The case of murder of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year has again gained prominence. Canada's Justin Trudeau government has accused Indian diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma and others of being 'persons of interest' in this case. In Canadian legal language, person of interest means a person who needs to be investigated or is under suspicion. This is also a violation of the immunity given to diplomats from legal action. Apart from this, India is also angry with Canada for attacking without any evidence. This is the reason why India has recalled its top diplomats from Canada and expelled its officials.
Despite this tough stance of India, Canada is not changing its attitude. Even though the Justin Trudeau government is alleging an Indian link in the murder of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, it has not been able to present any evidence till now. Despite the Indian government repeating this demand several times, Canada is still making allegations, but has not even filed the charge sheet till now. A senior diplomat said, 'If we accept Trudeau's words that this matter is very clear, then till now his Royal Mounted Canadian Police has not filed a charge sheet. Apart from this, the Canadian government has not released any evidence till now.
Experts in Canadian politics believe that the reason for this is also vote bank politics. The Sikh vote bank in Canada is more than 2 percent and their position in many districts and provinces is going to change the results. The Sikh community has a large number in about 18 parliamentary seats in the country. It is a matter of concern that Khalistani elements are dominating the Sikh community there because they have established influence in the Gurudwaras and through them they provide funding to the election campaigns. Due to this, Canadian governments do not go against Khalistanis. Due to this, Khalistani are becoming powerful in the name of Sikh votes.
Apart from this, there is another political calculation, due to which Justin Trudeau wants to please the Khalistanis. In fact, after Christians, Muslim vote bank is powerful in Canada. They have a sizeable population, which is around 4 percent. There has been a nexus of Muslim votes in Canada with Sikhs, who remain polarized in contrast to Hindus. In such a situation, Justin Trudeau wants to polarize both the vote banks in the name of Nijjar. This may create a difficult situation for Hindus living in India as well as Canada.
Now if we talk about the political equation of Canada, according to the 2021 census, the population of Hindus there is only 828,195. Whereas the Muslim population is 17,75,715. This number is double that of Hindus and among them a large number are of people of Pakistani origin. Along with this, the number of Sikhs is also 7,71,790, which is slightly less than that of Hindus. In this way, when Muslim and Sikh vote banks come together, there is a possibility of changing the results. The important thing is that Khalistanis in Canada often have political alliances with Muslims under the influence of Pakistan. In such a situation, Justin Trudeau wants to consolidate this lump sum vote.
