago.”

“Today India recalled their ambassador to Canada along with all other diplomats. Justin Trudeau always picks the wrong side. He just killed trade with India,” he wrote.

THE INDIA-CANADA ROW

Canada announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats Monday, including the high commissioner, after the police accused agents of the Indian government of being linked to homicides, harassment and other “acts of violence” against Sikh separatists in the country.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said in a Monday statement that the decision to expel the diplomats “was made with great consideration and only after (Canadian police) gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case.”

The extraordinary step has sharply escalated diplomatic tensions between the countries, with India swiftly expelling six Canadian diplomats in response, including the acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, according to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

During a Monday press conference, Trudeau accused the Indian government of making “a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil, whether it be murders or extortion or other violent acts, is absolutely unacceptable for any country, any democracy, that upholds the rule of law.”

The Indian government has called the accusations “preposterous” and said it was withdrawing the officials expelled by the Canadian government.