Trudeau’s Canada: The Classic Paradox of Liberalism

Justin Trudeau’s short-sighted outburst in Canadian Parliament has set off a series of actions and reactions that could well spiral out of his own control, both domestically and diplomatically. As far as Bharat is concerned, it has simply opened a floodgate of opportunities.

Trudeau, who had wanted to push Bharat into a corner, has just found himself isolated within his country as well as outside by making preposterous allegations. Bharat, on the other hand, has only managed to consolidate its international standing as a nation that no longer takes things lying down. Another desirable outcome of the episode is that Bharat’s agencies have finally taken off the kid gloves… and Khalistani terrorists are on the run.

CRACKDOWN IN BHARAT

In a move to choke their finances and spending capacity within Bharat, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) had drawn up a list of 19 Khalistanis living abroad and plans to go after their properties. The action will be taken under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA–Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

In its first swoop, the NIA has confiscated the house and land of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of the outlawed group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit, in Chandigarh and Amritsar. Pannun had released a video soon after Trudeau’s statement, threatening Bharat’s diaspora, especially Hindus, in Canada. This is the first time that properties of an absconding accused of NIA have been confiscated under section 33(5) of UAPA.

Over the last few days, the NIA has also carried out several synchronised raids across six states on the “terrorists-gangsters-drug smugglers nexus”, connected with ‘listed terrorist’ Arsh Dalla and many other gangsters. On September 27, NIA said 53 locations were raided and a large number of arms, digital devices and incriminating material seized.

Arsh Dalla, real name Arshdeep Singh, is a Canada-based Khalistani terrorist having links with international terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan’s ISI. The Delhi Police had unearthed Dalla’s plan to target leaders of Hindu outfits, sadhus, religious leaders earlier this year. Dalla is known to have connections with Canadian gangster Goldy Brar, slain gangster Sukhdool Singh and extremist groups the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF).

Besides Dalla, others under the NIA scanner in these raids were notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Harry Maur, Narender alias Lali, Kala Jatheri, Deepak Tinu etc.

These were the seventh in the series of such crackdowns launched by NIA since August 2022. Earlier, NIA had earlier conducted similar raids at over 370 locations.

EVIDENCE IN CANADA

Canadian PM Trudeau virtually threw off his ‘liberal’ mask as soon as he reached home, after attending the G-20 Summit and being grounded for two days in New Delhi due to a “technical glitch” in his aircraft, and went to town in favour of Khalistani separatists/terrorists. Till then, Bharat had been sharing dossiers in the hope that Trudeau’s administration will honour its commitment of 2018 when he signed the ‘framework of cooperation on countering terrorism and violent extremism’.

It’s interesting to note that Trudeau has been under intense pressure over allegations at home about China’s interference in Canadian elections. There are some who believe his Parliament outburst, holding Bharat responsible for the killing of Khalistani terrorist HS Nijjar on Canadian soil, was strategically made to deflect attention.

Even on the allegations against Bharat, there is disbelief. Canada’s opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he should come out clean with all the facts in order to make judgements.

In the absence of tangible proof, Trudeau is going to have a hard time making the accusations stick. On ground, the investigations into Nijjar’s killing have been tardy till date, as per media reports. Washington Post’s report from Surrey (British Columbia) has quoted members of the local Sikh community on the investigation into Nijjar’s killing on June 18 outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. “They say police were slow to the scene, and disagreement between agencies caused further delay. Several business owners and residents near the gurdwara say investigators have not visited to ask questions or request security video,” the report said.

