On Saturday, 20th October, Canadian police once again attempted to needle India to secure Khalistani votes and issued a statement that there is no “imminent threat” to the public from India. The remarks by the police came days after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the country’s national police service, publicly accused “agents of the Government of India” of being involved in violent acts on Canadian soil, including homicides.
The RCMP’s top officials also accused Indian media outlets of presenting “false” reports on the matter and claimed that the Canadian police were trying to “correct the record.” The RCMP’s remarks against India came hours after the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, publicly accused the Government of India of being involved in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP, Brigitte Gauvin, said in a statement to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News, “There was no imminent threat behind the announcement.” The RCMP has claimed to be investigating “widespread acts of violence,” including the murder of Nijjar. In September 2023, Trudeau had accused Indian agents of being behind his murder, and since then, diplomatic relations between India and Canada have deteriorated without any sign of recovery.
In an interview aired on 20th October, on CBC, Gauvin claimed that a number of efforts were undertaken before going public against India, including the presentation of evidence to Indian law enforcement agencies and meetings between senior Canadian and Indian government officials. She further claimed that those efforts were “unsuccessful.”
Notably, in a recent release, India included the name of a Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) official on the list of wanted pro-Khalistani terrorists that India wants deported from Canada. According to media reports, Sandeep Singh Sidhu, a member of the banned International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), is employed with the CBSA. He was allegedly involved in promoting terrorism in Punjab.
India released the list with Sidhu’s name after the RCMP named Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats as persons of interest in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The RCMP has also claimed that the Indian Government has been using the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang for criminal activities in Canada.
