Canada and India have expelled each other’s top diplomats in the last 24 hours. Here’s why Australia is ‘deeply concerned’
The murder of a Canadian citizen and accusations against the Indian government may have reverberations in Australia. ()
The killing of a Canadian man has raised tensions between the country’s prime minister and Indian officials.
Justin Trudeau cited “credible allegations” connecting Indian government agents to the shooting of the Canadian citizen, who had advocated for Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland in India.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of a local Sikh temple, was fatally shot by two masked gunmen in June.
Mr Trudeau did not provide specific details but said he had expressed his “deep concerns” to top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent G20 Summit in New Delhi.
India has been swift in rejecting these allegations, describing them as “absurd”.
India’s foreign minister said the claims were aimed to divert attention from “Khalistani terrorists and extremists” sheltered in Canada and added India had expressed “deep concern” over Canadian political figures sympathising with these individuals.
Both countries have responded by expelling each other’s top diplomats.
The Khalistan movement
In the midst of this turmoil, one may ponder: What exactly is the Khalistan movement?
In simple terms, it’s a movement seeking to create an independent state for Sikhs, carved out of India.
However, the Indian government views it as a threat to national security.
Sikhism is a distinct monotheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of India in the 15th century. Today the state is home to the majority of Sikhs living in India.
For Sikhs, Khalistan means the Land of the “Khalsa”, or pure.
The Khalistan movement gained significant momentum in the 1970s and 1980s, especially during the leadership of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who advocated for Sikh rights and autonomy in Punjab.
The situation though turned violent, culminating in the infamous Operation Blue Star in 1984, a military operation ordered by the Indian government to remove Bhindranwale and his armed associates from the holy Sikh site, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The operation resulted in significant casualties and damage to the temple, which infuriated Sikhs around the world.
A few months later, the then-prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi who had ordered the operation, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi, triggering deadly riots across India.
Today, the Khalistan movement has little support in India, but there are sections of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which has the largest population of Sikhs outside Punjab, and in UK, Australia and the US who back the Khalistan movement.
How is the Khalistan movement connected to Australia?
Sikhism has grown in Australia, particularly over the past 10 years.
The number of people who affiliate with Sikhism has almost tripled since 2011. In 2021, they accounted for 0.8 per cent of the population (210,400 people).
It is important to note that while there are Sikh individuals and organisations in Australia that may support Khalistan, not all Sikhs share this perspective, and the movement remains a complex and controversial issue within Sikh communities in Australia.
The Khalistan movement recently gained prominence in Australia and has also been a subject of discussion among the leaders of both countries in their meetings this year.
In Australia, pro-Khalistan factions recently conducted a series of non-binding “referenda” advocating for the independent Indian state of Khalistan, resulting in violent clashes in Melbourne between their supporters and Indian nationalists.
In recent months, certain Hindu temples in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney were defaced with pro-Sikh separatist slogans, although the culprits behind the vandalism remain unknown.
On Tuesday, Australia, which has been closely monitoring the developments of the diplomatic dispute between Canada and India, said it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations made by Canada.
“We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong told the ABC.
“We understand these reports will be particularly concerning to some Australian communities.”
‘Unnecessary diplomatic crisis’
Professor of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, Brahma Chellaney, told ABC’s The World without any arrests or indictments being made by Canadian authorities, Mr Trudeau’s allegations have further strained relations between the two nations.
“This is an unnecessary diplomatic crisis between New Delhi and Ottawa,” he said.
“Why would Trudeau air a mere allegation about a potential link at this stage, knowing that it would hold serious implications for India-Canada relations?
“‘India has never been accused previously of carrying out assassinations on Western soil … Assassinating dissidents abroad is what authoritarian regimes do. India is the world’s largest democracy.”
ABC
