[LONGFORM] To Contain China, Biden Created a 'Chimera' Named Narendra Modi. Biden Acknowledged It [Endangered Democracy] but Resist to Continue
[LONGFORM] To Contain China, Biden Created a 'Chimera' Named Narendra Modi. Biden Acknowledged It [Endangered Democracy] but Resist to Continue
This note for one of my closest friend Kevinder Singh. పెద్ద పెద్ద జంక్షన్లు తప ఏమీ లేదు! పట్టణంలోని జంక్షన్ల అభివృద్ధి ఆధారంగా ఎన్నికల్లో విజయం సాధించాలన్నది ఆయన ఎన్నికల వ్యూహం! ఎలక్షన్లు అస్తునై. జర
Delhi 6.01pm / Toronto 8.31am
పెద్ద పెద్ద జంక్షన్లు తప ఏమీ లేదు! పట్టణంలోని జంక్షన్ల అభివృద్ధి ఆధారంగా ఎన్నికల్లో విజయం సాధించాలన్నది ఆయన ఎన్నికల వ్యూహం! ఎలక్షన్లు అస్తునై. జర చూడండ్రి!
2 US Congressman, [Republican] David Goncalves Valadao [/ˌvæləˈdeɪoʊ/ VAL-ə-DAY-oh;] and [Democrat] Eric Michael Swalwell support Canadian PM Justin Pierre James Trudeau to continue investigate the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Valadao was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump during Trump's second impeachment and one of two of those Republicans to be renominated and reelected, along with Dan Newhouse. Swalwell is a member of the American Sikh Congressional Caucus. The Khalistan moment has no real steam, killing Nijjar has given them a martyr and spoiled relations with Canada for no real benefit.
Indians are smart people with huge reservoirs of human talent and also inheritors of a mature civilization. They will make positive contributions to the world in the long-term and also transcend the harsh sentiments of some of their leaders. Genuine question, if India believes it clearly did the right thing [unanimous approval to kill Nijjar] why is there is so much concern about Canadians or other Westerners not liking it? Whatever you think about it obviously Canadians are going to object to one of their citizens being shot on their territory.
Canadian politician and leader of the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh Jimmy Dhaliwal MP [Gurmukhi: ਜਗਮੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ, /dʒəɡˈmiːt sɪŋ/ jug-MEET SING] says he was briefed on the classified intelligence about the murder of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and says that it shows clear evidence of Indian government involvement. No one supports balkanizing India. Canadian government including Trudeau has said very clearly, they support territorial integrity of India. If some people from Indian diaspora who are Canadian want to advocate for that however it’s their legal right to do so without being killed.
At least six men and two vehicles were involved in killing Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside his place of worship, according to video reviewed by Washington Post [WAPO], suggesting a larger, more organized operation than previously reported." For WAPO, the killing of Nijjar very serious investigation in internal reporter team, because years ago, WAPO journalist killed with, arguably, very systematic method. Jamal Khashoggi. The corruption of Senator Bob Menendez even revealed he [Bob] indirectly has a role on the killing of Khashoggi.
Moninder Singh, the spokesman of the British Columbia Sikh Gurdwara Council, said Nijjar’s mechanic recently found a tracker in the wheel well of his truck.
Canada has the world's third-largest Sikh population, with nearly 800,000 people or 2.1% of the country's population as of 2021. For comparison, Sikh in America around 500,000 people. The Sikh population in Canada has grown significantly since the 1990s, mainly due to immigration. The largest Sikh communities are found in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, with British Columbia having the highest proportion of Sikhs among all global administrative divisions after Punjab and Chandigarh in India. The first Sikhs arrived in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but faced immigration restrictions until the 1960s. In many countries, the possibility that one’s own government conducted an extrajudicial killing would produce serious questioning from politicians and media commentators.
