2023-09-22 01:30:10
A portrait of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on a banner installed at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia (Canada), September 19, 2023. DON MACKINNON / AFP
The tone continues to rise between Canada and India. Since the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on September 18 implicated the Indian government of Narendra Modi in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Canadian citizen of Sikh faith who was shot and killed on June 18 in Colombia. British, the two countries are engaging in one-upmanship in reprisals: after a first reciprocal expulsion of diplomats, Canada announced that it would continue to ” adjust “ the presence of its diplomatic staff in India. Subsequently, on Thursday September 21, India declared that it was initiating the same process on its territory and stopping “temporarily” to process Canadian visa applications.
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Ottawa already had difficult relations with China. It is now with the other great power of the Asian continent, India, that Canada finds itself at odds. New Delhi described it as “ absurd » the accusation made by the head of the Canadian government. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs even attempted to reverse the burden of proof, claiming that these allegations “sought to divert attention from “Khalistan” terrorists and extremists, who have found refuge in Canada and continue to threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India”. Justin Trudeau’s office, however, confirmed to Canadian media that it had “solid evidence” involving the Indian government.
Since the terror sown in India in the 1980s by the Sikh separatist movement led by the radical preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who demanded an independent state in Punjab and whose attacks caused some 20,000 victims, the reaction of the Indian authorities has remained epidermal on this issue. Khalistan question. The Modi government suspects Sikh places of worship established abroad, in the United Kingdom, Australia but also in Canada, of being controlled by militants. Accusations which are not without ulterior motives; since coming to power in 2014, Hindu nationalists have regularly brandished the threat of Sikh separatism to mobilize their electorate.
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“Long-known intimidation”
With some 770,000 members, the Sikh community in Canada, which arrived at the beginning of the 20th century, is, outside of Punjab, the largest in the world. “The Indian authorities have always suspected Canada of showing “softness” towards the most radical elements of this minorityexplains Serge Granger, professor at the School of Applied Politics at the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec). But in recent years their ire has escalated as Canada finds itself at the epicenter of the resurgence of Sikh nationalism, perhaps due to the repression it faces in India. »
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