OTTAWA/NEW DELHI, Oct 30:
Canada’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison has told MPs that a senior official in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government is alleged to have authorized a campaign to intimidate or kill Indo-Canadian Sikh separatists, a news report said.
Morrison joined other senior officials testifying before MPs on the public safety and national security committee.
MPs on the committee are asking questions about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) shocking claim two weeks ago that agents of the Indian Government were complicit in widespread crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation, cbc.ca reported.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, the party’s public safety critic, led off the hearing with questions about information that the Canadian Government shared with the Washington Post.
The newspaper reported that Canadian officials identified Indian Home Minister Amit Shah as one of the senior officials who authorized intelligence-gathering missions and attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada.
“The journalists called me and asked me if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison said.
Before Tuesday, Canadian officials would only state on the record that the plot could be traced back to the “highest levels of the Indian Government.”
On Tuesday, Khalistani separatist group, Sikhs for Justice, issued a statement calling for the Indian Home Minister to be prosecuted.
“Amit Shah has weaponized India’s security agencies to hunt down and eliminate pro-Khalistan activists, even beyond India’s borders,” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the group’s legal counsel and prominent Khalistani extremist, said in the statement.
“The assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil is not just an isolated crime – it is part of a well-thought-out policy executed under Shah’s directives to crush the voices of Sikhs advocating for self-determination and justice.”
India has rejected Canada’s claim that it works with gangs targeting Sikh separatists.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme also testified Tuesday. He has said police evidence shows Indian diplomats and consular staff collected information for the Indian Government, which was used to issue instructions to criminal organizations to carry out acts of violence in Canada.
He said the Mounties also have assembled evidence of credible and imminent threats to members of the South Asian community, specifically members of the pro-Khalistan movement seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs.
On Thanksgiving Monday, the Canadian Government announced it had expelled six Indian diplomats – including the high commissioner, India’s chief envoy to Canada.
India has denied the accusations and swiftly retaliated by kicking Canadian diplomats out of its territory.
Duheme said police have warned 13 Canadians since September 2023 that they could be targets of harassment or threats by Indian agents. Police say some of those individuals have received multiple threats.
India has denied working with criminal organizations to target Sikh separatists in Canada and has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of having a “political agenda” behind the allegations.
(UNI)
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