The House of Commons has approved a private member’s motion that mentions a potential Indian connection to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan figure, on June 18 of last year. The motion titled “Political Interference, Violence or Intimidation on Canadian Soil” was proposed by Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal on February 12th and co-sponsored by multiple MPs, including eight fellow Indo-Canadians.
On Wednesday, it was unanimously approved with 326 votes in favor and no opposing votes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, numerous cabinet ministers, and opposition Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre were among those who voted in favor of it.
The motion’s text calls on the House to recognize that “recent events, including the credible allegations of a link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, at a place of worship on Canadian soil, are examples of rising forms of intimidation, threats, and interference from countries such as India, China, Russia, Iran, and others”.
On June 18th of last year, Nijjar was killed in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar, the main organizer for the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in the province, was considered a terrorist in India, despite the fact that these accusations were never tested in a Canadian court. After Trudeau said in the House on September 18th that there were “credible allegations” of a possible relationship between Indian agents and the murder, his killing damaged bilateral ties.
In a post on X on Monday, Dhaliwal said that his motion “will hold to account any person or agents of a foreign state undermining our democratic institutions, engaging in acts of violence, or intimidating diaspora communities in Canada”.
The Canada India Foundation (CIF), a prominent Indo-Canadian organization, had opposed the motion. In a letter to Dhaliwal last month, its board of directors said, “This motion if passed will be one more initiative in a lengthy list of provocations that will damage the Canada-India relationship. As an organization keen to see our bilateral issues resolved, we are concerned that the disproportionate influence exercised by a violent minority continues to cast a shadow on our domestic politics and foreign policy,” CIF noted.
