Diplomatic spat

Canada and India's diplomatic spat could lead to a formal rupture in their otherwise cordial ties

Canada and India are in a diplomatic spat. The brawl is gathering momentum, and there is much potential that it could lead to a formal rupture in their otherwise cordial ties. The issue at hand pertains to Sikh insurgency movement, and the soft corner that it has attained across the landmass of Canada. According to estimates, there are more than 770,000 registered Sikhs in Canada, and they are one of the largest diasporas concentrated across the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb, has ignited an embarrassing situation for both the countries, and a follow-up tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats has now triggered a real bilateral crisis.

New Delhi on Tuesday served a communique asking a senior diplomat to leave the country within five days. It is not sure whether the sermon pertains to the High Commissioner in India or one of his aides. This was prompted as Ottawa shunted out India’s top intelligence agent in Canada, accusing him of involvement in the murder of Hardeep, who was campaigning for a separate Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state. The Sikh leader was designated by India as a ‘terrorist’ in July 2020. The levelling of charges came from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the floor of the house, who went on to describe the alleged Indian involvement as “an unacceptable violation of sovereignty”. Though India has rejected the charges, the crisis is now full-blown as both the states are treating it as an inviolable part of their nationalism.

This crisis indicates that India, of late, has been in rough waters when it comes to attending to the rights of its Sikh populace, and Canada is the second offshore station to feel the pinch after Australia. Mass Sikh protests Down Under, coupled with clashes among Indians themselves, is an indicator of brewing social discord, and that a sizeable population of India is not on terms with what India encapsulates as secularism. So are the fissures with other minorities across India, and the tragedies of Manipur and Kashmir are cases in point.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2023.

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