Dr. Jai Narayan Vyas
Relations between Rata and Canada have been steadily deteriorating for some time now. Canada has asked Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner of India, to leave Canada after a Sikh activist was killed on Canadian soil, alleging that India is involved in crimes like extortion and extortion. In response to this, India also ordered the persons working in the Canadian Embassy to leave India immediately. Canada's move has added fuel to what has been strained relations between India and Canada for some time. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations against India have put a strain on the friendly relations between the two countries. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was the head of a Sikh Gurdwara in British Columbia, was gunned down on June 18, 2023. Hardeep Singh was in favor of separating Khalistan from India and creating a separate country for the Sikhs. During September, 2023, the Canadian Prime Minister made a serious allegation in the Parliament of Canada that those who killed Hardeep Singh were working on behalf of the Indian government. However, the Indian government, giving a strong response, rejected the allegation of involvement in this murder. The Indian government also alleged that by doing so, Trudeau is working with the political intention of appeasing the Sikh community living in Canada. Hardeep Singh came to Canada in the mid-1990s when the Indian government was conducting massive raids and arresting suspects to break the backbone of the Khalistan movement. He got Canadian citizenship in 2015 and became the president of the Gurdwara in 2020. Nijjar was a self-styled Sikh nationalist. According to him, the Sikhs had the right to establish their own country by seceding from the Indian state of Punjab. In the year 2020, the Indian government declared him a terrorist. (Decades after leaving India!) He was accused of running terrorist activities in India and leading the 'Khalistan Tiger Force'. However, Canada does not consider him a terrorist. In global politics, a terrorist of one country becomes an ordinary citizen of another country. Zakir Naik, who is wanted in India, has been granted citizenship by Malaysia, and recently visited Pakistan as a state guest. Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world. During 1970-80, the movement of Sikhs to create a separate country was going on in Punjab and all over the world. The movement eventually turned violent and India stepped in to suppress it with a firm hand. In 1984, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, sent military forces to the holy shrine of Sikhs, the 'Golden Temple', and ordered to destroy the rioters hiding there. Hundreds of people were killed in this. Later that year Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard. As a result of this violent agitation against Sikhs spread especially in North India. Sikh society does not support this kind of violent movement in India, but especially Sikhs living in Canada, Australia and Britain are more fanatical on this issue. As far as Canada is concerned, many people from the Sikh community have migrated and settled in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, the percentage of Sikhs living in Canada was 2.1, the largest percentage of the Sikh community living in any country outside India. India says that Canada should monitor the activities of Sikh extremists living there. Some like Hardeep Singh were intensively planning for the outbreak of violence in Punjab and the consequent creation of a separate state of Khalistan. India has held Trudeau responsible for sympathizing with Sikh extremists. Relations between India and Canada have deteriorated to their present state, which is unlikely to change as long as Trudeau's party and the government under his leadership are in power in Canada. Diplomatic relations with India's neighboring countries are not very good, and India has to deal with the Sikh community living in Canada and influencing the government there in terms of numbers and political class, not by force, but by skill. India is the most populous country in the world and the fifth largest economy in the world, if India does not take action, the consequences may come. Now America is also alleging that India tried to kill Hardeep Singh and in this regard, when the charge sheet has been filed in the court there, India has pushed ahead with talks through neutral countries that have influence on both sides, before the situation gets worse and gets out of control. A solution has to be found. A very large number of students from India go to Canadian universities to study and the number of non-resident Indians living in Canada including Sikhs is also good so that they are not left alone and are not made targets of any kind of discrimination or attack, it is also in the interest of India. It is imperative that any impression that India is involved in the killing of an American or Canadian citizen is resolved at the earliest through diplomatic channels or through backdoor diplomacy. It is said that Balhath, Rajhath and Strihath cannot be solved easily. If Trudeau's adamant attitude is considered a factor in this direction, on the other hand, as this has become a question of reputation for India, it is difficult to predict how far the relations between the two countries will be blurred. }
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
