Canada Suspected Nijjar Was Killed In Faction Feud But Changed Tack Later, Trudeau’s Former NSA Testifies

Amid the ongoing row between India and Canada over the assassination of a Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian former national security adviser (NSA) Jody Thomas stated that initial intelligence and police probe suggested that Nijjar was killed in retaliation for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was accused of involvement in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing.

While appearing before Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, the former NSA further added that certain members of the Canadian Sikh community were not satisfied with the assessment that Nijjar’s killing was in retaliation for Malik’s murder. Notably, Thomas was Canada’s NSA at the time when Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey last year.

“Nijjar’s killing was the second high-profile murder in the same gurdwara,” Thomas said. “Mr Malik’s murder had occurred almost exactly the year before. The initial hypothesis was that it was a retaliation. But the community was raising concern,” Thomas said during the testimony.

However, as the investigation progressed, further intelligence indicated that Nijjar’s assassination might have been an extra-judicial killing. “Through very good intelligence and policing work, we learnt that there was a high probability that this was an extra-judicial killing,” Thomas stated.

It is important to note that Thomas’s testimony echoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations against India, where he alleged the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has rejected Trudeau’s claims and stated that Canada has not provided India with any evidence of the allegations levelled against it.

‘We Couldn’t Share Much Because…’: Ex-NSA

Further mentioning the reason why Canada did not share much information regarding the case with India, Jody Thomas explained that the country could not share as much evidence, as the US shared, as they (Canada) were investigating the murder case.

“We couldn’t share as much evidence with India as America was able to. This explains the difference in the handling and cooperation of the two cases,” she stated.

Trudeau Accuses India Amid Row, Delhi Rejects Claims

The India and Canada ties soared after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of supporting criminal activities on their soil. The ties further strained after Ottawa earlier this week, alleged that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’ in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. However, New Delhi rejected those charges as “motivated and absurd”.

Later on Wednesday, Trudeau fell short of his allegations and acknowledged that Canada had not provided India with concrete proof regarding Nijjar’s killing in Canada while testifying before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference and said that there’s “only intel” on the involvement of Indian agents and that Cnada does not have any “hard evidentiary proof”.

“And at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof,” Trudeau said, referring to the allegations he levelled against India, linking ‘Indian agents’ to the murder of Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Canada.

India-Canada Ties Hit Rock Bottom

After Canada named India’s envoy to Ottawa among the “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing, the diplomatic rift sparked by the murder of the Khalistani separatist widened between the two countries. India termed allegations it was connected to the killing “preposterous” and a “strategy of smearing India for political gains”.

The fallout from the accusations has seen the expulsion of diplomats by both sides.

Who Was Ripudaman Singh Malik?

Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was once suspected of having funded the bombing of the Air India Kanishka in 1985, was shot dead in Canada in July 22. It was reported that Malik was shot dead by unknown gunmen near Vancouver.

Malik was one of the persons accused of playing a crucial role in the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka. On June 23, 1985, Kanishka, which was operating at Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, exploded near the Irish coastline killing all 329 persons on board.

Malik’s death came after a public smear campaign was launched against him by Nijjar, the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, who had labelled him a traitor.