Attack on a temple and Indian community members in Brampton on Sunday has confirmed that Canada under PM Justin Trudeau will continue to provide impunity to Khalistani elements
Throughout the diplomatic spat with Canada, PM Modi maintained a dignified silence.

Justin Trudeau on the other hand jumped up and down, addressed the press on numerous occasions, accused India in the parliament, begged global leaders for support, desperate to prove that India was behind the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

He got nothing but a few words of solace. No nation truly believed him and backed him. None was willing to confront India, aware that Trudeau was on a slippery ground.

There was silence from PM Modi even when India and Canada removed senior diplomats from one another’s soil. All comments flowed from MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and EAM, Dr S Jaishankar.

Canada’s desperation
Desperate for more attention, the Canadian government attempted to draw in India’s Union Home Minister, Amit Shah into the spat. Again, a zero as no nation backed Canada. On the contrary, Trudeau was laughed at.

PM Modi first tweeted when Khalistani elements attacked the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton. He tweeted, “I strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a Hindu temple in Canada. Equally appalling are the cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats. Such acts of violence will never weaken India’s resolve. We expect the Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law.”

Modi’s call on Ottawa “to uphold the rule of law” in his tweet served as a reminder to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to practice what he has been preaching. Sheltering Khalistani separatists, deliberately ignoring New Delhi’s 25 extradition requests for wanted criminals and surveillance of Indian diplomats hardly align with the rule of law that the Canadian PM swears to uphold.

The MEA too responded with equal force. Its statement read, “We call on the Government of Canada to ensure that all places of worship are protected from such attacks. We also expect that those indulging in violence will be prosecuted. We remain deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian nationals in Canada.”

India is going all guns blazing at Canada while Ottawa ducks and waits for the impact of the incident to recede.

Trudeau’s biased approach  
It is evident that diplomatic ties will remain in limbo for some time to come and India will not back down, unless the Canadian government changes or apologizes. India will seek justice and punishment for the perpetrators, while Canada will claim it is its internal matter.

India must demand a joint probe with the Canadian authorities on similar lines as they are demanding on the Nijjar case. India now has the upper hand.

Trudeau and his colleagues in Canada, including the opposition leader and members of his government, too tweeted on the incident. There was no comment from the Canadian foreign office. Politicians from Canada, who tweeted, did so solely on the attack and freedom of worship.

Not a single statement mentioned dealing harshly with those behind the attack. They could not, after all, it had the backing of Trudeau’s government.

While Trudeau praised the Peel police for its actions, others accused the same police of biases. Hindus and Sikhs jointly protested the next day across Canada against the prejudiced approach of the Peel police.

The event in the Temple was organized by the High Commission to assist Indo-Canadians in resolving their problems and was attended by members of all communities, including Canadian Sikhs.

Notice of the event was given to the Canadian government. Its failure to prevent the violence was a display of the leanings of the police, which is to back Khalistan supporters.

Canada, which had been seeking support for its accusations of India began facing global anger. Australia was the first to condemn the incident. Its Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, said, “Vandalism should be dealt with by appropriate law enforcement authorities,” words which no Canadian leader has yet mentioned. Others would follow suit.

Canada has a 2% Sikh and 3% Hindu population. The number of Sikhs supporting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s Khalistan demand are just a few thousands. Majority have no interest in the movement, are hardworking and seek to provide for their families. Many have close links with India.

Media limelight is grabbed by these few uneducated and unemployed protestors, forcing the common individual to stereotype Sikh residents of Canada. The close relationship within the Indian expatriate community is now damaged solely because of Trudeau’s fight for political survival.

Trudeau’s appeasement politics
Trudeau backs those supporting the Khalistan movement, mainly for political survival. He would now face anger from the rest of the Indian community. In forthcoming elections, both Trudeau and his sole supporter, Jagmeet Singh would be ignored by the Indo-Canadian community. 

Trudeau, instead of projecting ‘Canada first’ has been playing ‘protect my chair,’ and has ended up damaging Ottawa’s reputation and global standing.

However, there is possibly a far deeper conspiracy than just simple violence by a few supporters of a so-called Khalistan. The entire focus of the Canadian government in drawing India into the limelight, is to shift the blame from Chinese interference in Canadian politics to Indian.

Relations between China and Canada had plummeted to new lows with the detention of the Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada in Dec 2018, on the request of the US. In retaliation, China arrested two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, in Beijing. All were released near simultaneously after almost three years.

Since then, Beijing has been accused of interfering in Canadian politics. Reports mention China having blatantly interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections as also having established illegal police stations in Canada to monitor its expatriate community. 

Chinese interference is currently being debated in Canada’s parliament. By blaming India for Nijjar’s killings, the focus has shifted from China to India. This benefits Trudeau politically.

Conclusion
The other reason is the intent of the Pakistani deep state, exploiting Canada, to create a rift within the Hindu and Sikh communities in both Canada and India. An attack on a Hindu temple by just a handful of Khalistan supporters will be seen by many as being an attack by Sikhs, ignoring the fact that majority Sikhs have no interest in the movement.

In future, all Khalistan protests will be resisted by pro-India supporters in equal measure. Violence will flow on Canadian streets. This will damage Canada’s global reputation and further sink ties between the two states. Trudeau would possibly end up as the worst PM of Canada, even worse than his father, Pierre Trudeau, who botched up the Kanishka probe. 

*** The writer is a security and strategic affairs commentator; views expressed here are his own