Canada: “Many Khalistan supporters,” Trudeau admits
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A day after US President-elect Donald Trump’s Man Friday Elon Musk predicted that Justine Trudeau is on his way out in next year’s parliamentary elections, the media reported on Saturday that the panicked Canadian Prime Minister finally acknowledged that his country has many Khalistani supporters but “they don’t represent the Sikhs.”
Weeks after his erstwhile Khalistani supporter Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal-led New Democratic Party (NDP) pulled the rug from his coalition government and rendered his government in a minority, his comments came during belated Diwali celebrations at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill amid an ongoing diplomatic row with India.
There are many supporters of Khalistan in Canada, but they do not represent the Sikh community as a whole. Similarly, there are supporters of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s government in Canada, but they do not represent all Hindu Canadians, Trudeau said, trying to strike a balance.
The relations between the two countries came under severe strain following Trudeau’s wild allegations in September 2023 of “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada last year.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd.”
Recently, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrew its High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa’s charges.
India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
Last week, Khalistani supporters disrupted a consular event co-organized by the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton and the Indian Consulate.
Trying a course correction, Trudeau condemned the incident, saying every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that New Delhi remains “deeply concerned” about the safety and security of Indian nationals in Canada.
The Indian Consulate in Toronto said it was scrapping some of the planned consular events this month because of Canadian security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to organizers.
