Khalistan narrative is back with a bang via Canada close to 2024 Lok Sabha polls in India as two countries expel diplomats
Khalistan narrative is back with a bang via
Canada close to 2024 Lok Sabha polls in India as two countries expel diplomats
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
With parliamentary elections a few months away in
2024, India’s relations with Canada enter troubled waters on the issues
relating to Sikh religio-political discourse revolving around sovereign Sikh homeland
of Khalistan in Indian Punjab.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after returning
from India where he participated in G20 conclave but received cold, has kicked
up storm by revelation in Canada’s House of Common’s saying he had credible
information that India could be linked to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep
Singh Nijjer who headed a gurdwara in Sikh dominated Surrey in British
Columbia. India had declared him a wanted terrorist.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the
killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of
our sovereignty”, Trudeau told Parliament on Monday adding, “In the strongest
possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with
Canada to get to the bottom of this matter”.
It is pertinent to mention that India has been
accusing Canada of encouraging the Sikh separatists by allowing them to stage
protests in India. Canada has defended saying the country allows democratic and
peaceful activity on its soil. Similar argument has also been extended by UK to
similar protests by India where too the Sikh separatists have been active.
India rejected as “absurd and motivated” the
allegations levelled by Trudeau.
Within hours, both countries expelled each other’s diplomats
with Canada taking the lead.
Here is an important dimension cited by CBC News: “A
senior government source told CBC News that Trudeau has briefed the leaders of
some of Canada’s closest allies about the case, including UK Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.D. President Joe Biden.”
What is all the more important is that Trudeau had
conveyed the accusation “personally and directly to prime minister Modi” and
India’s security agencies during his G20 visit.
This means India could have been apprehending this
information being made public by Trudeau, especially after he was met with
total indifference.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Dal Khalsa
and Akali Dal (Amritsar) had staged protest in Amritsar on July 1 last with
banners that accused India as suspect in Nijjer’s killing.
As per the media reports, Canada is a member of Five
Eye group of countries that share intelligence. The other four are USA, UK,
Australia and New Zealand.
Al Jazeera has quoted United Kingdom saying “It is in
close touch with Canadian partners about “serious allegations’ from Ottawa that
the Indian government was involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in
British Columbia province earlier this year”. Similarly, Australia and USA too
have expressed “deep concern”.
The important dimension is both long term and short
term impact on geo politics of this storm that has been kicked up. India is not
only the biggest democracy by sheer volume but also one of the biggest markets
for the developed nations. Moreover, India has been perceived as balance to
geo-politics against China that has been expanding its area of influence. Modi
has been projecting India as Vishwaguru. The developing situation is a set back
to that projection.
The immediate issue is that of potential of Khalistan
factor to shape up electoral narrative in the run up to the forthcoming parliamentary
elections in 2024.
The Khalistan issue can play its role in the mobilization of a section in
support of Narendra Modi to neautralise the non-political factors like
inflation that too can play key role in shaping the voter behaviour.
The Sikhs as a community are in a unique position. The birth place of this
fifth largest religion is in Pakistani Punjab. Canada is now the next
destination of the people from Punjab in general and the Sikhs in particular.
Punjab is the state that is going to be directly
affected.
The basic issue, however, that is revival of Khalistan
narrative that was perceived to have gone into hibernation.
This issue never died out and there are reasons for
it.
The issues that are associated with the struggle that
started in Punjab in 1980 are still alive.
The government of India has not come out even with the
basic information as to how many people were killed in the avoidable army
attack code-named Operation Bluestar on the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple)
complex in June 1984.
The initiative for closure has to come from the
government.
The minimum that the government can do is to
declassify entire record from 1978 to 1992 relating to this struggle.
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