‘No definitive connection’ between Nijjar killing and India, reveals Canadian report
A Canadian commission report has said there was “no definitive link” with a “foreign state” in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had claimed that they had credible evidence that agents of the Indian Government were involved in the murder of Nijjar in British Columbia.
The report titled “Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions” was released on Tuesday.
In the report, commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue said, “Disinformation is used as a retaliatory tactic to punish decisions that run contrary to a state’s interests.”
The report has suggested India spread disinformation on Nijjar’s killing.
“This may have been the case with a disinformation campaign that followed the Trudeau’s announcement regarding suspected Indian involvement in the killing of Nijjar (though again no definitive link to a foreign state could be proven),” the report said.
Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. The 123-page report also talked of expelling six Indian diplomats.
On Tuesday, India strongly rejected “insinuations” made against it in the report, which also accused New Delhi of interfering in Canada’s internal affairs. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that it is in fact Canada that has been “consistently interfering in India’s internal affairs”.
New Delhi has also alleged that Canada is aiding “illegal migration and organised criminal activities”.
Regarding the Indian diaspora, the Canadian report claims that “India’s activities primarily target 8,00,000 members of the Sikh diaspora in Canada and aim to promote a pro-India and anti-Khalistan narrative”.
The report alleges that India “may have attempted to clandestinely provide financial aid to candidates during the 2021 poll” and describes India as “the second most active country, after China, engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada”. (With PTI inputs)
