Canada Confronts India Over Alleged Assassination

from The New York Times I'm Sabrina. tavernisi and this is the daily. [Music]. the relationship between two Democratic. allies fell to its lowest point in. history this week after Canada accused. India of being involved in the. assassination of a Canadian citizen on. Canadian soil. today my colleague South Asia bureau.

chief mujib Michelle on this stunning. allegation and on what India's reaction. tells us about the era of its leader. Narendra Modi. [Music]. it's Thursday September 21st. [Music]. so mujib tell me about the accusations. that Canadian Prime Minister Justin. Trudeau made on Monday.

prime minister Trudeau got on the floor. of the parliament Monday afternoon Mr. Speaker. today I'm rising to inform the house. of an extremely serious matter and he. said he had something very serious to. share over the past number of weeks. Canadian security agencies have been. actively pursuing credible allegations. of a potential link. between agents of the government of. India and the killing of a Canadian. citizen that his government had.

information. linking agents of the Indian government. with a killing of a Canadian citizen on. Canadian soil. and he named the individual Hardeep. Singh nijar Hardeep Singh Najar it is. contrary to the fundamental Rules by. which free open and Democratic societies. conduct themselves and Trudeau was very.

visibly incensed and he made clear that. this was an issue the Canadian. government was taking very very. seriously that it was a matter of a. breach of Canada's sovereignty 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 and this was a. hugely explosive moment because here was. the Prime Minister of Canada leveling.

a huge accusation against one of its. allies right the leader of One democracy. accusing another democracy of a killing. like this it just doesn't happen usually. if a state wants to get someone in. another democracy they go through legal. channels they ask that state to. extradite the person they don't just go. into another democracy's territory and. kill someone because that would just be. incredibly destabilizing for the world.

it's rare it's very rare and it's. associated with governments that are not. seen as Democratic and it is definitely. not been associated with India and with. India's security agencies so the fact. that the accusation came from the. highest level of the Canadian government. that this was the Prime Minister of. Canada putting his own face on this. accusation and making the accusation. from the floor of the parliament made.

clear how big of a deal this is and how. much is stake in the relationship. between these two countries. so what do we know about what Trudeau is. alleging here I mean what details do we. have about this killing so the details. are very very limited what we know is. that in June. missing ajar was in the parking lot of. this Temple he was associated with. and two masked gunmen came up to him and.

shot him and that the masked gunman then. got away in a vehicle. and Mr nijad was dead obviously it. caused a shock in his community and. there were reactions to his murder. but whether it was a political killing. or anything else remained a mystery at. the time. so Trudeau's speech this week was the.

first time we heard a formal allegation. and what do we know about this man that. Trudeau says the Indian government. helped kill we know that he was 45 years. old that. that he had moved from the Indian state. of Punjab to Canada in 1990s and that at. some point during his time in Canada. after he settled there he worked as a. plumber that he was very heavily. involved in his local Sikh community and.

that in 2020 he actually became the head. of a local Sikh temple in Surrey in. British Columbia and so it was clear. that he had some stature in his. community there and that he was very. involved in advocacy but that advocacy. that he was involved the Indian. government actually sees that as. terrorism oh wow okay so so talk to me.

about that. so the cause that Mr Najar was. advocating for is called khalistan which. is basically. the creation of a country an independent. country. for the Sikhs. from what is the Indian state of Punjab. and this cause has been around for. decades actually it goes back to the. moment that India was partitioned when. the British colonial rule ended India.

was divided into a nation for the. Muslims which became Pakistan and the. Sikhs in Punjab they stood up in. sections of the Sikhs stood up and said. we want similarly another country along. religious lines for ourselves called. khalistan and the Sikhs are a religious. minority in India but in this one state. in Punjab there are majority so they. wanted to turn Punjab into an.

independent nation called khalistan and. that wasn't something that they got at. the time but this cause remained as an. Insurgency in it climaxed in a very. violent period in the 1980s in Punjab. and what happened in the 1980s. so The Advocates of khalistan grew. Bolder in the 1980s. [Applause]. group of armed khalistani militants.

moved into the golden temple which is. the holiest site of Sikhism in Punjab. they barricaded themselves in there and. Indira Gandhi who is a prime minister. she was known as The Iron Lady of India. and for Mrs Gandhi's government that. wasn't a friend that she wanted to crush. and so she's sending the Commandos to.

clear them from the temple. [Music]. foreign. [Music]. appeared to have settled over the Golden. Temple but close up the effects of the. 10-day Siege between Sikh extremists and. soldiers were apparent but that resulted. in hundreds of people dead inside the. temple two corpses had to be retrieved.

from the sacred Lake which must now be. drained and refilled and that really. incensed a lot of The Wider seek. population the feeling was that Mrs. Gandhi had used disproportionate. violence in how she cracked down on that. and that her government had moved. Against The Wider Sikh population rather. than this small extreme minority that. wanted an independent country and as she.

was on her way one morning leaving a. residence to her office to seek. bodyguards basically stepped in and shot. her dead. [Music]. as the country started 12 official days. of mourning violence mixed with grief. and that Unleashed. a period of. widespread indiscriminate violence. against Sikhs in India scores of cars.

