CHANDIGARH: When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 16 deposes before a commission examining the extent of foreign interference in his country, he can be expected to play the familiar but discredited ‘good Taliban, bad Taliban’ card, though replacing the Taliban with the Khalistanis. He could also cite statements by the counsel for the proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and the allegations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the alleged Indian attempts to go after the Khalistanis in Canada.Significantly, the RCMP has not even filed a chargesheet in the Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case yet, said sources.The report of a ‘Public Inquiry into foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions’ released in May last, alleged that Indian officials, including Canada-based proxies, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians. “These activities include foreign interference, which aim to align Canada’s position with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan),” the report said.The report said, India views part of these communities as fostering an anti-India sentiment, and representing a threat to stability and national security. “India does not differentiate between lawful, pro-Khalistani political advocacy and the relatively small Canada-based Khalistani violent extremism.It views anyone aligned with Khalistani separatism as a seditious threat to India. Targets of Indian foreign interference are often members of the Indo-Canadian communities, but prominent non-Indo-Canadians are also subject to India’s foreign influence activities.’’ In other words, good Khalistanis, bad Khalistanis.
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