Soft Pedalling Khalistani Extremism By Canada

Khalistani extremists have been operating freely from Canadian soil for nearly 50 years now in the garb of notions like ‘freedom of expression’, ‘political advocacy’ etc. Kanishka bombing perpetuated by Khalistani extremists way back in 1985 was one of the biggest terror attacks in the world in pre-9/11 era.  However, due to apparent lackadaisical approach of Canadian agencies, Talwinder Singh Parmar and his bunch of Khalistani extremists went scot free. Ironically, the same Talwinder Singh Parmar is now a hero of Khalistanis in Canada with ‘Sikhs For Justice’ /SFJ naming its campaign centre after him.

Over the period of years, Khalistani extremists got further emboldened and started operating with impunity from Canada. In the last decade, links of Canada based Khalistani extremists have emerged in more than half of the terror cases reported from Punjab. The multiple targeted killings of Sikhs, Hindus and Christians in Punjab after 2016 were the handiwork of Nijjar and his allies. But, Canadian agencies never ever started any inquiry or investigation against Nijjar and his friends Bhagat Singh Brar, Parry Dulai, Arsh Dalla, Lakbir Landa and many others. For Canada, they remain political activists despite increasing body count in Punjab.

Punjab today suffers heavily because of extortion rackets run from Canada. Canada based gangster bring drugs from Pakistan through drones and sell across Punjab. A part of this money goes back to Khalistani extremists in Canada. Even in Canada, many Khalistanis are part of the drug trade. Inter-gang rivalries among gangsters from Punjab are common in Canada now. It may be recalled that a pro-India Sikh leader Ripudaman Singh Malik was killed in 2022 in Surrey itself, a murder  which many say was orchestrated by Hardip Singh Nijjar. But, Canadian agencies did not show any urgency in finding the real people behind it and unravelling the real conspiracy. Two local criminals who were not of Indian origin were only charged in the case.

Soft pedalling of Khalistanis ensured that moderate and pro-India Sikhs were thrown out of all many big Gurdwaras in Canada by the muscle and money power of PKEs. Emboldened by their ‘rising clout’ in Canada, PKEs have started openly intimidating the minority Hindus in Indian diaspora in Canada and deface their temples. The recent open threats by Khalistanis to the physical security of Indian missions and diplomats in Canada is a very serious development and challenges obligation of Canada under Vienna Convention.  It appears that in Canada there are different scales for measuring Human Rights. Voices from Canada are very strong on even trivial issues in Punjab while there has been a complete silence on intimidation, violence, drug trafficking and extortion by PKEs sitting in Canada affecting both countries.