During the 2018 Canada - Saudi Arabia dispute, it was clear Saudi hit back hard at Canada not because of what it did (a tweet) but to send a broader message to western states: stop criticizing us. Canada is not the US & not in Europe, so an easy target. Clear parallel with India now
The FBI has been contacting Sikh American activists living in the United States to warn them their lives are at risk after killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Awkwardly, [imprisoned] ousted Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan gave full credit to India's FM for a forthright & firm policy towards the Western pressure to join in Russia boycott on Ukraine. He [Imran] praised Indian FM Jaishankar for his independent stance in contrast to his own country's craven corrupt Establishment & political mafia. He destroyed relationship with the US due to his big mouth. If the US wants, it can destroy the entire economy and lives of a common man in Pakistan within less than a week. Imran Khan opening his mouth against Europe and USA was just a political gimmick which sadly most Pakistanis couldn't grasp till date. PM Narendra Modi probably will launch a war against Canada before PLA land in Taipei or even before war [again] between India - Pakistan.
Americans spied on a fellow QUAD member (INDIA) & tipped off an old 5-Eyes ally (CANADA). Wakes up India to the harsh geostrategic inequalities for a non-treaty ‘ally.’ Gimmick Biden to engaged more with Modi (to contained China in Asia), just make a blowback to Modi. Trust within a still new QUAD will be frayed as India takes a deep breath & resets expectations.
The role of U.S. intelligence in emboldening Trudeau to pick a geopolitical fight with India could have a bearing on the direction of U.S. - India ties, not least by reinforcing India's imperative for strategic autonomy. The task of building mutual trust now becomes harder. Less clear is what Ottawa and Washington have sought to achieve against India through allegations arising from the murky world of espionage, where the line between information and disinformation is easily blurred. With neither Ottawa nor Washington willing to present any video, audio or forensic evidence in support, can vague, unsubstantiated allegations about a "potential" India link to a terrorist's killing serve any purpose, other than to make New Delhi rethink its nascent foreign-policy tilt toward the West?
India murdered a Canadian citizen in broad daylight in the Vancouver suburbs for reasons which are still frankly baffling (No it’s not like “killing Osama bin Laden”) and now they’ve firmly decided that they’re the victims of the situation for anyone bringing it up. People keep trying to deflect to make this about Trudeau; it has nothing to do with Trudeau. If there is a prospect that a foreign government extrajudicially executed a Canadian citizen that will transcend partisan politics in any minimally functioning country.
There’s a sinister edge to all this but it’s almost fully offset by how funny it is to see chest thumping nationalists raving about the Canadian terror threat and the need to stand up to the great Canadian menace. “Shared intelligence” from Five Eyes with Canada helped Trudeau make the India assassination allegation: U.S. ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen explained.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled State witnessed the longest ever Internet shut down this year after 2 majority Muslim districts, Jammu and Kashmir, which saw communication blockade for 552 days, in wake of the reading down of its special status under Article 370 of the constitution. India's BJP, the world's biggest party, plots election drive of epic scale.
Nurul was killed by a mob inside a mosque, Nurul was prayer in Mosque or Masjid. The trigger for the mob violence were social media posts to which he had no connection. Another tragedy in Maharashtra that has been witnessing a spate of communal clashes of late.
Burned motorcycles outside the mosque or masjid in Pusesavali. Eyewitnesses say the mob began to chant anti-Islam slogans and set ablaze vehicles and establishments close to the mosque or masjid. The police say normalcy has been restored in the town. But fear lingers among the Muslims. Police stand on watch near the mosque and temples. Citizens worry that they remain unsafe.
Mobile Internet services remained suspended in Manipur for more than 140-days. Except “whitelisted” mobile phone numbers approved by the government, Internet data services were suspended on other mobile phones.
Partha Chaudhury and his team are among an army of 18,000 volunteer activists fanning out across India ahead of next year's national election. Their mission is to meet - face-to-face - with about 35 million BJP supporters by January, or roughly 2,000 each.
Partha Chaudhury, a worker of India's ruling BJP, intereacts with a resident of a slum during the party's outreach program in Kolkata© Thomson Reuters
The Bharatiya Janata Party, the world's largest political outfit with 180 million members, is betting on what it says is the biggest voter outreach campaign in history, to secure a third term in power in the world's most populous country.