belonging to Sikhs were burned most taxi. drivers in Delhi are Sikhs proving easy. targets for angered Hindus and the. ruling party at the time the congress. party was complicit in this because they. made it clear that this was revenge for. the assassination of Mrs Gandhi and it. was pogroms basically in Sikh. neighborhoods all the men in the houses. were dragged out knifed and set on fire. those who resisted were hacked to Pieces.

the Army is out in force trying to keep. what piece they can in a city and. Country sliding terroristic close to. Civil War and that period of the 80s has. remained a wound that the community. carries. [Music]. so there's this explosive. period of violence against ordinary. Sikhs people who had nothing to do with. the political demands of the movement. what happens with the movement after.

that. well the movement is actually largely. crushed in India and in Punjab in. particular but what we see in that. period also is a increased migration out. of India because on the one hand India's. economy was struggling at that time so. there's a lot of economic migration but. a lot of it seeks from Punjab leave with. this wound that the Indian state was.

prejudiced against them so a large. number of Sikhs start settling in. countries like Australia the US the UK. but particularly in Canada because the. Canadians had changed their immigration. laws that become much more open I think. since the late 60s and 70s so a large. number of Sikhs settle in Canada to a. point that Canada is the second place. after India but the largest Sikh. population in the world wow so what. happened was that although this cause of.

separate autism was squashed in India. the sentiment remained alive. in these diasporas among parts of the. Sikh community that settled there. so Najar is an example of this he moved. to Canada in the 1990s he was a leader. in the Sikh community and supported the. creation of an independent state so what. was he actually doing to further that so.

one of the main things that he was. involved in was this idea of a. referendum for kawestan so this is. basically a vote on Canadian soil. for the creation of a Nation out of a. piece of India so it has no bearing on. the ground in India right but it was. basically a tactic to try to keep as. many Sikhs interested in this idea of an. independent nation as possible to get.

them to actually do a Ballot Box to vote. for this imagination right and so when. the Canadians are seeing his activities. they see you know a man running around. with pamphlets and organizing and. mobilizing voters most of it sort of. feels under protected speech in Canada. right right he's just doing vote. activity he's just doing vote activity. yes for an idea that is separatism but. it's an idea right but what the Indians. see is not just a non-violent protest. movement for this cause they see a.

movement that is tied to a lot of. violence in fact in the 1980s it was. members of this movement that blew up an. Air India a flight that had taken off. from from Canada and was flying to. London midair and causing the deaths of. more than 300 people and people like Mr. Najar in more recent years they the. Indian government have accused them of. of having roles in violence and bombings.

and in in killings in India the Indian. officials say that we've expressed this. to Canadians repeatedly to a point that. a couple years ago the Indians declared. them a terrorist and that they had. wanted his extradition from the Canadian. government so it was two different. narratives around the same men. so I guess it kind of makes sense why. Trudeau would have suspected India of. killing nejar but.

did Trudeau offer any proof that it. actually was India like when he gave his. announcement in Parliament what evidence. did he show. so that's where the problem is he didn't. offer any details. there's been no proof for evidence. that's been offered publicly. and. India has unequivocally denied this they. said this is not what we do. but they're also saying that there are.

terrorists that there are Terror. sympathizers on Canadian grounds and the. Canadian government is not taking any. action. [Music]. so this is all cause this diplomatic. role now where the Canadians expelled a. senior Indian Diplomat in reaction the. Indians expelled the senior Canadian. Diplomat and trade ties between the two. countries have been paused their travel.

advisories flying left and right and the. relationship between these two countries. is the lowest it's ever been. [Music]. right back. so would you you described India's. response to Trudeau's allegation which. was essentially they're denying it. they're saying absolutely this was not.

us but at the same time they're saying. Canada is Sheltering terrorists. so what does that dual response reveal. about India in this moment. in many ways it's a reflection of. domestic politics in this country. Prime Minister Modi has projected this. image of a strong man protector of the. country and to do that you usually need. a threat that you're protecting the.

country against. and that's been very beneficial to him. in 2019 when he was struggling. politically what helped him gain a. sweeping victory was this bombing that. happened in Kashmir and it was tied to. Pakistan and he created a whole. nationalist movement against that and he. won sweepingly so his solid position at. the top has as much dependent on.

protecting against threats and khalistan. this idea of kalistan fits nicely in. that as well we've seen in the past two. three years it's actually come very. handy that in the biggest political. challenge Mr Modi faced in his 10 years. in power was this Farmer's protest a. majority of those farmers were Sikhs. from Punjab they were just average. citizens of India protesting against a.

farm bill that they didn't agree with. but when Mr modi's officials did was. often they labeled those Farmers as. kalistanis essentially as as separatist. terrorists so it left the sense that. sometimes the government wants to stoke. the extent of this threat. because it feeds into the political need. of of a threat to to protect against and.

now as this episode plays up there's an. election coming up in a few months where. Mr Modi is Seeking a third term and it. increasingly appears that in in the. election season this will be a. conversation as well. but what you know is accusing modi's. government of is not using rhetoric to. excite his base he's accusing modi's. government of murder of killing a. Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.

