“JUSTIN Trudeau hasn’t always been right on India. But he is this time,” writes the Toronto Star, one of Canada’s leading newspapers, in its editorial. The statement represents the sentiments of the country.

“The details are stunning. Eight people have been charged in Canada with homicides (although the exact number of deaths being investigated was not revealed) and 22 are charged with intimidation, coercion, harassment, and uttering threats. Since Trudeau first went public with allegations that the Indian government was complicit in the murder of Hardeep Singh Najjar… police have warned 13 Canadians from the South Asian diaspora that they are potential targets of Indian agents,” it explains.

While testifying before the Hogue Commission of Inquiry into foreign interference earlier this week, PM Trudeau said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was committed to disrupting the chain of activities that was resulting in drive-by shootings, home invasions, violent extortion and even murder in and across Canada, particularly in the South Asian community — largely Sikh, but not exclusively the Sikh community.

In recent months, a growing number of extortion cases, mainly targeting South Asian-owned and operated businesses, were also reported in local media. But all such victims were not necessarily of Indian origin.

With most major political parties and ‘Five Eyes’ allies backing it, Ottawa seems resolved to not blink first

The Canadian PM also underlined that Ottawa opted to go public only after its behind-the-scenes efforts to avoid a public feud with New Delhi failed.

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Interestingly, despite the deep political divide in the country, and federal elections anticipated to be called anytime, there seems a sense of unity on a single-point agenda: Canada cannot allow such activities on its soil.

Foreign interference is already a touchy subject: in Sept 2023, the Canadian government established the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.

It was mandated with investigating whether China, Russia and other foreign actors may have interfered with the country’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Five Eyes support

While the US decision to charge former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav for a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist in New York has definitely upped the ante, Canada’s concerns are shared by other members of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence network, which is openly standing behind the Trudeau government on this.

British and American government officials have repeatedly called on India to cooperate with the ongoing Canadian investigation into allegations of a coordinated intimidation and homicide campaign, with the US State Department calling the allegations “extremely serious.”

New Zealand has also spoken publicly on this issue, which is something of a rarity. Its Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued a statement this week, saying: ’Canada had shared details about the latest criminal investigations, and that “the alleged criminal conduct outlined publicly by Canadian law enforcement authorities if proven, would be very concerning.”

Political spectrum galvanized

New Democrat Party leader Jagmeet Singh, told reporters after an unclassified security briefing on the diplomatic row between Canada and India that the Modi government is “engaging criminal elements in Canada to perpetrate violence against Canadians including …. shootings at Canadians’ homes, killing Canadians, shooting at Canadian businesses, shooting Canadian communities”.

Local media is also reporting that Jodhveer Dhaliwal, a brother-in-law of Jagmeet Singh was also warned by police in May this year of a possible threat to his life.

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Jagmeet recommended the federal government immediately ban the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which he termed “a right-wing extremist militant group from India that has branches in other countries, including in Canada, that promotes violence and division”.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who also received an unclassified briefing on the issue, termed the RCMP allegations on India “extremely concerning”, underlining foreign interference must stop and criminal prosecutions should proceed against “anyone and everyone who has threatened, murdered or otherwise harmed Canadian citizens.”

The Conservatives are traditionally regarded as pro-India, and recent polls indicate that Poilievre could very well be the next prime minister of Canada.

Opinion writers are also standing behind the government: India crossed a red line and Canada had to respond decisively, argued Vincent Rigby in Globe and Mail, Canada’s leading national daily.

Comparing the Indian reaction to Canadian allegations, Toronto Star columnist Martin Regg Cohn says that when the US blamed India, “the sounds of India sucking and blowing at the same time are impossible to miss.”

“India is playing the game, because it dare not antagonise America. Canada. however, is expendable — a middle power with no military clout, as desperate as any other Western country to maintain commercial ties with India — which is why India is making an example of us.”

In another opinion piece in the Globe and Mail, titled, ‘This is not a diplomatic spat: it’s state terrorism, and Canada is right to call it out’, columnist Andrew Coyne bluntly asks: “What ‘relationship’ can there be with a government that murders our citizens? Those who counsel timidity in the name of pragmatism, keeping up appearances even as the hit squads are roaming about the countryside, are fooling themselves. If Canada cannot at the very least stand up and call this out, we are only inviting more such contemptuous treatment.”

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2024

Header image: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, takes part in a press conference, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Oct 14, 2024. — Reuters