OTTAWA: A Canadian official has alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told Parliament members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to ‘The Washington Post’, which first reported the allegations.
“The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee. Morrison did not say how Canada knew of Shah’s alleged involvement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence Indian agents were involved in the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023. Canadian authorities have repeatedly said they had shared evidence of that with Indian authorities.
Indian officials have repeatedly denied Canada had provided evidence and have called the allegations absurd. India’s embassy in Ottawa didn’t immediately respond to messages for a request for comment on the allegation against Shah.
Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. The
US Justice Department announced criminal charges in mid-October against an Indian employee in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
In the case announced by the Justice Department, Vikash Yadav, who authorities say directed the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors have previously said was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the US and Canada. Earlier, Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security adviser, told the committee that Canada had evidence over Indian government’s role.