The assassination of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil instigated a lot of tension between India and Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Nijjar a Canadian national in Parliament shortly after his death. Mutual relations between the two countries reached an all-time low after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assumed that Indian agencies were tangled in the shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) principal Nijjar in Vancouver on June 18, 2023.
The Canadian Senate held a moment of silence in the House of Commons to mark the first death anniversary of Nijjar, who believed in India’s list of 40 ‘selected terrorists’. India was barely entertained. In a strong message to Canada, Indian Consulate General in Vancouver declared a memorial service to recognize the 329 individuals who were killed in the 1985 Khalistani bombing of an Air India Kanishka airplane.
The memorial service will be on Sunday at Stanley Park’s Ceperley Playground area. India is positioned at the forefront of contradicting the threat of terrorism and works strictly with all states to challenge this global hazard. 23 June 2024 indicates the 39th anniversary of the spineless bombing of Air India flight 182 (Kanishka), where 329 innocent victims, as well as 86 children, lost their lives in one of the greatest heinous terror-related air tragedies in the history of civil aviation. A Memorial Service is programmed at 1830 hrs. on June 23, 2024, at the Air India Celebratory at Stanley Park’s Ceperley ground. @cgivancouver reassures associates of the Indian Diaspora to join the gathering in a show of unity against terrorism, the Indian Consulate General posted on its X handle.
Nijjar was hunted in numerous cases in India, including the 2017 Ludhiana blast which killed 6 individuals and left 42 wounded. India conveyed its worry about Nijjar to Canada many times. Punjab Police in 2022 hunted Nijjar’s deportation as he was wanted in cases of spreading terrorism in the state. Canada paid no attention, and Nijjar was killed last June. Royal Canadian Mounted Police have arrested 4 Indian nationals in connection to the incident. India has continuously requested evidence of Canada’s claim vis-a-vis Nijjar’s killing but has not been satisfied.