Terry Milewski, a veteran Canadian journalist who has worked extensively on the ‘Khalistan Project’, says real evidence suggests a different explanation. In an article in The Times of India, he writes: “In July of 2022, a wealthy suspect in the 1985 Kanishka bombing, Ripudaman Singh Malik, was murdered amid rumours that there was bad blood – and a lawsuit – between him and diehard Khalistanis, formerly his allies and including Hardeep Nijjar, who were angered by Malik’s gushing letter praising Modi for doing great things for the Sikhs. Then, when Nijjar was killed in June of this year, rumours flew that the Malik camp had exacted its revenge. In short, the word on the street was that this was a sordid local vendetta, not a state-sponsored execution. What’s more, while hardly conclusive, the Malik letter, the lawsuit and videos of Malik and Nijjar, each pouring scorn on the other, do  represent something the Trudeau theory lacks: actual pieces of evidence.”

The police have laid no charges and even the shooters in the Nijjar killing have not been identified. That’s another sign that Trudeau may be sticking his neck out too far for comfort, Milewski points out.

Interestingly, Arsh Dalla’s close aide Sukhdool Singh, who was wanted in Bharat, was killed in Canada’s Winnipeg city on September 20. In this case too reports suggested he was killed in an inter-gang rivalry.

CANADA’S SUPPORT TO TERROR

A day after Trudeau made his statement in Canadian parliament, as if on cue terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun released a video threatening Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave Canada.

Pannun has been on the NIA’s radar since 2019 when it registered its first case against him for promoting and commissioning terror acts and activities.

In Canada, the Hindu Forum Canada (HFC) raised strong objection to Pannun’s hate speech and wrote to the Canadian government seeking a ban on his entry into Canadian territory. The fact that Trudeau has taken no action speaks volumes about his allegiance.

Nijjar’s son has virtually let the cat out of the bag. According to the Canadian Press, HS Nijjar’s son Balraj Singh Nijjar, 21, has said that his father had been meeting with Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officers as often as “once or twice a week”. His father had been apprised of threat to his life and had been advised to stay home, his son said. This revelation is enough to prove that the Canadian government has been providing security and support to Khalistani secessionists.

The questions are many. Why were Canadian agencies protecting a Khalistani terrorist? Was Nijjar being weaponised against Bharat?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker has put it succinctly: “In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime relating to the secessionist forces, violence, extremism. They are all very, very deeply mixed up. We have given them a lot of information… There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders who have been identified…” In Canada, Indian consulates and diplomats are attacked and it’s justified as “that’s how democracies work”, he pointed out.

The statement of Nijjar’s son has proved that Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) were providing security and support to the Khalistani terrorist

And not just Khalistanis, Canada is a safe haven for criminal fugitives from other countries as well. It has been brazenly giving refuge to the assassin of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. For over 26 years Bangladesh has been seeking the extradition of Noor Chowdhury, a self-confessed killer of Bangabandhu, but to no avail. Noor was one of the Pakistani Army officers who assassinated 21 members of the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15 , 1975.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING & DRUG CARTELS

It is an open secret now that pro-Khalistan elements in Canada are running a human trafficking network to build their cadre. This is done essentially to make up for the lack of support for the Khalistani cause among the local Bharatiya diaspora.

Gullible Punjab youths are lured for medium-skilled jobs, offered shelter and low scale jobs and their visas are sponsored with the resources of the gurudwaras controlled by these Khalistanis. Many of these ‘indebted’ youths, who immigrate through legal and illegal channels right under the nose of Canadian agencies, are sucked into the separatist movement and used for organising anti-Bharat protests and radical-religious congregations in Canada.

The Khalistan terrorists also run narco-terror networks from Canada and Pakistan to fund their activities. It is said that Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, is using Khalistan terror group leaders as drug smugglers, using narcotics as a means to finance anti-Bharat activities.

When Trudeau’s plane was grounded due to a ‘technical snag’ resulting in a highly unusual delay in the departure of a head of state, unconfirmed reports speculated on the presence of a large quantity of drugs detected on board Trudeau’s aircraft by sniffer dogs at the New Delhi airport. The truth will, of course, remain shrouded in mystery.

The onus is now upon Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to come up with evidence on the basis of which he decided to accuse Bharat from the floor of his Parliament. Else, he risks going down in diplomatic history as the head of state who made the biggest faux pas ever in international relations.