Canada does not seem to get over its Khalistan fixation. While on one hand Prime Minister Justin Trudeau masquerades as a champion of the Khalistan on the other, the media outlets in Canada are picking up plants and tarnishing Bharat’s image. The latest in the offing is a media report sympathising with Khalistan supporters who were denied visas by the Indian government.
This new development comes amid the ongoing tussle over the Khalistan issue. The Canadian media has published stories against Bharat’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah based on planted information. However, Trudeau later came out and denied these reports.
The hypocrisy
The Khalistanis living in Canada have displayed through hypocrisy. One one hand they spew hatred against Bharat and on the other hand they are begging New Delhi for visas. All the Indian government had asked them to do before passing their visa application was to declare that their explicitly denounce their support for separatism.
The Khalistanis have however refused to do so following which their visa applications were rightly rejected. This is very reminiscent of Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani who always sung praises of Pakistan. However when he needed a passport he had to stand in line at an Indian passport office.
The Canadian media report is based on interviews conducted with Sikh Canadians including one by a member of a Gurdwara which was headed by terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. They spoke about how they were denied visas after they failed to denounce their support for the Khalistan movement. They said that they were asked to sign letters denouncing Khalistan separatism and affirming their respect for Bharat as a pre-condition for visas. They further went on to accuse the Indian government of using visas as a tool for its foreign interference campaign.
One of the persons interviewed for the article was Bikramjit Singh Sandhar, the former president of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey. This is the same Gurdwara which was headed by terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed in June 2023. It was over the killing of Nijjar that Trudeau had accused New Delhi of having a hand behind it.
Sandra who is also an open Khalistan backer said that he wanted to attend a family gathering in 2026. However the visa application was rejected after he refused to sign the declaration.
Why the Canadian media report is baseless
The Canadian media will have to understand that Bharat has had a long-standing problem on the Khalistan issue. When militancy was struck down in Punjab most of these pro-Khalistan elements fled to Pakistan and lived under the protection and dole of the ISI.
While the Khalistan module in Pakistan was expected to regroup and then undertake violent activities in Punjab, their Canadian module was to set up to rake up the issue on a global scale. While these elements have created a noise about it and grabbed global attention, they have not managed to get the desired traction in Punjab. This has in fact frustrated them no end and they are losing their patience.
Always coming to their support is Trudeau and the reason for this is mostly personal and political. He survives on the support of Jagmeet Singh whose party backs his minority government. If Singh decides to pull the plug then Trudeau is well and truly on his way out.
The Canadian media report fails to understand the gravity of the situation and has engaged in jingoism probably for the sake of circulation, views or propaganda. Had Bharat allowed these elements to come in without a pre-condition, they would started their propaganda in Punjab and this is bad news for the security agencies who have successfully managed to keep the menace away.
Officials Organiser spoke with say that these family events which they cite while applying for a visa is all a humbug. The real intention is to enter Punjab and then start their campaign. They would reached Punjab doled out funds, dished up emotions and done everything to get some traction in the state. They were in reality trying to set up ground for the movement and its revival, the official also said.
One user on X rightly pointed out that Indian military personnel are required to disclose the places they served in the country for visas. They do not require anything like the from the terrorists.
What can one expect from Trudeau
When Justin Trudeau had visited Bharat in 2018 with his wife Sophie, he was photographed along with one Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin. Atwal was conceited and later acquitted of trying to assassinate an Indian minister Malkait Singh Sandhu in 1986. Sandhu was on a visit to personal visit to Vancouver when the incident occurred. He was hit twice but survived the attack. In 1991, he was assassinated in India.
At the time of the incident, Atwal was a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation which is a banned group in both Canada and India.
This had led to an uproar and many pointed out that this photograph makes it clear that Trudeau is soft on Sikh separatists.
Atwal visited India at the same time when Trudeau did. While he was not part of the delegation, questions were asked why this man now a businessman in Canada was seen alongside Trudeau.
When asked about the same, Trudeau quickly tried to brush it off and then said that they take the situation very seriously. He also said an MP from his party took full responsibility for this. Moreover, Atwal was also invited to attend an official dinner with Trudeau in New Delhi. The invitation was later rescinded but the entire episode went on to show that the Trudeau government is sympathetic towards such elements.
Campaign against Bharat
Canada has not just been blatant but also brazen in its remarks against New Delhi. It has possibly said everything possible to try and tarnish Bharat’s image. Canada like many other countries have been running such campaigns as they are unable to digest the fact that Bharat is a big player today on the world stage.
The question is whether Canada could have done this alone. The answer is no. It has the backing of the Biden administration which is egging Trudeau to make remarks against New Delhi. This is a smart ploy by the US as it does not want to strain ties with New Delhi, but at the same time wants someone else to wash its dirty linen in public.
In recent times Canada and the deep-state have worked closely to paint Bharat at the villain of the piece. It also wants to label Bharat as a rogue state that is being run by an authoritarian Hindu nationalist leader who wants to oppress transnational repression on Canadian soil by targeting its innocent citizens. Canada says that those who are peacefully advocating the carving of a Khalistan nation out of Punjab are being targeted by New Delhi.
The Canadian media would have done well had it done a bit of research before publishing such baseless articles or parroting Trudeau’s meaningless viewpoint.
