In its bid to subtly remind Canada of the danger of yielding space to the separatists and extremist elements, India announced that it would organize a memorial service for the victims of the bombing of Air India’s Kanishka aircraft by the Sikh separatists in June 1985. India’s decision comes after the Canadian Parliament observed a moment of silence on the first death anniversary of the Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed by unknown gunmen on June 18, last year.
The tensions between the two countries have turned sour ever since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau made allegations regarding India’s involvement in terrorist Nijjar’s death, which were dismissed by New Delhi as “absurd” and “motivated. The latest incident, which comes merely a couple of days after PM Narendra Modi flagged the issue of rising sikh separatism in Canada to PM Trudeau at the G7 meeting, adds to the already tense situation between Ottawa and New Delhi.
To counter the menace of terrorism and closely work with all nations to tackle the global threat of Sikh separatism, the Indian embassy in Vancouver announced that the consulate would organize a memorial on June 23 to mark the 39th anniversary of the cowardly terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182 (Kanishka). A total of 329 innocent people lost their lives, of which 86 were children in the most heinous terror attack by the Sikh separatists.
Notably, the concerning incident in Canada comes just a couple of days after Canadian PM Trudeau remarked that he had a brief interaction with PM Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, where the two leaders had an ‘alignment’ on several ‘big issues’. Trudeau had also asserted that he saw an ‘opportunity’ to engage with the PM Modi Government on fostering economic ties and regarding concerns about national security.
Sikh separatist Nijjar, for whom the Canadian House of Commons held a moment of silence, is accused of carrying out various terrorist activities in India, including the ones involving murder and sedition. The Interpol had in 2014 and 2016 issued Red Corner Notices against him on India’s request for his alleged role in killing six people in a blast at a cinema in Ludhiana in Punjab in 2007, while the US had put him on the ‘No-Fly’ list in 2019. Notably, besides honoring the terrorist, some separatist radicals had assembled in front of the Consulate General of India in Vancouver and held a mock trial for the killing of Nijjar.
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