Trudeau’s anti-Indianism is guided by sheer political opportunism

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is again up in political arms against India. While speaking at an event to celebrate the Khalsa Day, he witnessed and perhaps was happy to hear pro-Khalistan slogans. Trudeau remarked, “Our job is not to crack down on political protest.”

Of course, it depends on what kind of protests he and his Western allies would crack down or bless. It also depends whether an event is just a political protest or part of an exercise to promote separatism, spread hatred and parade propaganda materials. If it were a protest in Canada that aims at creation of a separate state in India by people who generally vote for Trudeau’s party, naturally he would refrain from cracking down and may, in fact, bless it with indirect support.

This statement of his may actually politically cost him, because all Sikh population in Canada are not votaries of separatism. But his main target is India and the Indian government, which is reflected in his statement on the sidelines of the event that he cannot ignore the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year that his government believes was engineered by the Indian government agents.

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The Khalistanis in Canada are certainly aware that Trudeau cannot materially assist their demand, but they are taking advantage of his anti-Indianism. Trudeau also knows that a new state of Khalistan is not going to emerge in India, yet he is using it as a political toll with a belief that his party or coalition partners may get Sikh votes.

What Trudeau is unable to realise is the fact that his political ambitions are threatening to severely disrupt friendly, cooperative and constructive ties between two resilient democracies—India and Canada. The reaction of the Ministry of External Affairs to Trudeau’s remarks amply amplifies this: “PM Trudeau has made such remarks earlier as well. His remarks illustrate once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence.”

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In addition, arrest of three Indian nationals suspected of involvement in the Nijjar killing could have been an internal law and order operation by the Canadian government, but the way it was reported and the manner in which the Canadian Prime Minister used it to score a political point also indicates the anti-Indian sentiment and actions by him. Trudeau said that this arrest was important because “Canada is a rule-of-law country” and it is committed to “protecting all its citizens.” Trudeau repeatedly views a declared terrorist Nijjar as nothing but a Canadian citizen. Trudeau believes separatist speeches are freedom of expression and individuals, who are declared as terrorists by India, cannot be considered terrorists until his government says so.

Had it not been for his anti-Indianism, the arrests of these nationals would not have been timed to be announced during national elections in India and a Prime Minister of the country would not be making a comment on an issue which is part of internal law and order proceedings. No wonder, Canadian police are yet to share the detailed information of the arrests with their Indian counterparts. This is not an example of cooperation between law enforcement agencies of the two countries; rather it showcases Trudeau’s determination to score political brownie points for domestic political purposes!

In the meantime, the Trudeau government released an interim intelligence report alleging Indian interference in Canadian elections. The timing of the release of this report is also part of the political strategy of Prime Minister Trudeau. This report interestingly accuses Pakistan and China along with India of seeking to influence Canadian elections. It concludes by saying that China is the “main perpetrator of foreign interference against Canada.” It says that there was no indication of Indian-based disinformation campaigns in the 2021 Canadian general election! This is a headline-grabbing release of a report amidst rising political differences between Trudeau and Modi governments. It orchestrates Trudeau’s series of perceived grievances and allegations against the Indian government.

The language of the report is also instructive. It says, “A body of intelligence indicates that Indian proxy agents may have attempted to interfere in democratic processes… to secure the election of pro-India candidates or gaining influence over candidates who take office.” That means there are no evidences and it is only a conjecture. The report may actually backfire, as it alleges that Canadian politicians may have received “illicit financial support.” It also says that in some cases the Canadian politicians “might never know their campaigns received illicit funds”! That means the intelligence report paints the Canadian politicians as vulnerable victims of external manipulations and, in fact, undermines their intelligence!

Prime Minister Trudeau during his visit to India at the time of farmers’ protest had not so secretly signalled his support to the protesting farmers and considered this “non-interference” in Indian domestic politics. And his government’s interim intelligence report believes that India “may have interfered” in Canadian domestic politics through clandestine means!

It is to be seen how Prime Minister Trudeau will react to World Report 2024 issued by Human Rights Watch. It is a long report and it lists several challenges of human rights violation by the Canadian government that include “wide ranging abuses against Indigenous peoples and immigration detainees, including people with disabilities….”

Trudeau has little compassion for exploited Indigenous people of Canada and others, but he is a champion of freedom of expression that may profess separatism in a friendly, democratic country. It is high time Prime Minister Trudeau rises above his personal political ambitions and stops the erosion of constructive ties between Canada and India. The current global challenges, including ongoing wars, potential flashpoints and conceivable rise in terrorism, will benefit from constructive cooperation between India and Canada.

The writer is founder chairperson of Kalinga Institute Indo-Pacific Studies and former Professor at JNU. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.