One assassination in broad daylight in Canada, and one diabolically hatched up plan to assassinate another person in America, which seemed to have botched up badly. In both cases, important Sikh separatist leaders are involved. In both cases, the Indian government’s hand is involved, it is alleged. And in both cases, relations seem to have become bitter between the governments of the three countries, leading to a big diplomatic tussle, and much embarrassment for the BJP regime in Delhi.
In both cases, indeed, the murky episode is followed by total denial by the Indian government and the promise of a high-level inquiry. In both cases, the western powers and western media, have very seriously noted, that if the allegations are correct, then there is a major foreign policy shift, when it comes to India. They seem to be now doing what Russia, Israel and China have been doing in the past, especially Russia.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia had a one-off case when they butchered a high-profile journalist Jamal Khashoggi right inside their consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was a Saudi dissident journalist. He was seen on camera as entering the consulate, but never emerged out from it again. He was allegedly killed in cold blood by a team of experts dispatched from Riyadh. The sensational murder, with his wife making serious allegations against the Saudi crown prince, boomeranged on the monarchy, and was big news in the western and global media for months.
Besides, Israel has a track record of sinister assassinations since the beginning of the occupation – inside Palestine, in Jordan, and especially in Iran.
Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered by armed assassins, as he came out of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada on June 18, 2023. Several bullets were pumped into his body as he sat in his SUV. After a long controversy, and much hullaballoo, four Indian nationals have been recently arrested on the charges of murder. The latest is Amandeep Singh, 22, who has been already under custody of the Regional Police in Ontario on firearm charges, not related to the case.
The media in Canada reported that the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) of the province, has claimed that their investigations into the case has led to ample evidence to charge and prosecute this Sikh youth. The charges related to first-degree murder and the conspiracy to commit murder. Amandeep Singh reportedly lived in and around Surrey, Abbotsford, Brampton and Ontario in British Columbia. The three others picked up are all Indian nationals: Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh. They were arrested in Edmonton and charged with first-degree murder and the conspiracy to commit murder.
The murder was given a diplomatic twist when Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, came out in the open in September 2023, taking his allies in the West and India by surprise. He declared that “agents of the government of India” had carried out the assassination of a Sikh community leader in British Columbia. Speaking at the House of Commons, he said that he had raised the issue with Narendra Modi G-2- meet “in no uncertain terms.” He claimed that his allegations had been substantiated by the Candanian intelligence agencies.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” he said. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Canada had expelled an Indian diplomat whom she described as the chief of India’s intelligence agency operating in Canada. For all counts, these were real serious charges made from the highest quarters from a top western ally in the backyard of the USA.
India’s foreign ministry, predictably, rejected the allegations as “absurd” and politically motivated; it retaliated by saying that Sikh extremists have been given shelter in Canada. It also sought to expel a Canadian diplomat, in a typical tit-for-tat syndrome.
Another heady international twist arrived, and this time involving America, almost like a diabolical, best-selling crime-thriller. A top Sikh separatist ideologue, branded as a terrorist in India, was at the centre of a complex and long-winding assassination plot – again, allegedly, involving Indian agents. This murky affair, documented with evidence by the top brass of the American regime, fell in line with the murder of Nijjar.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun holds an American and Canadian passport. Video and other evidence was recorded in the plot to kill him – with Nijjar’s case being shown as a tactical role model. Undercover American agents were involved, and this time too, Indian agents, allegedly linked to the Indian government (with no evidence, as of now) were involved. It was a big expose and the Americans made no bones about hiding the details – their big guns taking it up directly with the top brass of the Indian establishment.
Political observers were quick to claim that now the Americans would use their usual carrot-and-stick policy – nudge India to take action, while keeping mum otherwise. In that way, they would keep the Indian regime on tenterhooks – even going to the extent of using it for American geopolitical interests in the sub-continent, especially against a muscle-flexing China. That is, America desperately needs India to counter China in the region. Hence, this undercover operation, with Indian agents involved, would help them to get India to do their bidding.
Add to it, a big investigative disclosure by the ‘Washington Post’ recently, and the entire waters seem to be turning muddy. The ‘Post’ squarely named a top RAW official in this plot to kill Pannun. It followed up with an editorial asking India to come clean on the whole shady affair.
The External Affairs Ministry, in April this year, rejected the report. They called it an “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” intervention on a “serious matter” that is under investigation. The official spokesperson said that the report was “speculative and irresponsible”.
“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. There is an ongoing investigation of the High-Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful.”
Meanwhile, in a dark irony, and in a totally surprising twist, Russia has entered this international crime thriller. In an unprecedented move, the Russians accused the Americans of meddling in India’s internal affairs while parliamentary elections are going on. It said that Washington has not given any substantial evidence to prove the charges listed in the ‘Washington Post’. This was nothing but an attempt by the White House to complicate the election process with “regular unfounded allegations”, they said. (Ironically, similar charges were made against the Russian establishment during the 2016 elections, with Putin apparently playing a shadowy backroom game to create a political advantage for his ‘buddy’ Donald Trump. One example was the leaked emails from the private server of Hillary Clinton during the polls. She was contesting against Trump as a candidate of the Democrats.)
Indian parliamentary elections are now in full swing. And Joe Biden is in deep trouble with mass protests erupting across American campuses against Israeli divestment in the university system, while demanding an immediate ceasefire, a total stoppage of American arms and money to Israel, and an end to the genocide in Gaza, this entire affair of one murder, and one conspiracy to murder, in foreign lands, has taken a back seat. However, there is no reason that these cases will not surface yet again, after June 4. As is the saying goes in old-fashioned crime fiction, no one really knows how and when the mystery will be solved — in the final instance.