Ottawa, 18 Oct

A Canadian opposition leader has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of using Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder to divert attention from other controversies and asked the government to posthumously take away the Khalistani militant's citizenship to right the past administrative error.

Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People's Party of Canada, also said the Khalistani militant who is the central figure in the whole controversy was a foreign terrorist who was somehow granted citizenship in 2007.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Monday it had identified India's High Commissioner in the country and five other diplomats as persons of interest in the June 2023 killing of Nijjar. The RCMP also said they uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.

Bernier said if true, allegations made by the RCMP and the Liberal government that Indian diplomats participated in criminal activities on our territory are very serious and should be dealt with.

"So far, however, we haven’t been given any proof. And Trudeau is clearly using this crisis to divert the attention from other controversies," he said.

Bernier said Nijjar was a foreign terrorist who used fraudulent documents to claim asylum in Canada several times.

"One myth should be dispelled though: That the central figure in this controversy, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani militant who was murdered last year, was a Canadian. He was actually a foreign terrorist who used fraudulent documents to claim asylum in Canada several times starting in 1997. His claims were rejected but he was nevertheless allowed to stay in this country and was somehow granted citizenship in 2007," he said.

"Nijjar wasn’t a Canadian. Canada should perhaps posthumously take away his citizenship to right this administrative error," he said.

He should have been deported after his first fake asylum claim, like the hundreds of thousands of fake asylum claimants who are in Canada right now, Bernier said.

"All this is happening because Canada has for decades deliberately invited these foreigners and their tribal conflicts into our country. We should recognise this major blunder and work with the government of India to find solutions instead of jeopardising our relations with a rising world power and an important ally over this issue," he added.

The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia. New Delhi had rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".

India has repeatedly criticised Trudeau's government for being soft on supporters of the Khalistan movement who live in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

India expelled six Canadian diplomats on Monday and announced that it is withdrawing its High Commissioner in Canada, after dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Nijjar.

Canada, however, said it has expelled six Indian diplomats.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said on Monday India received a "diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in that country".

"We have no faith in the current Canadian government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the government of India has decided to withdraw the high commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials," the MEA said in a statement.-PTI