Hardeep Nijjar controversy may lead Justin Trudeau to Don Quixote-type end
It may not be surprising if Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ends up as the famous literary character of 1604, Don Quixote. At the end of what is known to be the first classic novel, Don Quixote, the main protagonist falls as a beaten and battered man after losing his mind and forswearing all the chivalric (un)truths he followed so fervently to die from fever.
Trudeau’s ‘credible’ belief in “credible allegations” dished out by Khalistanis regarding the murder of a terrorist, Hardeep Nijjer, on June 18, 2023, in Canada, reportedly having strong “potential to link India” to the killing seems to have afflicted him with India fever that may prove politically fatal for him as it did for Don Quixote.
After the immediate deterioration of diplomatic relations between India and Canada due to an accusation preceded by “ifs” and ending with “mays,” the rogue hero, Justin Trudeau’s electoral ratings in a media survey plummeted to just 31 per cent approval in comparison to 40 percent of the Opposition Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.
Going by the proceedings in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa and the information available in the public domain, Khalistan supporter Jagmeet Singh alias Jimmy Dhaliwal of the New Democratic Party (NDP) turns out to be the provocateur-in-chief of Trudeau’s unfounded statement blaming India for Nijjer’s murder, leading to cascading of Indo-Canadian relations. The minority Liberal Party is saddled in the seat of power due to crucial outside support extended by Jagmeet’s NDP.
Canada fired the first shot by expelling an Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, blowing up his cover as an officially designated intelligence officer, violating international norms. India gave a rebound reply in the form of the expulsion of a Canadian intelligence officer in Delhi, Olivier Sylvestre. A day later, India suspended the granting of visas to Canadian citizens. Both nations, in a tit-for-tat, issued advisories to their citizens who happened to be travelling in each other’s countries to be alert.
The raison d’etre for Jimmy’s instigating Trudeau is apparently the large scale of funding he receives from cash-rich Gurdwara committees in Canada. The separatists have taken over the control of Gurdwaras now. The elections to the Gurdwara committees are held internally by the community, but lately, the electoral process is reported to have been marred by violence. And violence is known to be a glaring trait of the radicals in which they have no peers. The innocent ‘sangat’ continues to make generous donations in the name of Gurus. The money thus collected is spent at the discretion of the management committees. Ultimately, donations get pumped into the Canadian political system for vested interests.
On Saturday, September 23, 2023, some Canadian media outlets reported quoting government sources that signal and physical intelligence input gathered by Canada showed that the Indian intelligence wing officials were linked to the killing of the Canadian citizen, Hardeep Nijjer. It then needs to be asked why the government is shying away from putting the evidence collected in the public domain, if there is any.
It is a matter of record that India sought the extradition of 26 fugitives wanted by courts, terrorists and gangsters included, but no action was forthcoming. It would not be wrong to conclude that Canada has become a safe haven for criminals who escaped from India on forged travel documents. Even red-corner notices issued by Interpol at the request of Indian agencies have not been honoured.
It is pertinent to quote from the Guardian newspaper that reported in May 2020 that a Pakistani human rights activist from the troubled state of Balochistan, Ms Katima Baloch, 37, was found dead in Toronto under mysterious circumstances. She was granted asylum by Canada in 2016. The Pakistani intelligence agencies operating in Canada were suspected of steering threats to her on social media and shadowing her everyday movements. But to date, the Canadian authorities have failed to unravel the mystery around her death that could be a crime on its soil.
According to a report dated June 2, 2023, the question of clandestinely opening Chinese police stations in order to curb the activities of rebels from China, now settled in Canada, is yet another instance where the Canadian Prime Minister has not uttered a word in sharp contrast to what he did against India in the case of Hardeep Nijjer.
It is a matter of record that fugitives from India enter – a welcoming – Canada as refugees and are granted citizenship after a porous quasi-judicial process conducted under the garb of protecting human rights the world over. In 1997, Hardeep Nijjer escaped the dragnet of Indian law and entered Canada on a fake passport in the name of Ravi Sharma with hair shoved off. A Montreal court rejected his first refugee application. But he applied again by enlisting the support of some human rights organisations headed by the Whites and succeeded.
On the other hand, Punjab police have evidence to link Nijjer and gangster Arshdeep Singh Dalla to a number of target killings executed by at least three modules. Kamlesh Pandit, a resident of Dalla village in Moga district, headed the 7-member module, the largest of the three.
After the arrest of all the members of the Pandit module, it came to light that they were involved in extortions, drug smuggling and killings of at least three followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, popularly called ‘premis.’ Quoting Dalla, Pandit told interrogators that the killings were done as per an understanding between gangster Arshdeep Dalla and some ‘Mahapurkh Baba ji’. Dalla did not reveal the name of the Baba to Pandit despite his asking. In the police’s view, the so-called Baba was Hardeep Nijjer, none other.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Khalsa Vox or its members.
