India rejected as “absurd and motivated” Canada’s claim that it was involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, instead urging the country to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating on its soil.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday that Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was assassinated outside a Sikh temple in June, was designated a “terrorist” by India in July 2020 for his support for a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent state of Khalistan.

“Similar allegations were made by the Canadian prime minister to our prime minister, and were completely rejected,” India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

“We urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,” the ministry said in a statement.

Such “unsubstantiated allegations” aimed to divert attention away from “Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been given shelter in Canada,” according to the report.

Sympathy expressed for such individuals by Canadian political figures was described as a “deep concern.”

On Monday, Canada also expelled India’s top intelligence agent in the country.

With approximately 770,000 people reporting Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census, Canada has the largest Sikh population outside of the Indian state of Punjab.

Khalistan is an independent Sikh state whose establishment has long been sought.

Info source – Malay Mail