Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killing: India Puts Focus Back On Khalistani Separatist Groups Operating From Canada
As the unprecedented diplomatic row with Canada continues to boil, India has doubled down on the allegation that Ottawa has failed to crack down on Khalistani groups operating from its soil.
Khalistan separatists in Canada??
According to Indian officials, some nine pro-Khalistani outfits, including the World Sikh Organization (WSO), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), are operating freely from Canadian soil.
The separatist organisations were openly issuing assassination threats, fuelling separatists' agenda and carrying out targeted killings in India, they said.
How Khalistani terrorist's killing became a diplomatic row?
Relations between the two countries, which have been straining over some time, hit the rock-bottom on Monday after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an Indian-born Canadian citizen.
Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India for his association with Khalistani groups like SFJ and KTF, was gunned down in June in the city of Surrey, British Columbia.
Who was?Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Nijjar, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh, was born in Punjab on November 10, 1977, and was affiliated with the now-banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was arrested in the mid-1990s. He managed to get bail and fled India on February 19, 1997, by assuming a fake identity of Ravi Sharma and securing a travel document in that name.
Why?Hardeep Singh Nijjar was declared a terrorist?
In 2013-14, Nijjar visited Pakistan, where he met Jagtar Singh Tara of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), wanted in the assassination of Punjab's former chief minister Beant Singh. During that period, he was roped in by the ISI, which helped him organise secret training camps for Sikh extremist groups associated with the Khalistan movement in Missigen Hills, British Columbia.
Nijjar, who was designated as a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry, was also accused of working closely with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) led by Jagtar Singh Tara. He has been associated with Dal Khalsa leader Gajender Singh, a key accused in hijacking an Indian Airlines flight in 1981.
His name figured in the most wanted list handed over by then Punjab chief minister Captain Amrinder Singh to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018.
The officials said that Nijjar and criminals like Arsh Dalla were generating vast amounts of funds for anti-India activities by various means, including drug money and finances from Gurdwaras.
What Canadian authorities did?
Following the explosive allegations made by PM Trudeau in the Parliament, Canadian authorities also expelled a top Indian diplomat from the country.
The diplomat has been identified as Pavan Kumar Rai, who is said to be the Canadian station chief of India's intelligence agency RAW.
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