Trudeau finds no takers in Canada for his allegations against India

New Delhi: Even Canadian opposition leaders are not ready to take on face value the country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nil-on-evidence 'credible allegation' that Indian agents were behind the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

Canadian Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre asked Trudeau to provide more information about the allegations.

Nijjar was killed by two gunmen outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18 this year. He was the president of the Gurdwara. 

Poilievre said Trudeau shared the same information privately which he later announced in the House of Commons. 

“The prime minister needs to come clean with all the facts. We need to know all the evidence possible so that Canadians can make judgments on that,” Poilievre was quoted as saying in the Canadian media.

Clearly, local politics has played a key role behind Trudeau’s unprecedented but nil on evidence allegation on Nijjar’s killing. 

Poilievre also underlined the “real” risk if the allegations turn out to be false.

Trudeau ditched by his allies & now by his own people. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre says 'Trudeau needs to come clean with the facts' on India standoff adds 'He didn't inform anyone when he had evidence of Chinese interference Canada'

A class Clown! #Canada #JustinTrudeau pic.twitter.com/VMCVPfWVQw

— H G Tannhaus (@tannhaushg) September 19, 2023

An opinion piece in the National Post claimed that the timing and delivery of these revelations are highly suspect.

Opinion writer Tasha Kheiriddin wrote that in comparison Trudeau has been on the defensive about foreign interference in Canadian elections by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was reported that China was removing dissidents from Canadian soil but Trudeau didn’t go to the length of calling out China and just the issue “concerned us enormously”. 

Kheiriddin listed out possible reasons for Trudeau’s sudden outburst. 

His party is trailing Polievre’s conservatives by 14 points and the opposition was ready to attack the PM on the issue of housing and inflation. But as Trudeau spoke about foreign interference, Poilevre held his attack before raising pointing questions on the PM statement the next day. 

Trudeau’s ally and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was equally happy with the PM’s performance. 

The Trudeau government is dependent on his support to keep his coalition government in power. And, China also turned out to be a winner in the matter as it was no longer focused on the debate in Canada over foreign interference. 

Kheiriddin also pointed out that Trudeau’s so-called revelation is going to embolden Khalistani elements in Canada, besides creating a further divide between Hindu and Sikh communities in Canada. 

The performance of Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly was equally suspect. She said she would raise the allegations with her country’s G& allies ahead of the UN general assembly in New York slated for this week. But interestingly added: “If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other.”

The Canadian media was quick to point out that the caveat of “If proven true” was strange and leaves a doubt on the credibility of “credible allegation”. 

Clearly, Trudeau has harmed the Indo-Canadian relationship more than anyone and it will be difficult to repair it now for decades. 

So far, only Khalistani terrorists accused of orchestrating murders and bombings in India were screaming about Indian involvement in Nijjar’s killing but it seems that the Canadian PM has decided to side with them.