Trudeau Accuses India

 

Hardeep Singh Nijjar

If the Indian government was involved in murdering a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly alleged, it is a very serious matter.

Accordingly, it is a very serious allegation, one the Indian government has denied. India is an important country, the second largest in the world, and the world’s largest democracy. It is a fellow member of the Commonwealth. It is increasingly important not only for trade, especially as the West is trying to decouple from China, but also vital to the other democracies as a potential military ally against China. We cannot afford to pick quarrels with India. It is madness to pick fights with India, unless we are very sure of our allegations.

And Trudeau has no proof—only “credible allegations.” That, in the world of normal diplomacy, is not enough to go public as he has. 

Murder is murder, and people are people, but it is also perhaps worth noting that Trudeau seems to be inflaming the incident by referring to Hardeep Singh Nijjar as a Canadian citizen. It is unclear that he is. He entered Canada illegally on a forged passport in 1997. He then applied for refugee status, and was refused. Eleven days later, he married a Canadian women—what looks like a marriage of convenience. She sponsored him for citizenship. Again he was refused. So it seems he was still in the country illegally when murdered.

He is also, for what it is worth, claimed by India to be the leader of the Khalistan Terror Force and involved in various terrorist acts in that country. He is the subject of an Interpol “notice,” whatever that means.

So he may or may not have been a dangerous criminal. This surely gives the Indian government reason to want to kill him; but it also means people other than the government of India might have had motives for killing him.

Trudeau is acting recklessly.

I suspect it is designed to draw attention away from China’s interference in Canadian elections, and Trudeau and the Liberals’ collusion with that hostile foreign power.

At the same time, it panders to Canada’s large and politically active Sikh population. At Canada’s expense.

The opposition parties sadly will be obliged to play along with Trudeau. Otherwise, they look disloyal. 

It looks to me like an ugly, cynical play.