View: How Trudeau’s allegations over Nijjar killing exposes Western double standards

When Amit Shah was the President of BJP and still to join the Narendra Modi government as Union Home Minister, he was called upon by the then US Ambassador to India at his then Akbar Road residence. The US diplomat was treated with respect and courtesy by the top BJP leader till such time he chose to discuss the human rights situation in India at that time. Not one to take things lying down, Shah told the diplomat that the US had absolutely no right to preach on human rights after the extermination of Indian natives by white immigrants in the 18th century. The conversation ended at that very moment.

The same Western hypocrisy stands exposed today when Canada and its iron brother US are out hunting for straws to prove that Indian agents were behind the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 at Surrey in British Columbia. While the clever-by-half Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the help of his principal advisor and Khalistan proponent Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party (NDP) has already indicted India without evidence, Anglo-Saxon brother US is collating “humint, techint and sigint” to help Canada put India in the dock. The propaganda media in the US and Canada describe Nijjar as merely an outspoken proponent of Khalistan, the dossier handed over to Ottawa and to Washington runs into tens of pages with no less than 10 FIRs filed against the terrorist who was targeting Indians in Bharat through contract killing. Consider this:

Nijjar (passport number GC 835662) was a plumber in Surrey who manipulated with other radicals to become the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara that openly displays images of Khalistan terrorists of the past decades including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was an operative of the proscribed Babbar Khalsa International who joined KTF after terrorist Jagtar Singh aka Tara became the self-styled chief of the KTF in 2013. Thereafter, Nijjar visited Pakistan to hold meetings with Tara and ISI officials in 2013 and 2014 to strengthen KTF and organise terror activities in Indian Punjab. He was actively involved in spotting, networking, training, financing and operationalizing the KTF module members.

· In 2014, at the directions of Nijjar, Surjit Singh Kohli, a Canadian national, visited India and motivated Parminder aka Kala and a former BKI terrorist to kill Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarwala and Shiv Sena leader Sanjeev Ghanouli. It was Nijjar who provided contract killing funds to Parminder Singh via Kohli to purchase locally made weapons in 2015.

· In December 2015, Hardeep Nijjar organized an arms training camp in Mission Hills, BC, Canada. He imparted training to Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal and other youth in firing AK-47 rifles, sniper rifles and pistols. In 2016, he sent Dhaliwal to kill Shiv Sena leaders in Punjab but the man was arrested by Punjab Police and the plan was foiled. Mandeep Singh was arrested in May 2016 and an FIR was registered under sections 124-A, 152, 120-B IPC and under sections 10, 16,18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and sections 25/54/59 of the Arms Act.

READ | Nijjar killing: List of 21 Pro-Khalistan elements taking shelter in Canada

Nijjar along with fellow radical Arshdeep Singh Dala raised a squad of four killers of KTF, who carried out targeted killings of Manohar Lal in Bhatinda, Hindu Priest in Phillaur, attempted abduction and killing of Shakti Singh, and gunning down of a sacrilege accused in Moga. Three members of this module were arrested. And the list of terror and hate crimes orchestrated by Canada-based Nijjar in India goes on and on.

Arshdeep has been designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Indian government in January. He is known for generating funds and providing logistical support to gangsters and terror outfits apart from carrying out criminal activities, including contract killings. A lookout notice has been issued against him and an open-dated warrant has been issued in five cases, while a request for the Red Corner Notice is pending.

Interpol red corner notice

Mandeep Singh Nijjar

Satinderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar

Lakhbir Singh alias Landa

Gurjit Singh Cheema

Gurjinder Singh Pannu

Tehal Singh

Malkeet Singh alias Fauji

Lookout notice

Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla (RCN is pending)

Ramandeep Singh alias Raman Judge (RCN is pending)

Snover Dhillon (RCN is pending)

Lakhbir Singh alias Landa (RCN is pending)

Rather than provide India with the evidence of its so-called agents involved in Nijjar’s killing, Trudeau and his able Foreign Minister indicted the Modi government for a crime that they had not committed. And in this indictment, the US has an holier than thou role to play to help his Anglo-Saxon brother. A full-fledged secessionist movement in the name of Khalistan in Canada and US has been dismissed as freedom of speech and right to dissent but the fact is that the West has been using Khalistan as leverage against India for decades.

READ | Act against pro-Khalistan elements targeting diplomats, India tells Canada

Now that there are no fires to stoke in Kashmir, Khalistan has been weaponized by Trudeau to defame India with the help of US intelligence and propaganda media. It is not for any other reason that Indian intelligence chief told the CIA Director that the only reason they don’t take action against SFJ’s G.S Pannu, who holds dual citizenship of US and Canada, for openly calling for assassinations of Indian diplomats and burning of Indian flag could be because he is actually a CIA agent and batting on behalf of Langley.

Despite India submitting dossiers on Khalistan proponents to both Canada and the US in the past decade, no action has been taken against them. Just like it was 9/11 that woke the US up to Pakistan cross border terrorism in Kashmir, maybe the CIA and Canadian Intelligence were waiting for a terror attack inspired by Khalistan radicals to take action. However, the entire incident and the orchestration by Trudeau for his personal gains and the West's larger agenda to restrict India stinks of Western double standards on terrorism. The question is on what grounds was second Taliban chief and Pakistan national Mullah Mansour Akhtar, a Muslim cleric, killed by US drones in Pakistan? On what grounds was Iranian General Qasem Soleimani killed by the US in Baghdad? On what grounds is the West bombing the Sahil region of Africa using bomber jets? The entire North Africa was laid to waste through the engineered Arab Spring with thousands dead and millions displaced. All these extra-judicial actions, which were not questioned by either the UN or any country, were taken in the name of counter-terror operations. Even though the Modi government is not behind the killing of terrorist Nijjar, Bharat like all other countries has a right to defend itself from the threat posed from radicals, extremists and terrorists taking shelter in third countries like Canada. The right to pre-emption was not ordained by the Lord to the West. It is time that the US told its client state Canada to pipe down on India or else Washington will lose its credibility on terrorism.