Bharat has been unrelenting in its approach towards Canada, which has for long proven that under the Trudeau family has been sympathetic to the cause of the Khalsitanis.
Justin Trudeau, like his father Pierre Trudeau who was also the Prime Minister of Canada has harboured Khalistan terrorists who have been waging a war against India. The Trudeau’s have long been accused of giving space to these elements, who violate their rights under the garb of freedom of speech and in turn look to harm India at every possible moment.
A diplomatic war was set off between Bharat and Canada after Trudeau made some baseless and brash allegations against Bharat. He said that India had a role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was being sheltered by the Trudeau government despite his known terror antecedents.
Trudeau’s administration then went on to escalate matters further when he named Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison said that they had leaked information to The Washington Post that Shah was the one who led the campaign against the Khalsitani terrorists in Canada.
It is a well known yet dangerous political game that Trudeau is playing in the wake of is ratings dropping. He is backing on Jagmeet Singh who leads the main opposition party, NDP. Singh has been propping up Trudeau’s minority government and in the elections to be held next year, the Canadian PM is banking heavily on the votes of the Khalsitani Sikhs. It must be mentioned that a very small portion of the Sikhs in Canada back the Khalistan movement.
Is Trudeau planning a shift?
Bharat has been strong in its approach against Trudeau and has time and again reiterated that this would not be tolerated. The regime change in the United States is also not helping Trudeau, which has once again put him in a very precarious position.
While President-elect Donald Trump has in the past referred to him as a left leaning lunatic, he has also spoken about increasing tariffs on Canada. To make matters worse for Trudeau, Trump’s close aide and big backer, Elon Musk had said in a reply to a tweet on X that Trudeau will be gone soon.
This explains a rather uncharacteristic statement made by Trudeau recently. He said that the pro-Khalistan separatists do not represent the Sikh community in Canada.
“There are many supporters of Khalistan in Canada but they do not represent the Sikh community as a whole. There is no room for violence or intolerance or intimidation. That is not who we are,” he told the Indian diaspora at a Deepawali event in Ottawa’s Parliament Hill.
He also went on to say that similarly there are supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Canada, but they do not represent all Hindus in Canada.
These statements clearly indicate a shift or a cover up act by Trudeau, who has got very bad press for his brash statements.
The big question is whether this is enough. His words have not matched his actions, especially what he has done in recent times. A report in 2018 had said that Sikh extremism is one of the top five terrorist threats in Canada. Trudeau was quick to get that removed and also the language changed.
His visit to India in 2018 too was controversial. He brought along with him a convicted Khalistani terrorist, Jaspal Atwal.
Now as a cover up act, Trudeau has made a statement which the Khalistanis may not like. Further the Canadian police have arrested Inderjeet Gosal, the main Canadian organiser for the Sikhs for Justice in a Hindu Temple attack case. Further the police also arrested Arsh Dalla, the Khalistani terrorist and gangster who replaced Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
What is forcing the re-think and will it stand?
There are several factors that has made Trudeau take a slightly different stand on the Khalistan issue. Strong words from Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grabbed the attention of the world and put Trudeau in very bad light. His own party MPs have been critical of his stance and the opposition in Canada too has taken him to the cleaners. The victory of Donald Trump is another factor that Trudeau has in mind. The President-elect has a no nonsense policy when it comes to terrorism, be it the Islamists or the Khalistanis.
Trudeau also cannot take the words of PM Modi lightly, who made a direct statement against his government following a detailed analysis. Trudeau may be well aware that the Indian government did not back down on provocations by China or Pakistan and the case will be no different when it comes to Canada. The Indian government has made it very clear to Canada that it would hold it responsible for any Khalistni terrorism directed against Bharat.
However the question now is can Trudeau continue with this current stance of his. The answer is negative. Jagmeet Singh can pull the rug on him, which could lead to a federal election. By angering the Khalistanis, he would end up losing a large chunk of their votes to Jagmeet and his party.
All Trudeau can do now is the balancing act. But, it is a case of too little too late and Trudeau may be on his way out when the elections are held.
