India denies collaborating with mobsters to target Sikh separatists on Canadian soil
The Indian government on Thursday denied it was working with mobs to target Sikh separatists in Canada as publicly accused this week by Canadian officials in an escalating diplomatic row.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal denied that India was cooperating with Indian-based criminals in Canada and even suggested that Canadian authorities were opposing India’s efforts to repatriate those people to India.
“It is strange that the people we asked to be deported are accused by Canadians of committing crimes in Canada,” said Jaiswal.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and police officials came out this week on allegations that Indian politicians targeted Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said senior Indian officials were passing that information on to Indian organized crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, for shootings, robberies and even murders.
Canada has expelled six high-ranking Indian diplomats after the RCMP said it had evidence that Indian politicians in Canada were involved in a campaign of intimidation, coercion and sometimes even murder on Canadian soil. Andrew Chang reveals what we know about Canada’s alleged collusion with the Indian government and organized crime and the latest escalation in nationalism between the two countries.
The two sides ordered the expulsion of top diplomats this week in an ongoing row over the allegations, including Canadian allegations that the diplomats were linked to the June 2023 killing of Canadian activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar’s killing has damaged relations for more than a year, and despite Canada’s insistence that it has turned over evidence of its allegations to Indian authorities, the Indian government continues to deny having seen it.
Jaiswal also said on Thursday that Canada is not providing evidence for its allegations about attacks on Sikh activists, contradicting Trudeau’s statement this week that his country’s investigators secretly shared information with their Indian counterparts and found that they were not cooperating.
At the same time, Jaiswal accused Canada of failing to take action against Sikhs living in Canada who face terrorism charges in India and are accused of being part of a campaign to divide Sikhs in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
Jaiswal said 26 Indian applications for extradition to Canada have been pending for a decade or more. He also said that many criminals have temporary detention requests pending with the Canadian authorities.
“Some of them have been charged with crimes and crimes related to terrorism (in India). So far, no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our requests. This is very bad,” said Jaiswal.
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India has repeatedly criticized the Canadian government for being soft on followers of the so-called Khalistan movement, which is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, especially in Canada.
The RCMP said Monday it has identified India’s top diplomat and five other diplomats as persons of interest in Nijjar’s murder. The RCMP also said they found evidence of an intensified campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.
Nijjar, 45, was shot and killed last year in his truck after leaving the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen born in India, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what was left of the once powerful movement to build an independent Sikh state.
Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Nijjar’s murder and are awaiting trial.
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