NEW DELHI — The Canadian government has now alleged on Tuesday that Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah was behind the plots to target Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.
The Igovernment of India has dismissed Canada’s earlier accusations as baseless, denying any involvement.
According to The Washington Post newspaper, Canadian officials alleged Shah was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Khalistanis in Canada.
Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison said to a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that he told the US-based newspaper that Shah was behind the plots, Reuters reported.
“The journalist called me and asked if it (Shah) was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee, without providing further details or evidence. The High Commission of India in Ottawa and the Indian foreign ministry had no immediate comment, says the report.
Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan to be carved out of India. An insurgency in India during the 1980s and 1990s killed tens of thousands.
That period included the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left thousands dead following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards after she ordered security forces to storm the holiest Sikh temple to flush out Sikh separatists.
Canada in mid-October expelled Indian diplomats, linking them to the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India also ordered the expulsion of Canadian diplomats.
Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma was declared a “person of interest” by Canada on October 13 in its investigation into the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who has been declared a Khalistani terrorist by India.
Before Canada could take further action, New Delhi recalled Verma and five other diplomats, who were also similarly named.
Beside Canada, Washington has also earlier charged a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen and Indian critic in New York City. — With inputs from Agencies
