Former B.C. premier speaks after alleged Indian involvement in Sikh leader’s death

India suspended all visa services in Canada Thursday as a diplomatic rift continues to widen between the countries’ governments.

It’s the latest move in reaction to Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s allegations that Indian agents may be connected to the killing of a local Sikh leader in Surrey in June.

On Wednesday, India issued a travel advisory for its citizens in Canada because of “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes,” adding that “threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose anti-India agenda.”

Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat, with India following by expelling a Canadian diplomat on Tuesday.

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Former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh has weighed in on the Prime Minister’s allegations, calling the killing of Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, condemnable.

“The Government of Canada must have the evidence to back up the allegations it has made. If the allegations are true, that’s absolutely serious. I mean that’s international lawlessness. I don’t support it, I don’t condone it, but India has legitimate reasons to not trust Mr. Trudeau,” said Dosanjh, who is a vocal critic of the Khalistan movement.

“Mr. Trudeau’s government, according to public information, prevented the govern of India’s representatives from talking to people to dissuade them – to wean them away – from this Khalistan policy,” Dosanjh told OMNI News, asserting that it was done at the behest of the leadership of various Sikh temples that had met with federal government representatives.

“If that is the case, that is not appropriate. If India wants to talk to the diaspora that is trying to create problems for them but talk to them peacefully, what’s wrong with that? That’s not internal interference in Canadian affairs, that is just trying to alleviate a problem that India has.”

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Dosanjh also claimed Canada’s “hands aren’t clean” in the government’s approach towards India.

“They have never urged Canadians to not try and dismember a friendly country. You can say, as Canadians, we have freedom of expression, but you can also say we don’t support what you’re asking for.”

Dosanjh urged Trudeau to provide more information after the Prime Minister revealed Monday he had received “credible intelligence” suggesting “agents of the government of India” were involved in the shooting of Nijjar.

“I say to Mr. Trudeau, give us the goods. Tells us who murdered Mr. Nijjar. You say you have the evidence, then you must know who pulled the trigger unless you say these were Indian agents who flew in and then flew out of Canada after committing murder. Unless that’s the case, give us the goods.”

Nijjar was working to organize an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora on independence from India at the time of his killing. He had denied India’s accusation that he was a terrorist.

Demands for an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, started as an insurgency in India’s Punjab state in the 1970s that was crushed in an Indian government crackdown that killed thousands. The movement has since lost much of its political power but still has supporters in Punjab, where Sikhs form a majority, as well as among the sizable overseas Sikh diaspora.

–With files from The Canadian Press