Canada has acquitted terrorist Sandeep Singh Sidhu alias Sunny Toronto, who is on the list of wanted terrorists in India. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was investigating terrorism charges against Sunny. The agency has given him a clean chit.
Sunny was stationed at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). He has been posted again to the post of Superintendent. Sunny is accused of killing India's Shaurya Chakra winner Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
Sandhu was a teacher by profession and anti-Khalistan. He was awarded the Shaurya Chakra in 1993 for fighting Khalistani militancy in Punjab in the 90s. On 16 October 2020, he was shot in front of his house in Bhikhiwind, Punjab and died.
Two people were arrested in this case. He said that Sunny Toronto asked him to kill Sandhu. He also named two more criminals Sukhmeet Pal Singh and Lakhvir Singh. Both are Khalistani activists.
Shaurya Chakra winner Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who was assassinated in 2020. Sandeep Singh Sidhu is accused of murder.
Also associated with ISI According to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Sunny Khalistani is associated with terrorists. He also has ties with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. There is also an allegation of collusion between Sunny and the ISI in Sandhu's murder. Sunny is accused of spreading terrorism in Punjab and having links with several Pakistani terrorists.
In October this year, the Indian government included Sunny in the list of fugitive terrorists. Sunny is also a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), a banned organization in India.
India and Canada have expelled each other's diplomats Amid strained relations with Canada, India on 14 October expelled six Canadian diplomats, including Acting High Commissioner Stuart Ross Wheeler. Earlier, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had also recalled its High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma. The action follows a letter from the Trudeau government, which said the Indian High Commissioner and several other diplomats were suspected of killing a Canadian citizen.
Canada's Deputy High Commissioner to India Stuart Wheeler is coming out of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Nijjar, a Khalistani militant who was a source of tension between the two countries, was killed last year
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated on 18 June 2023. In September, Canada's PM blamed India for the murder.
Nijjar was shot dead on the evening of June 18, 2023 while leaving a gurudwara in Surrey, Canada. On September 18 last year, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Nijjars, which India denied.
After this, on May 3, three accused of Nijjar's murder were arrested. All three accused are Indians. Canadian police said police had been monitoring him for several months. They believe that India assigned them the task of killing Nijjars. India then said in this matter that this is an internal matter of Canada.
Why is the Nijra issue important to Trudeau? Parliamentary elections will be held in Canada in October 2025. Khalistan supporters are considered a major vote bank for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party. However, just last month pro-Khalistan Jagmeet Singh's NDP party, which was part of the Trudeau government, withdrew its support.
The collapse of the coalition left the Trudeau government in a minority. However, in a majority test held on October 1, Trudeau's Liberal Party won the support of another party. Due to this, Trudeau passed the floor test.
According to the 2021 census, the total population of Canada is 3.89 crore. Out of which 18 lakh are Indians. This is 5% of the total population of Canada. Over 7 lakh of them are Sikhs, which is 2% of the total population.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
