Decoding Justin Trudeau's Dangerous Double Standards

As tensions between Canada and India continue to escalate, a most incendiary climax was reached on November 3, when a group of pro-Khalistan supporters attacked a Hindu temple in Brampton, Canada, during the holy Diwali weekend.

They weren’t the first pro-Khalistan displays of power and intimidation in Brampton either, with previous shows and parades and even a celebration of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in the recent past.

After all, this was to be expected after so many months of Canada’s diplomatic confrontation with India, a “democratic ally.” This has quite predictably resulted in a Canadian government granting free access to pro-Khalistan groups to carry out their violent, tyrannical and oppressive actions against Hindus in Canada.

All this following the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist, officially categorized as a terrorist by the Indian government, in Canada. In a shocking international diplomatic incident, Canada has had the audacity and audacity to suggest that the Indian High Commissioner to Canada and other high-level diplomats are “persons of interest” in relation to a crime committed in the country. That too, without a shred of evidence other than vague insinuations of ‘intel’.

India has hit back and rightly claimed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s actions appear to be motivated by vote bank politics. Since his term began in 2015, electoral banks have encouraged Canadian political parties to adopt policies of appeasement towards the Sikh community due to their significant financial political donations.

Under Trudeau, pro-Khalistan emotions and actions have been used for political gain. After the 2015 general election in Canada, when the Liberal Party won a majority of 184 seats in parliament, there were 18 Sikhs among them, four of whom were appointed to the cabinet. Sikhs’ growing representation in parliament and their significant financial power have now led to a particularly partisan involvement of this community by Trudeau and his government.

India has long been asking Western governments to crack down on the separatist movement in Khalistan, but their pleas have been largely ignored as the movement does not directly target them. However, the West does not realize that the Khalistan movement in India in the 1980s was one of the deadliest in independent India, claiming more than 25,000 lives.

Canada, of course, has a long history of harboring extremists, terrorists and propagators of organized crime.

In 1982, they refused to extradite Talwinder Singh Parmar, the founder of the Babbar Khalsa International Terrorist group responsible for the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The extradition request was, incidentally, rejected by Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau.

In 1987, Canada and India entered into a bilateral extradition agreement that allowed the requested state to refuse extradition if the crime was a political crime or not committed in good faith. This included crimes such as hostage-taking and terrorism. Pleas were repeatedly made to the Canadian government regarding the extradition of Sikh extremist Nijjar, but these were never fulfilled.

The absolute refusal to extradite a terrorist raises several questions regarding double standards and realpolitik.

But beyond the politics and personal ambition, does Trudeau understand the full consequences of his actions? Does he realize he’s endangering Canadian citizens? Indo-Canadians in Canada, but also Canadians around the world, in such a highly charged political environment?

In Canada, local Hindus are now terrified of venturing into pro-Khalistan hotbeds like Brampton and Surrey. Given all the recent violence, this is by no means an unfounded fear.

The fear among Indo-Canadians is palpable, which is an obvious outcome when the country’s Prime Minister publicly says things along the lines of: “India is bad, India is dangerous, they send criminal gangs….”

Moreover, it has now become necessary to acknowledge Trudeau’s double standards here. The Globe & Mail recently revealed that two of Trudeau’s top aides, Nathalie Drouin and David Morrison, both federal officials, leaked “classified intelligence” about India to the Washington Post.

What exactly this “intelligence” said or proved is anyone’s guess, beyond shadowy accusations and accusations.

The same Trudeau denounced the leaks to China, calling them “illegal.” It is now widely acknowledged that Beijing “clandestinely and deceptively” interfered in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections.

The interference would favor candidates aligned with Beijing’s strategic interests, discouraging support for the Conservative Party, which is widely seen as anti-China.

The CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) announced these findings in their 2023 report. A Trudeau minority government, China’s desired outcome in Canada, was of course achieved.

This is also the same Trudeau who called Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to condemn Hamas’ attacks on Israel, while also reaffirming Canada’s support for Israel and their “right to defend themselves against acts of terror.” Words about India also slipped in, about the diplomatic ties between the two countries and the importance of the ‘rule of law’ and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

He also once again called on UAE President Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahain to condemn Hamas’ actions and provide an update on Canada’s ongoing diplomatic battle with India.

It’s almost laughable: the hypocrisy here. Calling up leaders in the Middle East and showing concern about a war on their doorstep, but also inserting a childish complaint along the lines of, “Hey, you know what India is doing to us?”

So what is Trudeau playing at? It is a question that needs to be asked, even in the name of patriotism and good governance. His extreme and sometimes irrational hostility towards India has long been evident. His cabinet has long included people who openly have extremist and harmful intentions against India.

His stark and unqualified interference in Indian domestic politics, especially in December 2020, was ridiculously outrageous and very clearly reflected his real intentions.

His expulsion of top Indian diplomats and allegations against the Indian High Commission will also undoubtedly lead to a breakdown in visa procedures for citizens, travelers and Overseas Citizen of India card holders as communications between the two High Commissions have been halted.

Tensions between India and Canada are currently at an all-time high, and New Delhi has made it clear that its patience with Canada is on very thin ice. One thing needs to be made crystal clear to Trudeau and whomever it concerns: it is not the Sikh community in Canada that India has a problem with; it is the Khalistani terrorists who pose a threat to India’s national security.

The author is a freelance journalist and writer from Delhi. Her main areas of interest are politics, social issues, climate change and lifestyle-related topics. The opinions expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.