Thursday, 31 October 2024
Thursday, 31 October 2024
Canada has accused Union home minister Amit Shah of being behind the plot to target Khalistani separatists in that country. Canadian deputy foreign affairs minister David Morrison said this to a parliamentary panel on Tuesday.
The Indian government had not responded at the time of writing this but New Delhi has earlier dismissed Canada’s accusations as baseless and vehemently denied any involvement, blaming Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government of being hostage to vote-bank politics and turning a blind eye to extremism from its territory.
The allegation against Amit Shah goes back to a purported plot linking India to the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, Canada.
Here’s a brief backgrounder to bring you up to speed on the latest bombshell to explode on the already strained ties between India and Canada.
February 2018
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau visits India
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh hands him a list of criminals who are in Canada
The names include Canada-based Khalistani leader Hardeep Nijjar, who was associated with Babbar Khalsa and Sikhs for Justice, outfits outlawed by India
Punjab police had sought Nijjar’s extradition as he was wanted in many cases in India related to reviving terrorism in the state and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh
April 2018
Canada arrests Nijjar. But the authorities later release him.
June 18, 2023
Nijjar is shot dead around 8.30 pm in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey. He was the gurdwara president
Nijjar becomes the third Khalistani to have died in 45 days
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a comrade of Nijjar based out of the US, later claims to NPR that he received a call from Nijjar on June 17, 2023.
“He told me that he was informed by the Canadian intelligence officials that there is a serious threat to his life and he might be killed,” Pannun tells NPR.
September 10, 2023
Prime Minister Modi complains about protests of Sikh separatists on Canadian soil to Trudeau on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in New Delhi.
September 18, 2023
Trudeau tells Canada’s parliament that his government is “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian agents to assassinating Nijjar
The next day, India dismisses Trudeau’s claims as “absurd”
Within a week, both expel their top intelligence officers from their countries; India suspends issuing visas to Canadians.
October 2023
Canada withdraws 41 of its diplomats from India
In British Columbia, thousands of Sikhs turn out for a referendum on creating Khalistan
November 2023
Financial Times reports that US authorities prevented a conspiracy to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and issued a warning to India over its alleged involvement
President Joe Biden, it is reported, raised the issue with Modi during the G20 summit in September. This is the same summit where Modi raised the issue of Sikh separatists with Trudeau
India reportedly agrees to investigate the US allegations
April 2024
The Washington Post reports that India’s intelligence service and top level officials were involved in Nijjar assassination and the botched plot to kill Pannun
India calls the report “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”
“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. There is an ongoing investigation of the High-Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” the MEA says
According to The Washington Post report, US intelligence agencies claim that the operation to kill Pannun was approved by Samant Goel, the then chief of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and involved one RAW officer called Vikash Yadav and an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta.
May 2024
Canadian police charge three people with Nijjar’s murder.
According to Canada’s CBC news, “Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh — are all believed to be connected to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, according to sources involved in the Nijjar investigation.”
Lawrence Bishnoi, an Indian gangster, is lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati correctional home.
Bishnoi and his gang are later accused of killing Mumbai politician Baba Siddiqui, known to be close to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan.
August 2024
News agency Reuters says it spoke to 19 Sikh leaders, including three elected US officials, who said that they or their organisations have been targeted with threats and harassment in the US and Canada over the last year
September 19, 2024
A US court summons India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval on the Pannun failed assassination case.
Apart from Doval, the summons is issued to former RAW chief Samant Goel and RAW agent Vikram alias Vikash Yadav
India calls the case “unwarranted” and based on “unsubstantiated imputations”
October 14, 2024
Canada and India both expel six diplomats from their countries in a tit-for-tat move
October 17, 2014
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation issues a “wanted” notice for former RAW official Vikash Yadav for his alleged role in the foiled plot to assassinate Pannun in New York in 2023, warning that attempts to “target” and “silence” Americans won’t be tolerated
In India, reports emerge that the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested Yadav, 39, on December 18, 2023, for allegedly kidnapping a businessman and demanding money in the name of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi
