Canadian opposition leader asks govt to revoke Khalistani terrorist Nijjar’s citizenship, says Trudeau using his murder to….

Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, said the Canadian government must posthumously take away the citizenship of Khalistani extremist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, asserting that he (Nijjar) was a “foreign terrorist” who was inexplicably granted Canadian citizenship in 2007.

A senior Canadian opposition leader has asked the Justin Trudeau-led coalition government to posthumously revoke the citizenship of slain Hardeep Singh Nijjar and accused the Prime Minister of using the Khalistani separatist’s murder to divert attention from other controversies surrounding him.

Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, said the Canadian government must posthumously take away the citizenship of Khalistani extremist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, asserting that he (Nijjar) was a “foreign terrorist” who was inexplicably granted Canadian citizenship in 2007.

Nijjar, a ‘foreign terrorist’, not Canadian

Bernier said Nijjar, the central figure in the India-Canada diplomatic row, used fraudulent documents to claim asylum in Canada several times and was somehow granted citizenship in 2007

“One myth should be dispelled though: That the central figure in this controversy, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani militant who was murdered last year, was a Canadian. He was actually a foreign terrorist who used fraudulent documents to claim asylum in Canada several times starting in 1997. His claims were rejected but he was nevertheless allowed to stay in this country and was somehow granted citizenship in 2007,” he said.

Bernier said Canada should have deported Nijjar after his first fake asylum claim. “He (Nijjar) was not a Canadian. Canada should perhaps posthumously take away his citizenship to right this administrative error,” he asserted.

“All this is happening because Canada has for decades deliberately invited these foreigners and their tribal conflicts into our country. We should recognise this major blunder and work with the government of India to find solutions instead of jeopardising our relations with a rising world power and an important ally over this issue,” he added.

The Canadian politician’s remarks came days after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Monday said it had six Indian diplomats, including the Indian High Commissioner, as “persons of interest” in Nijjar’s June 2023 assassination. The RCMP claimed to have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.

Commenting on the allegations, Bernier said; “if true, allegations made by the RCMP and the Liberal government that Indian diplomats participated in criminal activities on our territory are very serious and should be dealt with.”

However, he asserted that the Trudeau government has not given any substantial proof so far and the PM is “clearly using this crisis to divert the attention from other controversies”.

India-Canada row

India-Canada diplomatic ties have taken a nosedive since Prime Minister Trudeau alleged in September 2023 that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist, who was shot dead by masked gunmen outside a gurdwara in in Surrey, British Columbia in June that year.

India has vehemently rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd” and criticized his government for being soft on Khalistani supporters living in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

Earlier this week, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, following which Canada, in a tit-for-tat move also ordered six Indian diplomats to leave the country.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)  said India received a “diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country”.

“We have no faith in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the government of India has decided to withdraw the high commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” the MEA said.

(With inputs from agencies)