NEW DELHI – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is standing by a senior nationalsecurity official’s startling accusation that a convicted Sikh terroristpresence in his dinner in India was an attempt by “rogue” elements in theIndian establishment to embarrass him on the issue of Sikh separatistactivity on Canadian soil, Hindustan times has reported.
As the debacle that was Trudeau’s visit to India captivated the Canadianpolitical class, opposition Conservatives raised the issue in the House ofCommons, the lower house of Parliament. They asked whether Trudeau agreedwith the “conspiracy theory” advanced by the official, identified byCanadian media as National Security Advisor Daniel Jean.
Responding to the Opposition attack, Trudeau said, “When one of our topdiplomats and security officials says something to Canadians, it’s becausethey know it to be true.”
Hours after Trudeau’s remarks, the external affairs ministry said anysuggestion that the Indian government had anything to do with Atwal’spresence at two official events in Mumbai and New Delhi was “baseless andunacceptable”.
Atwal and three men were convicted of attempted murder for a 1986 attack onAkali Dal leader Malkiat Singh Sidhu while he was visiting relatives inCanada.
Sidhu, then a minister of state in the Punjab government, was injured inthe attack. He was later killed by Sikh militants in Punjab in 1991.
Trudeau faced embarrassment when it emerged that Atwal had attended anofficial event in Mumbai, where he was photographed with the Canadian primeminister’s wife, and was invited to an official dinner reception hosted byCanada’s envoy in New Delhi. The invitation was later rescinded.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India had notedthe exchange in the Canadian Parliament regarding the invitations issued toAtwal to two official events.
“Let me categorically state that the government of India, including thesecurity agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal atthe event hosted by the Canadian high commissioner in Mumbai or theinvitation issued to him for the Canadian high commissioner’s reception inNew Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable,” hesaid.