 "Are Indian youths being ‘threatened’ by Khalistani elements in Canada to join gangs?")
New Delhi’s frayed relations with Ottawa have sparked concerns among the families of Indians studying in Canada over their children’s safety and future prospects. The ties between the countries plunged further recently after both sides expelled each other’s top diplomats.
The tensions first erupted last September when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a “potential” involvement of Indian officials in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
Now, Sanjay Kumar Verma, India’s recalled High Commissioner, has warned Indian students in Canada to be “aware of their surroundings" amid Khalistani extremism in the North American country.
Are pro-Khalistani elements influencing Indian students in Canada? Let’s take a look.
Indian envoy on Khalistanis in Canada
Recalled Indian envoy to Canada Sanjay Verma told PTI in an interview that a “handful” of Khalistan supporters have turned the ideology into a “criminal enterprise”, accusing such separatist elements of engaging in extortion, human trafficking and other crimes.
Speaking to NDTV, he warned, “At this time in Canada there is a threat from Khalistani terrorists and extremists to the larger Indian community… including students”.
Verma explained that the Khalistani elements lure students with money and food amid a job crisis in Canada. “How this (Khalistani terrorists’ outreach to Indian students in Canada) works is… given the condition of that economy there are few jobs… so students are offered money and food, and this is how Khalistani terrorists and extremists influence them with nefarious plans,” he alleged.
According to the recalled Indian High Commissioner, these Khalistani extremists persuade students to “protest” outside Indian diplomatic buildings in Canada, shout anti-India slogans or insult the national flag and get images or videos of the act.
“Then they are told to go seek asylum… because their version will be, ‘If I go back to India now, I will be punished…’ and there have been cases of such students being given asylum,” he told the news channel.
Verma said there are many “negative influences” on Indian students in Canada, pushing them in the “wrong direction”.
He told PTI that many youngsters from Punjab were threatened to join gangs by Khalistani elements in Canada. “Many youngsters from Punjab, who went to Canada, were threatened to join the gang. Many innocent children (youths) who went there became criminals, gangsters, Khalistani gangsters, and Khalistani criminals. So, somehow they are being influenced. And, as far as my information goes, they are being influenced by Khalistani goons,” Verma claimed.
EXCLUSIVE | VIDEO: Here's what Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma told @PTI_News when asked about 'concerned' parents who send their wards to Canada for higher education.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 24, 2024
"I would like to digress a bit and say, our, our children getting there what they had dreamt of. If I can… pic.twitter.com/cexvA0kMem
He urged parents of Indian students to “talk to them regularly and try to understand” their situation and guide them towards making wise decisions.
Indian students in Canada
Canada is a popular destination for Indians seeking to study abroad. Indian students account for roughly 40 per cent of all international students in Canada, as per the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).
As of August 2024, as many as 137,445 Indian students received study permits from Canada this year, accounting for 36.7 per cent of the total 374,060 permits.
Official data shows that 427,000 Indians are currently studying in the North America country.
Earlier in the year, the Canadian government introduced a cap on the number of international students and brought changes to the process of issuing study permits. This has slowed down visa processing times, affecting aspirants who want to study in Canada.
But even before these changes, the number of Indians applying to study in Canada reportedly dropped in the second half of 2023.
According to experts, economic hardships, fear of students getting involved in the Khalistani separatist movement and racism were to blame.
“It was bound to happen as problems have been rising there for the past few years and the Indian parents have realised the fact that it’s not worth sending their children to a country like Canada,” strategic affair analyst, Qamar Agha, told Sputnik India in December 2023.
Indian students living in Canada are already stung by the North American nation’s housing crisis. Amid sky-high rents and a shortage of houses, coupled with difficulty finding jobs, international students are bearing the brunt.
An India Today report last year found that many students have to share a single room in basements of houses and do whatever part-time jobs they can find.
With the latest flare-up in diplomatic tensions, students say they are unfazed but their parents back home are worried. “They sometimes ask us to look into shifting to some other country,” Harmanpreet Kaur from Punjab’s Kapurthala, studying Business Administration in Nova Scotia, said to Indian Express.
India-Canada row
Ties between India and Canada nosedived last week after both sides expelled each other’s top diplomats. New Delhi expelled six high-ranking Canadian diplomats and withdrew its diplomats from Canada on October 14.
Ottawa said it has expelled six Indian diplomats including the High Commissioner Sanjay Verma after naming him and others as “persons of interest” in Nijjar’s killing. Reacting to his treatment by the Canadian government, Verma told PTI: “This is the pits”.
“Declaring me ‘person of interest’ by Canada came as a shock, a kind of back-stabbing,” the recalled envoy said, adding he “did not betray emotion, not even a wrinkle of worry” on his face.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has accused “agents” of the Indian government of indulging in “serious criminal activity” such as “homicide, extortion, intimidation, and coercion” on Canadian territory. It further alleged the Indian government agents collaborated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to “target” the South Asian community, specifically pro-Khalistani elements in Canada.
India has trashed the allegations. It called Canada’s accusations against Indian diplomats “preposterous imputations” and part of the Trudeau government’s “vote bank” politics.
New Delhi has also insisted that Canada has not shared a “shred of evidence” to prove its charges.
With inputs from agencies
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