absolutely but. the accusation of this violence doesn't. actually put off. Modi supporters and how it plays out in. the domestic politics here and why is. that because the Hindu nationalist. Vision that has brought Modi to power. in that Vision there is this idea that. for a long time because of Muslim. invasions because of the British. colonial rule Hindus were emasculated in.

this country now that they've had a. chance to reshape this country that. needs to be a strong Vision where. violence actually does have a role. that you do use violence to pursue your. goals and to show strength Modi embodies. that personally in in how he projects. that strength but using violence as a. tool for power is very clearly.

vocalized in that Vision that this. accusation that modi's government may. have done this if anything would help. politically rather than hurt. saying that. any repercussions domestically because. the accusation of violence itself. doesn't hurt Modi if one was to read the.

reaction over the past couple days in in. the domestic debate here that is exactly. the point you'll be left with that that. violence doesn't hurt him that violence. furthers cements His image of a strong. man who would use any tool. to protect this country. but what about the response outside of. India I mean what about India's Western. allies say isn't there a risk that this.

could cause some response on their part. sanctions you know punishment of some. sort. well actually the response has been. pretty muted even among these countries. known as the five eyes essentially. partners of Canada that Canada shares. intelligence with the United States. Australia the UK when we thought that at. least the Canadians would have shared. the evidence they have but those. countries and would see a strong.

reaction their reaction has been muted. as well they have been saying we are. concerned but we'll see where the. investigations lead they're not coming. out as unequivocally as Canada would. have hoped in a large part of that. reason is from the US to the UK to. France and Germany everybody's trying to. court India in this moment of huge. tensions with China the West has been. looking to India as sort of a.

counterbalance and that need is so. massive that a lot of these Western. Powers have been looking away from some. of the things that India has been doing. so that has created the sense of. confidence for India that we're so. indispensable. not just because of that counter balance. to China but also because of a rise as. an as a large economy that we can get. away with a lot that a lot of things. that would ruffle feathers in the past. might not do so anymore and how muted.

the response of some of these Canadian. allies have been over the past couple. days only plays into that Indian. confidence more. I mean listening to you talk about this. it also sounds like Canada's prime. minister Trudeau is kind of out on his. own here no one's coming out and. supporting him he's alone absolutely and. this will test. how far prime minister Trudeau pushes it.

because he's put his reputation on the. line. and his convincing powers of how much he. can rally his allies. will be tested here. because the Indian pushback has been. very obvious. there hasn't been a sign that the Indian. government wants to cooperate in the. face of such a major accusation so now. that prime minister Trudeau has gone all. out with it it is a test of what can you.

really achieve with it. so stepping back here. investigations like this of course can. take years and we may never know the. answer to whether India was behind The. Killing. but in some ways Modi may have just. learned. that in effect. he could get away with it that the wrath. of what the Western allies would not. come crashing down on him. because of where India is in the world.

right now it's economic promise it's. counterbalance to China. these things. in some ways give it a kind of get out. of jail free card. exactly exactly and and even this moment. of pushing back against Canada's. accusation is almost being seen in India. and by the India's government as a way. of proving your strength at the world.

stage right now. that we are positioned so strongly with. ties to the powers that we can get away. with anything. this may be overcoming an accusation. or it may be actually a hand in. committing a murder we don't know which. one it is but even overcoming this. Canadian accusation is being used as a.

point of showing strength. thank you. thank you. [Music]. we'll be right back.

here's what else you should know today. the fix is in there's one investigation. Protecting President Biden there's. another one attacking president Trump. Justice Department's got both sides of. the equation covered during a heated and. partisan Hearing in Congress on. Wednesday House Republicans pushed. attorney general Merrick Garland to. explain what they see as the unfair ways. in which his office has handled the. federal prosecutions of former president.

Trump and President Biden's son Hunter. Biden I guess I'm just wondering Mr. Attorney General. has anyone at the department told. President Biden to knock it off with. Hunter our job in the Justice Department. is to pursue our cases without reference. to what's happening in the outside world. just yes or no have you done that is. what we do so it's a no no one that I. know of has spoken to the White House. about the hunter Biden case wondering. okay.

did by Republicans as he testified told. them that his office has never. interfered in the hunter Biden. investigation and has followed the. letter of the law in its prosecution a. former president Trump I am not the. president's lawyer. I will add I am not congress's. prosecutor justice department works for. the American people our job is to follow. the facts and the law. that is what we do.

and with coveted infections on the rise. the Biden Administration will spend 600. million dollars to revive a program that. offers free covet tests through the mail. starting on Monday of next week every. American household can begin requesting. up to four tests at covetests.gov. today's episode was produced by Asta.

chaturvedi Rob zipko Eric kropke and. will Reed it was edited by Lisa Chao and. MJ Davis Lynn contains original music by. Alicia baitu and will Reed and was. engineered by Chris Wood our theme music. is by Jim brunberg and Ben lanswork of. wonderly. [Music]. thank you. [Music]. that's it for the daily I'm Sabrina.

tavernice see you tomorrow. [Music].