OTTAWA: Canada on Monday accused India's government of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader near Vancouver last June, and expelled New Delhi's intelligence chief in Ottawa in retaliation.
The accusations, which India rejected as "absurd," sent already sour relations between Ottawa and New Delhi to a dramatic new low.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency session of the parliamentary opposition at mid-afternoon that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the slaying of an exiled Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June in British Columbia.
"The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Trudeau said.
He called "in the strongest possible terms" on the Indian government to cooperate in clearing up the matter.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the Trudeau government had taken immediate action.
"Today we have expelled a senior Indian diplomat from Canada," she said, without naming the official.
Joly said the expelled Indian is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency, in Canada.
Nijjar, whom India had declared a wanted terrorist, was gunned down on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver that is home to a major Sikh community.
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside of Punjab, India.
Nijjar advocated for the creation of an independent Sikh state to be carved out of parts of northern India and perhaps part of Pakistan.
New Delhi had accused Nijjar of carrying out terrorist attacks in India, a charge he denied.
India's foreign ministry on Tuesday rejected Canada's claims of involvement in his death.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the ministry said in a statement, adding: "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
It said Trudeau -- who visited New Delhi this month for the G20 summit -- had already made similar allegations to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that they had been "completely rejected".
Tensions between India and Canada have been simmering over the unsolved slaying, and Indian unhappiness over how Ottawa has handled right-wing Sikh separatists.
New Delhi accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of Sikh nationalists who seek a separate Sikh homeland in northern India.
A former adviser to Trudeau, Jocelyn Coulon, asserted that Canada's accusation would have "the effect of a bomb around the world."
India will join "the group of nations that assassinate political opponents" abroad, much as Saudi Arabia orchestrated the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018, said Coulon, who is now an independent researcher.
Tensions between the two nations flared during the G20 summit.
Modi expressed "strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada" during a meeting with Trudeau, according to an Indian government statement.
India has often complained about activities of the Sikh diaspora abroad, particularly in Canada, which New Delhi believes could revive a Sikh separatist movement.
The Indian state of Punjab, which is 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu, was rocked by a violent separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, in which thousands died.
Canada also recently suspended negotiations for a free trade agreement with India.
Trudeau later told media that Canada would always defend "freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest" while acting against hatred.
Canada links India to slaying of Sikh exile, expels intel chief
https://arab.news/5qr9a
Canada links India to slaying of Sikh exile, expels intel chief
- Exiled Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in British Columbia in June 2023
- Relations between Canada and India over Nijjar’s killing have descended to a new low
Tensions flare in Minnesota as protesters and federal agents repeatedly square off
- The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense
- With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge
MINNEAPOLIS: Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration’s bold immigration sweeps.
The government’s immigration crackdown is next headed to a federal court where Minnesota and two mayors are asking a judge to immediately suspend the operation. No hearing has been set on the request.
Gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where Renee Good was fatally shot in the head by an immigration agent last week. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help while agents in an unmarked Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove away.
It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.
“Who doesn’t have a whistle?” a man with a bag of them yelled.
Brita Anderson, who lives nearby and came to support neighborhood friends, said she was “incensed” to see agents in tactical gear and gas masks, and wondered about their purpose.
“It felt like the only reason they’d come here is to harass people,” Anderson said.
Separately, a judge heard arguments and said she would rule by Thursday or Friday on a request to restrict the use of force, such as chemical irritants, on people who are observing and recording agents’ activities. Government attorneys argued that officers are acting within their authority and must protect themselves.
In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, students protesting the immigration enforcement operation walked out of school, as students in other communities have done this week.
With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge.
The lawsuit says the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and it must stop,” state Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said: “What we are seeing is thousands — plural — thousands of federal agents coming into our city. And, yeah, they’re having a tremendous impact on day-to-day life.”
Dozens of protests or vigils have taken place across the US to honor Good since the 37-year-old mother of three was killed.
Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, responding to the lawsuit, accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense. But that explanation has been widely panned by Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
Two Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts announced Tuesday they are sponsoring a bill to make it easier for people to sue and overcome immunity protections for federal officers who are accused of violating civil rights. The bill stands little chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress.
In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is proposing that the state ban civil immigration enforcement around courthouses, hospitals, health clinics, schools, churches and other places. She is hoping to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, who is not running for a third term.
“We can take a look at that, but I think banning things absolutely will ramp up the actions of our folks in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said, referring to the Trump administration. “They don’t tend to approach those things appropriately.”
