Amid tensions in India-Canada relations over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Prime Minister Trudeau’s former coalition partner New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh on Monday claimed that there is fear among Canadian Sikhs and urged the Canadian government to take action against India, specifically demanding diplomatic sanctions.
In a statement, he said, “We support today’s decision to expel India’s diplomats and we once again urge the Canadian government to impose diplomatic sanctions against India, ban the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) network in Canada, and seek the most severe punishment for anyone who participates in organised criminal activity on Canadian soil.”
Jagmeet Singh also said that his party is extremely concerned about the information released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which states that the Indian government is spreading terrorism on Canadian soil in connivance with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. He said that the people of Canada, especially the Sikh community in Canada, are surrounded by fear, threats, harassment and violence. This mainly includes extortion, violence and electoral interference, which is allegedly at the hands of Indian officials.
Jagmeet Singh further alleged that Canada has credible evidence of the involvement of Indian officials in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. ” The Narendra Modi government was involved in the murder of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil and the United States has already indicted several individuals for related crimes – yet the NDP struggled to include potentially subversive activity on India’s part in the scope of the foreign interference investigation.”
