In a re­cent state­ment that has drawn in­ter­na­tional at­ten­tion, Cana­dian Prime Min­is­ter Justin Trudeau has re­it­er­ated his con­cerns re­gard­ing the po­ten­tial in­volve­ment of In­dian agents in the as­sas­si­na­tion of Khal­is­tani ac­tivist Hard­eep Singh Ni­j­jar on Cana­dian soil. This stance by the Cana­dian leader has once again placed the In­dian gov­ern­ment un­der scrutiny and has been met with ap­proval from Sikh groups ad­vo­cat­ing Sikh sov­er­eignty like the Dal Khalsa. WSN re­ports.

Express­ing be­lief in the ve­rac­ity of Trudeau’s re­peated state­ments, Dal Khalsa too has reaf­firmed its stance that the Cana­dian in­ves­tiga­tive au­thor­i­ties’ sus­pi­cions are gen­uine, notwith­stand­ing what­ever the In­dian High Com­mis­sioner to Canada Mr Verma may say. Dal Khalsa has pointed to­wards RAW -In­di­a’s in­tel­li­gence agency for be­ing re­spon­si­ble for the mur­der of Hard­eep Singh Ni­j­jar and has stated that this view­point res­onates within the Sikh com­mu­nity too.

In the wake of Trudeau’s de­c­la­ra­tions, the Dal Khalsa has openly crit­i­cized the In­dian gov­ern­ment for its lack of co­op­er­a­tion with the Cana­dian in­ves­ti­ga­tion. The lead­ers of Dal Khalsa have asked Canada that con­tin­u­ous re­fusal from New Delhi should lead Canada to con­sider bring­ing the mat­ter be­fore the In­ter­na­tional Court of Jus­tice.

Dur­ing his in­ter­ac­tion with the me­dia a cou­ple of days ago, Trudeau em­pha­sized Canada’s com­mit­ment to the rule of law, hint­ing at a larger con­cern that the dis­re­gard of in­ter­na­tional law by pow­er­ful na­tions could lead to a more dan­ger­ous global en­vi­ron­ment. This sen­ti­ment is echoed by the Sikh di­as­pora, which seeks jus­tice and ad­her­ence to in­ter­na­tional norms.

As In­dia con­tin­ues to main­tain its in­no­cence, it is time for Canada to take In­dia be­fore the In­ter­na­tional Court of
Jus­tice. 

Kan­war Pal Singh, Dal Khalsa

Dal Khalsa has since urged In­dian Prime Min­is­ter Naren­dra Modi to en­gage trans­par­ently with the Cana­dian au­thor­i­ties, a sen­ti­ment that was also re­flected by US Sec­re­tary of State Antony Blinken dur­ing his re­cent visit to Delhi. Blinken’s ad­vice for co­op­er­a­tion is a re­it­er­a­tion of the Cana­dian al­le­ga­tion and def­i­nitely puts pres­sure on In­dia to act promptly.

More­over, the Dal Khalsa has called upon Trudeau to en­sure that Ni­j­jar’s case reaches a con­clu­sive end. In re­sponse to In­dian High Com­mis­sioner Ver­ma’s claims of in­suf­fi­cient ev­i­dence pre­sented by Canada and its al­lies, Dal Khalsa said, “Per­haps it is time for the Cana­dian gov­ern­ment to start le­gal pro­ceed­ings against the al­leged mur­der­ers. Sikhs await its next move as that will counter In­di­a’s nar­ra­tive and re­veal its du­plic­ity.”

Dal Khalsa stands firm in its con­vic­tion that the mas­ter­minds be­hind Ni­j­jar’s as­sas­si­na­tion pose a greater threat than the per­pe­tra­tors of the act it­self.

Dal Khalsa stands firm in its con­vic­tion that the mas­ter­minds be­hind Ni­j­jar’s as­sas­si­na­tion pose a greater threat than the per­pe­tra­tors of the act it­self. The or­ga­ni­za­tion con­tin­ues to ad­vo­cate for jus­tice, urg­ing Cana­dian le­gal ac­tion and the pre­sen­ta­tion of ev­i­dence that could im­pli­cate those re­spon­si­ble for or­ches­trat­ing an ex­tra­ju­di­cial op­er­a­tion.

This se­ries of al­le­ga­tions and counter-al­le­ga­tions has sent rip­ples through the Sikh com­mu­nity world­wide. Many view the Cana­dian Prime Min­is­ter’s stance as a bea­con of hope for jus­tice and truth, while the Dal Khal­sa’s un­wa­ver­ing voice un­der such cir­cum­stances is seen as em­blem­atic of the Sikh spirit of stand­ing against op­pres­sion.