SOURCE: ANI
Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma on Friday in an exclusive conversation with ANI clearly said that only a small percentage of Canadian Sikhs supported the Khalistani cause and if Canada cared about that then they should “give a place to them and call it Khalistan”. Sanjay Verma asserted Khalistani extremists and terrorists are challenging Indian territorial integrity and sovereignty. “These are Canadian citizens challenging Indian territorial integrity and sovereignty. As long as these people, these Khalistani extremists and terrorists keep talking about Canada, I have no issues.
That’s their domestic issue. They can do whatever they want. As soon as they look at dividing India, then it is my problem. And that problem, I will certainly take to the Canadian authorities to say that listen, you have to resolve this,” Verma said “They want a country for themselves. I would say if Canada wants them to be there and they are so kind to them, Canada is a huge country. Give a space to them, call it Khalistan,” Verma said.
He affirmed that “if Khalistan is to be made, it is in Canada, never in India.” Verma said that the Khalistani elements had managed to build a narrative that they represented the Sikh community in Canada which was not true. “Indo-Canadian community is those people who are Canadian citizens of Indian origin. 98% of them go about doing what they do living peacefully, taking care of the family, contributing to the Canadian economy, etc. But others are very vocal. And as we have said that those babies who cry louder will get attention. So they get fed.
And somehow they have been able to build a narrative that these 10,000 of the Khalistani terrorists and extremists represent the Sikh community, which is absolutely incorrect and falsehood. Then the Indian community, which is Indian diaspora, is also seen as being led by these Khalistanis. And these narratives which had been built over a period of time tells the regime of the day that they are important,” he said. “Secondly, what they have been able to achieve is to put their own people in the parliament, in positions of authority in various departments, including at the lower levels and the upper levels.
So they have been able to influence not only the political dimension, but also the executives in Canada. So the institutions in Canada, most of the institutions, they also have got recruitments done from, they’re Canadians, so they have right to get recruited. So I’m not saying that they cannot. But amongst them, there are many who side with the Khalistani terrorists and extremists and therefore propagate the narrative in the organizations there,” he added.
The recalled envoy also reitrated that no evidence had been shared by the Canadian government on the alleged involvement of any Indian citizens in the killing of NIA designated terrorist Hardeep Nijjar. “Zero zilch. Nothing. So, so far what I have heard is what they keep saying in the media. That India, credible allegations are there. No, come on. We are also English speaking country in a way. So, what is credible allegations? Either they are credible or they are allegations. So no evidence present, shared with us, no evidence, nothing which is judicially, legally acceptable presented to us. Okay. So that is why you always kept saying that you are a country of rule of law.
We are a country of rule of law. So if you want to act upon an evidence that you give to us, it has to be legally acceptable,” he sid. Sanjay Verma was recalled from Canada after the country said he was a person of interest in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case; however, he denied all charges levelled against him by Ottawa. The ties between India and Canada soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he has “credible allegations” of India’s hand in the killing of Nijjar. India has denied all the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated” and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country. Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.