It's not only Justin Trudeau, even his father and former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau had once refused the extradition request of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar in 1982, who later became the mastermind behind the bombing of Air India plane Kanishka which killed over 300 people.
Canada's current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently triggered a diplomatic row between India and Canada after he alleged New Delhi's role in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia.
As per reports, in 1982, the Indian government under then-PM Indira Gandhi sought the extradition of Parmar, who was accused of killing police officers, reported OpIndia.
The Pierre Trudeau-led government had declined the request.
Canada refused to extradite terrorist Talwinder Parmar, citing that ‘India does not recognise the British queen as head of state', reports the news portal.
"Since India did not recognise the Queen as Head of State, Trudeau had at the time claimed that the Commonwealth extradition protocol did not apply to the case, a former Indian intelligence official told The Times of India.
The Talwinder Parmar incident was also mentioned in the book named ‘Blood For Blood’, written by Canadian journalist Terry Milewski, where he was quoted as saying by Op India: "Canada can’t be compared to Pakistan as a springboard for Khalistani militants in the past forty years, but it has offered them the great advantage of a congenial legal and political environment. The meek Canadian response to the Khalistani challenge was a frequent target of Indian politicians as far back as 1982 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi complained about it to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.”
“Not much came of it. Quite the reverse, in fact. Pierre Trudeau’s government refused the 1982 Indian request to extradite Talwinder Parmar to India for murder on the quaint grounds that India was insufficiently deferential to the Queen. That is not a joke. Canadian diplomats had to tell their Indian counterparts that the extradition protocols between Commonwealth countries would not apply because India only recognized Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth and not as Head of State. Case closed!” he added.
Echoes from the Past: The 1985 Air India Bombings
This incident shines a spotlight on Canada’s historical missteps with regard to the Khalistani issue. The Air India bombings in 1985, a horrifying event that led to the death of 330 passengers, were carried out by Khalistani extremists.
The Canadian police were accused of wiping out the recording between the bombings’ mastermind, Talwinder Singh Parmar, and other extremists. This resulted in only one person being convicted for the tragedy.
Who was Talwinder Singh Parmar?
Parmar was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.
Parmar founded Babbar Khalsa International alongside Sukhdev Singh Babbar in 1978, and was the leader of its Canadian branch.
In 1981, he was accused of killing 2 Punjab Police officers and was arrested in 1983 in Germany.
He was released in 1984 after which he immediately returned to Canada.
After the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, Parmar returned to India and was allegedly killed in a gun fight with Punjab Police on 15 October 1992.
Nijjar row
The relationship between New Delhi and Ottawa touched a new low after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India's involvement in the killing of Nijjar.
Trudeau alleged that there are "credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia of Canada.
Soon after Trudeau levelled the allegations against the Indian government in the country's Parliament, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly announced the expulsion of a “top Indian diplomat” as a consequence.
In a tit-for-tat, India also sacked a Canadian diplomat and asked him to leave the country within the next five days.
India rejected the allegations made by Canada over the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
