India's relations with Canada had gone to a low level last year itself, but stability was seen for the last few months. Now again both the countries are face to face on the issue of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Even India has recalled 6 officials including the High Commissioner citing the security of its diplomats in Canada. It is reported that the Indian government is also in no mood to allow the new High Commissioner Christopher Cooter to be appointed from Canada. This entire controversy started with the fact that Canada had said that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were 'persons of interest' in the case of Nijjar's murder.
Enraged by this, India has recalled its diplomats from Canada. Not only this, the Foreign Ministry accused Canada's Justin Trudeau of doing this for vote bank politics. The Indian Foreign Ministry said that Canada is trying to defame India without any facts and all this is being done for vote bank politics. The ministry said, 'PM Trudeau's anti-India attitude is old. There are people in his cabinet who are extremists and have been running a separatist agenda against India. Apart from this, the way Trudeau tried to interfere in India's internal affairs in December 2020, his real face was also exposed.
There seems to be substance in these allegations of India. The reason for this is that elections are going to be held in Canada next year and before that, the Justin Trudeau government is running an anti-India agenda to get the outright votes of the Sikhs. The influence of Khalistani elements in Canada has increased rapidly in the last few years and they also have control over Gurudwaras. In such a situation, he is in a position to influence the Sikhs. This can also be understood from the fact that out of the total 388 MPs in Canada, 18 are Sikhs. There are a total of 8 such seats in Canada, which are completely held by Sikhs. Apart from this, they decide the victory and defeat on 15 others. In such a situation, no political party wants to upset him.
Khalistanis have control over Gurudwaras, how strong are the screws
Sikhs have a big influence in Canada because along with population, they are also strong in funding. There is a large network of Gurudwaras in Canada and Khalistani elements have control over them. They get huge grants and they also give that amount in election campaigns. With this, they are able to get the government on their side and the government also does not want to upset them due to the greed for this funding. The population of Sikhs in Canada is more than the Sikhs settled in Australia and Britain combined.
How Canadian PM got the name 'Justin Singh Trudeau'
Sikhs constitute only 2.1% of Canada's population, but they are a decisive vote bank in key areas such as British Columbia and Ontario. Trudeau has been in power since 2015 but runs the government with the support of other parties. In such a situation, it has become necessary for him to woo the Sikh community in the elections to be held in October next year. The importance of Sikh voters can be understood from the fact that Trudeau had proudly said in 2015 that there are more Sikhs in his cabinet than in the cabinet of India. There were four Sikh ministers in his first term. For this reason, Trudeau came to be jokingly called 'Justin Singh Trudeau'.
Why Sikhs are a stronger vote bank despite being less in number
The population of Sikhs in Canada is fourth after Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Due to the Gurudwara network, their funding is strong and due to their unanimous voting, they have become an outright electoral block. Due to this, the Justin Trudeau government does not want to anger them and especially the Khalistani elements who are more politically active. Khalistani elements are so violent and vocal there that common Indian Sikhs are often unable to protest openly. Punjabi is the third most spoken language in Canada. The first one is in English and the second one is in French. Sikhs have made good inroads in the construction, transport and banking sectors in Canada.
