Jalandhar, December 13: While the main threat to Canada and its interests is posed by individuals or groups inspired by Sunni Islamist ideology and terror groups like Daesh or al-Qaida, Canada continues to face “low-level” threats from other forms of extremism posed by certain right-wing activists, Shia Islamist groups and Canada-based Khalistani extremists.
The Canadian government has issued the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada that clearly indicates that the biggest threat to Canada and its interests is posed by Daesh or al-Qaida and not as much by Sikh (Khalistani) extremists, Shia Islamist groups and other right-wing organisations’ modules active in the country.
“The risk of violence emanating from individuals inspired by such extremism–Shia Islamist groups, Sikh (Khalistani) activists and other right-wing organisations currently poses a lower threat to Canada than that of Daesh- or al-Qaida-inspired individuals or groups,” said the report.
The report indicates that certain groups or individuals keep supporting the Sikh movements for achieving their goal of creating an independent homeland for Sikhs in India. Such violent activities supporting an independent homeland have come down as compared to the Khalistani movement’s height from 1982 till 1993-94 when Khalistani activists had carried out an array of dastardly terror acts, including the bombing of the 1985 Air India flight leaving 331 passengers dead. The support to the extremist ideology, attacks and activities of the hardliners have since reduced considerably.
Realising this, the Canadian government has pruned the list of such banned terror organisations to just two–International Sikh Youth Federation and Babbar Khalsa International.
Intererestingly, the threat level issued by Canada this year remains a more or less similar dossier issued by the Canadian government in recent years or after 2014. For example, the National Terrorism Threat Level–a broad indicator of the terrorist threat to Canada–remains at ‘medium’.
Violence and threat of violence have no place in Canadian society and curbing or eradicating any such thing has always been the top priority of the government.
Interestingly, the allegation hurled by a section of the Indian government that Canada remains a “refuge” for Sikh militants was deflated by facts, especially as both International Sikh Youth Federation and Babbar Khalsa have been lying defunct in that country.
Similarly, no major violence has been carried out by any Khalistani militant group in Canada following the yet-to-be-cracked murder of vernacular journalist Tara Singh Hayer around 20 years ago.
So there has been a vast gap between the Khalistani machinery of the 1980s and its dwindling support base in today’s Canada and elsewhere.
Also, the Referendum 2020 campaign has been peaceful.
The young Sikh generation of Canada has no relation with any sort of extremist ideology. A section of Indian government officials still can’t stomach any criticism of the Indian government coming from Sikhs of Canada. The Indian authorities had reportedly exhorted Justin Trudeau to crack down on Sikh organisations within Canada during the latter’s trip to India in February.
The report has sparked an outrage among the Canadian Sikh community with a number of Sikh groups urging the government to provide evidence in support of its claim made in the terror assessment report that the “Sikh extremism” was a real-time threat to Canada in the changed scenario.
“They have targeted the Liberal government saying rather than protecting Canadian Sikhs’ reputation and denying the baseless allegations, the Canadian government is capitulating to the Indian government to demand a crackdown on Sikh activists,” said a spokesperson of Canada’s Mississagua-based largest gurdwara Ontario Khalsa Darbar.
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel for World Sikh Organisation of Canada, said there was nothing to suggest violence of any sort in Canada. Also, the British Columbia Gurdwaras’ Council and Ontario Gurdwaras’ Committee representing nearly three dozen gurdwaras, observed that the government’s allegations were irresponsible and these had maligned the image of the peace-loving community.