Its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remains enduringly popular among Indians after almost a decade having brought political stability, invested in infrastructure, and championed welfare reforms and national security.
Sharad Pawar criticises Modi for ‘ghamandia’ remarks, highlights Congress, allies’ wholehearted support for Women’s Reservation Bill. On the issue of tension between India-Canada tensions [killing of Khalistani leader], Mr. Sharad Pawar said his total support as an Indian citizen will be with the policy of the Indian government. Canadian authorities on last Friday charged an Indian man named Brijesh Mishra for issuing fraudulent university letters of acceptance to Indian students and other immigration-related criminal offences. The Indian students had all applied for student visas through Education Migration Servies which was located in Jalandhar. Brijesh Mishra, who was the owner of the firm, had charged students thousands of dollars related to college admission and visa applications.
Arguably, ups and downs are [very] normal in domestic politics in every country. But with the fact emerge of Trump in the US, and other side India facing massive terror, not only suffered by Muslim India, in several states in India [clearly majority of Hindu people, 98 percent of Hindu people] suffered outage of internet, blocking of social media and news media, so far the best democracy on earth goes to the 3rd biggest democracy, Indonesia, with a news that ‘less 30 years old’ already to be a Chief Political Party, and 37 years old politician maybe to be a new elected Vice President, if Indonesian people wanted and or choose him. Yes still older than Sanna Mirella Marin [serve as Prime Minister of Finland on December 10th, 2019, or just 34 years and 3 weeks old] — now she’s a high-ranking Tony Blair Institute, or corrupt Sebastian Kurz [serve as Chancellor of Austria on December 18th, 2017, or just 31 years, 3 months, and 3 weeks old], but the prospect of Indonesia politics looks better or more promising rather than India [biggest democracy] and U.S. [2nd biggest].
Again, Canadian authorities on last Friday charged an Indian man named Brijesh Mishra for issuing fraudulent university letters of acceptance to Indian students and other immigration-related criminal offences. The Indian students had all applied for student visas through Education Migration Servies which was located in Jalandhar. Brijesh Mishra, who was the owner of the firm, had charged students thousands of dollars related to college admission and visa applications.
Ethnic Indians make up less than 5% of Canada’s population. But another fact, within 2 decades, the entire blue collar class in Toronto, Ottawa, etc be taken over by brown people, [again] BUT not all IS INDIA, maybe Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. Tim Hortons [TIMMIES] cafe, Uber drivers, condo concierge, mall security, janitors et al. It’s almost Middle East-esque. The people most upset by this are middle and upper class brown people. Canada has become an extremely South Asian country via immigration and is becoming more so by the year so I expect the historical psychodramas of the subcontinent to continue to be reenacted there more in the future.
While this may seem insignificant, experts say the community’s voting diligence often places it among the list of “kingmakers” in Canadian elections where clear majority is often elusive. But before this fills your Indian chest with pride, do find out where they stand on Khalistan. Canada is offering something Indians need desperately, rather than the other way around.
As per CEIC Data [an ISI Emerging Markets Group Company], an average of 19.5k Canadian tourists have visited every month over last 6 years. We can be reasonably sure not many of them stayed back for any reason whatsoever. The strangest argument in favor of India’s indispensability to Canada is made in the context of education. Well, in 2018, international students contributed less than US$20 billion [27-billion-dollar Canada] to Canada’s economy. The GDP that year was US$1.7 trillion [2.3 trillion-dollar Canada].
But that was 5 years ago. Things have improved a bit since and in 2021, the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), reported US$5 billion [6.8-billion-dollar Canada] from Indian students alone. Against a GDP of US$2 trillion [2.7 trillion-dollar Canada] that year. That is a 0.25% contribution.
As of 2022, more than 1.3 million Indians are studying abroad. Fewer than 200,000 of those in Canada. That is less than 14%. 4 times as many are in the US. Don’t worry, India will do just fine.
