Credible Evidence Of India's Involvement In Nijjar's Killing: Canadian Sikh MP

A chief of Canada's New Democratic Party stated an apparent involvement of a foreign nation in the assassination of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh while addressing the media said, "As the prime minister shared publicly, there is Canadian intelligence which indicates that a Canadian citizen was killed on Canadian soil and a foreign government was implicated."

Singh's New Democratic Party is the fourth largest party in the House of Commons or Lower House of the Canadian Parliament.

Reacting to the allegations by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India, Singh said that his views were based on the intelligence briefing he received.

"This is unprecedented intelligence that has come forward and that is why we're going to continue to urge that the Canadian government have a thorough investigation that those responsible are brought forward," the NDP leader said.

Responding to a question, Singh said the United States has been very supportive of Canada's call for transparency from India. "We are going to continue to push for those things," he added.

He further said there is a very real fear of Sikhs being targeted in Canada.

"For a long time, members of the Sikh community have been targeted by actions of the Indian government and for a long time it's gone often unnoticed or unrecognised. For a lot of people hearing the prime minister of a G7 nation provide intelligence that connects the killing of Khalistani terrorist on Canadian soil by foreign government, really confirmed a lot of the fears that people have felt and has made those fears even more real and more tangible," Singh said.

He also claimed that many other Indian diaspora communities criticize the Indian government and its policies and share the same fear.

"I speak of other religious minority communities like Muslims, other communities that are oppressed like women and groups that are from low caste backgrounds or tribal backgrounds who've expressed very deep concerns about the treatment that they've received. They're also feeling that real sense of fear and worry," he said.

Tensions escalated between India and Canada due to Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau's accusations of possible involvement of Indian representatives in the assassination of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar, labeled as a Khalistani terrorist, in Canadian territory, specifically in British Columbia on June 18. Nijjar was identified as a terrorist by India in 2020.

In response to what it deemed as "absurd" and "motivated" allegations, India retaliated by removing a high-ranking Canadian diplomat. This action mirrored Ottawa's decision to expel an Indian officer over the same matter.

Meanwhile, India declared a temporary halt on visa issuance to Canadian nationals and has requested Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic representation in the country.