Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged within the killing of a Sikh chief in British Columbia in June, Canadian authorities introduced on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India of orchestrating the brazen killing, setting off indignant back-and-forth denunciations between the 2 international locations.
The case widened a rift between Canada and India and set off a political dispute between the 2 already apprehensive nations.
Here’s what we all know:
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and what occurred to him?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was born within the North Indian state of Punjab. After a number of unsuccessful makes an attempt to achieve entry to Canada, he moved there within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, in response to Indian information experiences, simply after a interval of Indian crackdowns on a Sikh separatist motion.
In Canada, Mr. Nijjar labored as a plumber, married and had two sons. He obtained Canadian citizenship in 2015, Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, stated on social media. In 2020, Mr. Nijjar turned the president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Mr. Nijjar was a self-proclaimed “Sikh nationalist who believes in and helps Sikhs’ proper to self-determination and independence of Indian-occupied Punjab by means of a future referendum,” in response to an open letter he wrote to the Canadian authorities in 2016. He was a key determine in British Columbia in rallying votes for a referendum in Canada supporting the institution of a nation known as Khalistan that features the northern state of Punjab.
The Indian authorities declared Mr. Nijjar a terrorist in 2020, many years after he left India. It accused him of plotting a violent assault in India and of main a terrorist group known as the Khalistan Tiger Drive. In Punjab, nonetheless, politicians and journalists asserted that regardless of the costs, many locals had by no means heard of him or his motion.
Mr. Nijjar was shot in June close to the Sikh temple that he led. Whereas investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police later stated he had been ambushed by masked males, they didn’t disclose if the assault had been politically motivated.
What is understood in regards to the arrests?
The three males in custody are of their 20s and have been arrested on Friday in Edmonton, Alberta. They have been charged with first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide. The police recognized them as Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreeet Singh.
The lads had been residing in Canada for 3 to 5 years and weren’t everlasting residents, the authorities stated.
A number of different investigations are ongoing and embody exploring the attainable involvement of the Indian authorities, stated David Teboul, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He added that the connection with Indian investigative companions had been a problem.
In saying the arrests, Canadian authorities cited the assistance of individuals within the Sikh neighborhood however didn’t present specifics.
What did Canada say?
In September, the Canadian prime minister informed lawmakers that “brokers of the federal government of India” had been linked to Mr. Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil.
Proof of the ambush was based mostly on intelligence gathered by the Canadian authorities, in response to Mr. Trudeau, who added that he had raised the problem instantly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India “in no unsure phrases” at a Group of 20 summit in New Delhi.
“Any involvement of a overseas authorities within the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Trudeau stated in September, including that Canada would strain India to cooperate with investigations into Mr. Nijjar’s demise.
Canada’s overseas minister, Mélanie Joly, additionally introduced that it had expelled an Indian diplomat, whom she described because the de facto head of India’s intelligence company in Canada.
How did India reply?
The Indian authorities vehemently denied the allegations by Mr. Trudeau. Mr. Modi “fully rejected” them, in response to India’s overseas ministry.
In a press release, the ministry workplace additionally spurned “any makes an attempt to attach the federal government of India” to Mr. Nijjar’s killing and known as the accusations “absurd.”
