 "Why the Khalistan issue, and Canada's role in it, bothers India so much")
The diplomatic row between India and Canada seems to be getting worse and worse.
The two countries have expelled each other’s diplomats after the Canadian government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that India’s high commissioner and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’ in the investigation of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In June 2023, Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead by two masked gunmen in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa, which have been shaky since 2018, plumbed new depths since September 2023 when Trudeau claimed that Canada had credible evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of Nijjar that year – which sparked a strong reaction from New Delhi.
But why does the Khalistan issue, and Canada’s role in it, bother India so much?
The Khalistan issue
First, let’s briefly examine the Khalistan issue.
As per Al Jazeera, Khalistan is the name some separatists have given to a proposed homeland for Sikhs.
The word itself means ‘Land of the Khalsa’ or ‘pure.’
The homeland would encompass Punjab and other parts of North India.
The idea itself comes from Sikhism – which began in the 15th Century.
At the time, North India was ruled by the Mughals.
The faith, led by Guru Gobind Singh, changed in 1699 under Khalsa.
The idea was to have a separate homeland for Sikhs where they could rule and live free of persecution.
In modern times, the demand for Khalistan reared its head around India’s Independence.
There was a “big call from the Sikh community for better representation in politics,” Ashutosh Kumar, a professor of political science at Panjab University told CNN. “The basic idea was the Sikh people should have their own territorial homeland – a Sikh majority state.”
The movement got a fillip in 1966 after Haryana was carved out of the state of Punjab.
The Green Revolution in the 1960s also left Sikhs unhappy over inequitable distribution of wealth.
Water being diverted from the Sutlej River, which flowed through Punjab, being diverted to neighbouring states of Haryana and Rajasthan was another bone of contention.
The movement began gaining real steam in the 1970s and 1980s, as per Al Jazeera.
This after preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale began recruiting disaffected youth.
Bhindranwale and his followers were ultimately killed in operation Blue Star in Amritsar’s Golden Temple.
The Indian government, which then launched Operation Black Thunder in 1986 and 1988, ultimately crushed the movement in Punjab, as per DrishtiIAS.com.
According to PBS, thousands of people including many prominent Sikh leaders and hundreds of Sikh youths were killed in the crackdown.
Rights groups claim many were killed in detention or during staged encounters.
However, the Khalistan movement has somewhat revived in recent years in a number of foreign nations with Sikh diaspora.
What is Canada’s role in it?
This is particularly true in Canada, which has the biggest Sikh community outside India with around 770,000 listing their religion as Sikh according to the 2021 Census.
Sikhs comprise around two per cent of the Canadian population, as per Al Jazeera.
A number of Sikhs began migrating to Canada after the riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Indira was killed by her Sikh bodyguards for approving Blue Star.
The riots saw many Sikhs across the country dragged out of their home and murdered.
Those who survived left for abroad including Canada.
Shinder Purewal, professor of political science at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, told Hindustan Times, “Nobody cared about their background, they all got political asylum.”
Canada also has a history of allowing Sikh separatists to operate from its soil.
On June 23, 1985, Sikh separatists based in Canada blew up Air India Flight 182.
All 329 people on board were killed.
The separatists claimed this bombing was revenge for Bhindranwale’s killing.
Incidentally, India had attempted to extradite Talwinder Singh Parmar, one of the men responsible for the bombing and chief of the extremist Babbar Khalsa group, in the early 1980s.
However, India’s efforts were stymied by the then government of Pierre Trudeau – father of the current prime minister.
Pierre was seemingly peeved with India after New Delhi conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1974.
This came after Indians repurposed the CANDU-type reactors for military use.
Parmar was later killed in an encounter with Punjab Police in 1992.
Inderjit Singh Reyat, an electrician who purchased the dynamite, batteries and detonators used to construct the bombs, the only person convicted in the bombing was released in 2016 – after Justin took power.
In 2002, Toronto-based Punjabi-language weekly Sanjh Savera greeted Indira’s death anniversary with a cover illustration of her murder and a headline urging readers to ‘Honour the martyrs who killed the sinner’.
