Maxime Bernier says, 'Nijjar was foreign terrorist, not a Canadian'

Canadian Opposition leader Maxime Bernier/ X

Maxime Bernier, the People's Party of Canada leader, has suggested that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey in 2023, was a "foreign terrorist" rather than a Canadian. Bernier alleged Nijjar used fake documents to seek refuge in Canada multiple times beginning in 1997.

In a post on X, Bernier stated that Nijjar, like many other false asylum applicants in Canada, should have been deported for his fraudulent asylum claims. He also asked that Nijjar's citizenship be withdrawn posthumously to address the administrative blunder, reported ANI.

According to the ANI report, Bernier also stated that claims made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Liberal government about Indian diplomats' involvement in criminal activities are serious and should be dealt with firmly if proven correct.

Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was assassinated outside the Surrey Gurdwara in June 2023.

In his social media, Bernier stated, "If true, the allegations by the RCMP and the Liberal government that Indian diplomats have been involved in criminal activity on our territory are very serious and must be addressed. However, to date, we have received no evidence of this. And Trudeau is clearly using this crisis to distract from other controversies. One myth, however, must be dispelled: that the central figure in this story, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani activist who was assassinated last year, was a Canadian."

He went on, "Nijjar was not Canadian. Perhaps we should strip him of his citizenship posthumously to correct this administrative error. He should have been deported after his first false asylum claim, like hundreds of thousands of false asylum seekers in Canada right now."

RCMP's Response

Reportedly, earlier this week, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme stated that they had gathered information on criminal activities carried out by agents of the Indian government in Canada. He added that law enforcement has charged individuals involved in homicides, extortion, and other violent crimes, especially within the South Asian and pro-Khalistan communities.

Duheme revealed that in February 2024, the RCMP established a specialised team to investigate these activities. The investigation uncovered that Indian diplomats in Canada were involved in clandestine operations, including gathering information for the Indian government, sometimes through proxies or under duress, the news agency report stated.

India's Response

In response, India rejected these claims, labelling the allegations as part of Prime Minister Trudeau's political agenda. The Indian government accused Trudeau of supporting extremists and terrorists who harass Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada.

India also expelled six Canadian diplomats and dismissed Canada's claim that Indian officials were "persons of interest" in an ongoing investigation as baseless, the report added.