Convicted Khalistani terrorist on Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's dinner guest-list
Controversies continue to plague Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's India visit. Now, he found himself in an embarrassing situation as it emerged that a convicted Khalistani terrorist, Jaspal Atwal, was invited to an official dinner reception in Delhi. Further, he was photographed with the PM's wife Sophie Trudeau, indicating that he might be in India with the Canadian delegation. Here's more about it.
First off, who is Jaspal Atwal?
Jaspal Atwal is a former member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), a key group clamoring for an independent Khalistan, or Sikh homeland. Canada banned and designated this group as a terror organization in 2003. Incidentally, Atwal, with three others, was convicted of attempted murder for a 1986-attack on Akali Dal leader Malkiat Sidhu. Sidhu, then-Punjab government's minister, was injured but survived.
What are the cases against Atwal?
Atwal was sentenced to 20 years. However, he didn't serve jail-time because the Canadian intelligence had reportedly gathered evidence without a legally obtained warrant. Meanwhile, Atwal is also accused of an attack on Khalistan-critic Ujjal Dosanjh, an Indo-Canadian politician, in 1985. Further, in 2011, Atwal was embroiled in a car fraud ring. He lost this court case against the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
Now, what is the latest controversy?
Atwal had earlier held a leadership position in Trudeau's Liberal Party of Canada. Now, he was officially invited for the dinner reception celebrating Canada-India ties. The dinner was being hosted in Trudeau's honor. However, Atwal didn't plan to attend the dinner and claimed to have travelled to India on his own. He denied being part of the Canadian delegation.
So, despite such serious charges, how is he in India?
This controversy also raises another important question. Despite his background, how did Atwal manage to obtain a visa? There are two possibilities: he may have been removed from the Khalistani leaders' "blacklist" as PM Modi's government attempts to reach out to Sikh separatists. Or, he may have indeed been part of Trudeau's delegation; but the Canadian PM's office has categorically denied this allegation.
What is Trudeau's position on the entire issue?
After this uncomfortable issue was raised, Trudeau's office rescinded Atwal's invitation. They are looking into how this "anomaly" occurred. However, questions have consistently been raised about Trudeau's alleged soft-corner for separatist Khalistani groups in Canada. In April'17, he even attended a pro-Khalistan parade. On his part, Trudeau claimed that he supports "one united India" and his government has taken serious steps to tackle extremism.