During Trudeau’s 2018 trip to India, news emerged that a convicted former member of a Sikh separatist group was invited to a formal event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner.
The invitation was only rescinded after CBC News asked the Prime Minister’s Office about it.
The banned Sikhs for Justice group also held a referendum in Canada on the issue of Khalistan.
Organisers claimed over 100,000 people turned up in support of Khalistan.
A Mahatma Gandhi statue was also vandalised back in July 2022.
In March 2023, the Indian government accused Khalistan supporters in Canada of vandalising Hindu temples with “anti-India” graffiti.
In March 2023, hundreds of people gathered in a protest outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver.
This came amid a manhunt for fugitive Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, responding to a query from from Indian-Canadian lawmaker Iqwinder Gaheer, said the government is “aware of the evolving situation in Punjab.”
“We are following it very closely. We look forward to a return to a more stable situation,” Joly added.
India later that month summoned Canada’s high commissioner.
New Delhi in the meet “conveyed strong concern” about the actions of “separatist and extremist elements against our diplomatic mission and consulates in Canada.”
“The government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic mission and consulates,” an Indian Foreign Ministry statement read.
In 2023, a tableau at a pro-Khalistani parade in Brampton showed the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi – leading to outrage in India and condemnation from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“We are at a loss to understand other than the requirements of vote bank politics why anybody would do this… I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence,” Jaishankar said.
India in June slammed Canada’s Parliament observing “one minute silence” in the memory of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“We naturally oppose any moves giving political space to extremism and advocacy of violence,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Pro-Khalistani protesters have staged nearly two dozen demonstrations outside the Indian embassies in Canada over the past two years, as per Hindustan Times.
SJF chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has said these rallies will continue until ‘diplomats are forced to leave.’
Khalistani sympathisers have also been part of Trudeau’s government.
Until recently, Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which is running a minority coalition government was supported by the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Jagmeet Singh – who has long been associated with the Khalistani movement.
Why does it bother India so much?
Because India considers the Khalistani movement a grave threat to its sovereignty.
As per CNN, India has designated a number of groups as terror organisations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Though the movement itself is far from its heyday in Punjab, officials in the region have been growing concerned about renewed calls for a Khalistani state, violence, blasts and killing of Hindu religious leaders.
As per The Conversation, New Delhi is worried about the militancy of the 1980s reviving. The Modi government wants to head off this possibility at the earliest.
And also because Canada has refused to act against pro-Khalistani groups despite repeated requests from India.
“India has consistently accused Canada of accepting people responsible for violence in India and has asked for the extradition [of Sikh separatists] including those responsible for the Air India bombing,” Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic affairs editor at The Hindu, told CNN. “India has always said Canadian authorities have been dragging their feet over it.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has raised the issue including on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi when he conveyed to Trudeau ‘strong concerns’ about Sikh separatist protests in Canada.
“He (Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said.
As a government source told Times of India, “…we have shared incontrovertible evidence of terrorists like Nijjar and his sympathisers using Canada as their base. We cited specific instances of crimes with dates and other details so strong that they had to acknowledge Nijjar’s involvement in terror activities,” the source said.
The MEA has noted that Trudeau’s hostility has long been in evidence and added that his cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India.
“That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-a-vis India, only aggravated matters. Under criticism for turning a blind eye to foreign interference in Canadian politics, his Government has deliberately brought in India in an attempt to mitigate the damage. This latest development targeting Indian diplomats is now the next step in that direction. It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a Commission on foreign interference. It also serves the anti-India separatist agenda that the Trudeau Government has constantly pandered to for narrow political gains,” it said.
“To that end, the Trudeau Government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada. This has included death threats to them and to Indian leaders. All these activities have been justified in the name of freedom of speech. Some individuals who have entered Canada illegally have been fast-tracked for citizenship. Multiple extradition requests from the Government of India in respect of terrorists and organized crime leaders living in Canada have been disregarded,” MEA said.
With inputs from agencies
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