India and Canada have been strained over the murder of Sikh separatist leader Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Jalandhar resident Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by assailants in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Canada on June 18, 2023. Bhai Nijjar was also the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Vancouver, Canada. According to the Indian government, Bhai Nijjar was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force and provided operations, networking, training and financial support to members of the Khalistan Tiger Force.
After the Indian High Commissioner was accused of this murder, India recalled the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and other diplomats from Canada. Along with this, India expelled 6 Canadian diplomats from the country. The Indian government believes that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making such controversial statements due to the fear of defeat in the general elections to be held in Canada in October 2025. In fact, the Sikh vote bank is very important in the Canadian general elections. Sikh interference in the politics there has increased a lot. That is why Trudeau and the Canadian Deep State are not ready to anger the Sikhs. They want to make the Sikhs feel freedom and justice according to Canadian law.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in its statement, we had received a diplomatic message from Canada recently. It has been told that the involvement of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats has come to light in the ongoing investigation in Canada. The Indian government is strongly denying these allegations of Canada. The Modi government says that the Trudeau government of Canada is doing this to create a vote bank. Earlier on September 18, 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made a statement in the Canadian Parliament that allegations of possible involvement of the Indian government in the murder of Nijjar are being investigated.
It is worth mentioning here that when Justin Trudeau first became the Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, he jokingly said that his cabinet had more Sikh ministers than India’s Modi government. At that time, Trudeau had inducted four Sikhs into the cabinet. This is the first time in the history of Canadian politics that the political power of Sikhs has increased.
Canada’s population is quite diverse in terms of religion and ethnicity. According to census data, minority communities made up 22.3 percent of the total population of Canada in 2016. In 1981, the total population of minorities was 4.7 percent. According to this report, minorities will make up 33 percent of the total population of Canada by 2036.
The Sikh community is the fourth largest religious group in Canada, with about 800,000 followers. As of 2021, Sikhs constituted 2.1% of the Canadian population. More than 1.6 million people of Indian origin live in Canada, while the number of Indian immigrants is 700,000. Most of the Indians in the world live in Canada. This is 4 percent of the total population of Canada. These Indians mostly live in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg in Canada. Currently, there are 19 people of Indian origin in the Canadian Parliament. Along with this, 3 members are cabinet ministers. Sikhs make up 2.1 percent of the population of Canada, due to which they are also very important for politics there. Punjabi language is the third most popular language in Canada.
