Trudeau reacts to arrests in Nijjar murder: ‘Canada a rule-of-law country’

Canada is a “rule-of-law country” with a strong and independent justice system and a fundamental commitment to protect its citizens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, a day after three Indian nationals were charged with the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.

Karanpreet Singh (28), Kamalpreet Singh (22) and Karan Brar (22), all residing in Edmonton, Alberta, were taken into custody on Friday.

Following the three arrests, police in Canada said they had worked with US law enforcement agencies, without giving additional details.

“This is important because Canada is a rule-of-law country with a strong and independent justice system, as well as a fundamental commitment to protecting all its citizens,” Trudeau said about the arrests on Saturday at a Toronto gala celebrating Sikh heritage and culture.

“As the RCMP stated, the investigation remains ongoing, as does a separate and distinct investigation not limited to the involvement of the three people arrested yesterday,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) quoted Trudeau as saying.

Trudeau said many in Canada’s Sikh community are feeling unsafe following Nijjar’s killing, adding, “Every Canadian has the fundamental right to live safely and free from discrimination and threats of violence in Canada.”

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, reacting to the development, said India will wait for Canadian police to share information on the three Indian nationals it has arrested and charged with the murder of Nijjar.

“The suspects “apparently are Indians of some kind of gang background… we’ll have to wait for the police to tell us,” Jaishankar said.

“But, as I said, one of our concerns which we have been telling them is that, you know, they have allowed organised crime from India, specifically from Punjab, to operate in Canada,” he added.

At a separate event, Jaishankar said what is happening in poll-bound Canada over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is mostly due to their internal politics and nothing to do with India.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India had rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd” and “motivated.”

(Inputs from PTI)