YouTube and X have blocked access to a 45-minute report that appeared in Canada’s Government-funded broadcaster CBC at India’s request and focused on the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year, according to a report.
The purported video footage aired on CBC shows Nijjar leaving the parking lot of the Gurdwara in his grey Dodge Ram pickup truck in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. As he approaches the exit, a white sedan pulls in front of him, blocking his truck. Two men then charge towards him and shoot Nijjar before escaping in a silver Toyota Camry. Almost nine months after the incident, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has yet to name suspects or make arrests in relation to Nijjar’s killing.
The video was aired on the programme The Fifth Estate, which also included a lengthy interview with Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
According to a Hindustan Times report, CBC announced on Wednesday that it had been informed by YouTube that it had received an order from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information technology “to block access to the video of the story from its website” and the content was subsequently “blocked from view” in India.
However, it remains accessible elsewhere in the world. CBC also reported that the Indian Government had asked X, formerly Twitter, to also block access to the content on the social media platform. “Indian law obligates X to withhold access to this content in India; however, the content remains available elsewhere,” X informed CBC, adding, “We disagree with this action and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts. Following the Indian legal process, we are in current communication with the Indian authorities.”
In the programme, CBC had stated it had contacted India’s High Commission in Ottawa to participate but had not received a response. While India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma has appeared on multiple Canadian networks and been interviewed by several outlets, CBC was not among them.
According to the report, CBC spokesperson said that “as is the case with all stories on The Fifth Estate, ‘Contract To Kill’ was thoroughly researched, vetted by senior editorial leaders and meets our journalistic standards.”
Some members of the Indo-Canadian community were also critical of the programme. Among them was Maninder Singh Gill, MD of the Surrey-based Radio India. In a letter to CBC president Catherine Tait on March 10, he described it as “biased” and “propaganda.”
“Terming the Khalistan movement as a legacy of the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent has exposed the CBC’s superficial understanding of the Indian subcontinent’s history,” he added in the letter.
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