Unfazed by Trudeau’s smear campaign, India to counter radical Khalistan movement globally
It has now been 17 days since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the Canadian Parliament to accuse the Narendra Modi government of ordering extra-judicial killing of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18.
The Modi government rejected the accusation on day 1 and asked Trudeau to provide legal evidence to back so-called “credible allegations.”
With each passing day it is now clear that Trudeau is an avid supporter of Khalistan movement and deliberately accused the Modi government in order to defame India and club it with other autocratic powers. While such support of Khalistan movement has not been given even by any Pakistani Prime Minister in the National Assembly, Trudeau’s charge against India was to ensure that Indian operatives come under scrutiny globally and find it difficult to operate in Anglo-Saxon countries.
That the Five Eyes alliance has leverage with the Khalistani extremists was quite evident when Sikh For Justice convenor Gurupatwant Singh Pannu was nowhere to be seen during the three days when PM Modi visited US this June. Mired deep into Gurudwara politics and radicalizer of Sikh youth in the name of getting them political asylum, Pannu was a key supporter of Nijjar with links to extremists in Pakistan and in European countries.
However, the Indian national security establishment is unfazed by the cooked up charges of Trudeau and is quite clear that it will globally counter the radical Khalistan movement globally within the ambit of international law. Since the Modi government had nothing to do with the gunning down of Nijjar, the establishment will continue to take action against Khalistani radicals if they pose threat to either Indian assets abroad or within India. From the present posture, it is evident that India is not backing down and will under no circumstances let national interests be harmed.
But the Indian political leadership is seething with rage over Trudeau’s pathetic attempt to defame the country and try to club it with countries like China or Russia or Turkey or Pakistan that physically neutralize threats in third countries. The US also exercises the same doctrine of preemption under a 2013 law cleared during the Obama administration.
While the Modi government knows that Trudeau made the allegation to cement his radical Sikh minority vote bank in greater Ontario, Vancouver and Calgary regions, it has decided not to give a free pass to the maverick politician soiling the reputation of world’s largest democracy at any cost.
Even though Trudeau now does not want to escalate the issue, New Delhi is prepared to match any escalation and will not allow a clever Anglo-Saxon politician to slander India’s reputation for his electoral politics. Trudeau either takes back his words publicly or risks the consequences of a bilateral relationship going into deep freeze. India’s bilateral relationship with Pakistan post Pathankot attack and with China post May 2020 transgressions could make a good case study for Trudeau.