Nijjar killing: Trudeau walked into vote bank politics trap, says Amarinder Singh

Senior BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a "potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani terrorist in June.

Singh said the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey in Canada.

Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.

The former Punjab CM said Trudeau has unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.

"It was highly irresponsible for the prime minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote bank gallery,” said Singh in a statement.

He pointed out that it was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration had given a free hand to anti-India forces in Canada.

Indian missions there were attacked and diplomats intimidated but there was no corrective action by the Canadian government, he said.

"Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there," he asked, while adding, that Trudeau by levelling such allegations, is only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in Canada.

Singh said he had brought it to Trudeau's notice how Canadian land was being used against India.

He said when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018, in a hotel in Amritsar, he had shared all the information with him.

Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country, he said.

He said the reason he had refused to meet the then Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan during his India visit was because he was associated with the World Sikh Organisation which had a record of working against India.

The former chief minister appreciated the Union government's decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.

Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after a row erupted over the killing of the Khalistani terrorist, with Trudeau alleging the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" and New Delhi outrightly rejecting the charge as "absurd" and "motivated.