Much is also being made of the Indo-Canada business interests and how India’s “embargo” could bring Canada to its knees. Beyond the rhetoric, however, the bilateral between the two economies stands at a sobering US$8 billion [10.8 billion dollar Canada]. Canada enjoys twice the trade with a tiny South Korea.
Canada’s best year on record in this context was 2019. That year, tourists contributed less than 3% to the nation’s GDP, or US$44 billion [59.5 billion dollar Canada]. That is all international tourists, not just Indian.
Of those 44 billion, more than 65% came from the US alone. Whatever remained was dominated by UK, China, and France. India does not even feature in Destination Canada’s (formerly Canadian Tourism Commission) website as a significant source of tourists.
Coming back to business, Canada has some meaty investments in India which certainly attests to India’s value as an attractive market. Canada’s Pension Fund, for example, has more than $45 billion invested in the likes of Zomato, Wipro, Infosys, PayTM, and ICICI Bank.
But, in the infinitely unlikely event of any diplomatic misadventure affecting those investments, ask yourself, who sufferers more? The investor? Or the beneficiary? What happens to India Inc. if that happens? Will 45 billion “break the back” of 2 trillion?
Lastly, much is being said of Canada’s housing market. Let’s once again reiterate here, Indians make up less than 5% of the entire population. Certainly not all of them are homeowners or even potential homeowners. What impact do you reckon could they have on the market? The total foreign contribution to the nation’s housing market stands at 5%. That’s Indians AND non-Indians. Think 5% could bring about a “collapse” in a market where foreigners are already discouraged by the government itself?
Canada isn’t terribly enthusiastic about foreigners buying properties. A testimony to this fundamental resistance is the infamous Non-Resident Speculation Tax on all property purchases by non-Canadians which is as high as 25% in some parts.
But Indian origin Canadian citizens and PRs can still buy properties without such resistance. Will India’s visa ban, should it ever happen, hurt that? Not unless they all choose to give up their citizenship and move back to India. Even then, don’t forget the 5% ceiling. In the end, always remember, Canada is a rich country. India is a poor country (don’t let the gross GDP numbers fool you). With that in mind, take a human analogy. The rich depend on the poor for labor. The poor depend on the rich for income. There’s always more poor people than rich people. Economy is about supply and demand. Guess who is indispensable in this equation?
A rich employer will always find another poor worker. A poor worker will also find another rich employer. But there’s only so many rich employers whereas poor workers are a paisa a dozen. Having said that, it’d be less than honorable for a sovereign nation to just roll over and look the other way while another nation openly fosters terrorism and separatism against it. Trudeau must be put in his place. But when you’re this insignificant a threat to his country, a decent amount of tact is in order.
Mr. Sharad Pawar asserted that Mr. Modi was not adequately briefed about the bill, and highlighted that Maharashtra set an early example by introducing 30% reservation for women in municipal and district local body elections back in 1994, countering any claims that the country hadn’t previously considered women’s reservation.
The former Union Minister said that the Congress party and its allies’ wholeheartedly supported the bill in Parliament.
Mr. Pawar’s statement comes a day after PM Modi said in Madhya Pradesh that the Congress and its allies in the new ‘ghamandia’ (arrogant) alliance supported the bill in Parliament ‘reluctantly’.
“It was the previous Congress governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre that had initiated steps for women’s empowerment. I completely disagree with PM Modi’s statement. On June 24, 1994, the Congress government headed by me in the State had unveiled a women’s policy which was the first in the country,” the 82-year-old politician said, adding that the Congress government at the Centre has bought the 73rd constitutional amendment, which paved the way for 33% quota for women in local bodies.
“When I was Defence minister, 11% reservation was given to women in Army, Navy and Air Force.
Asked about his recent meeting with industrialist Gautam Adani in Gujarat, the NCP founder said that he had gone to inaugurate an industrial unit of a businessman from Baramati (his political turf), and Mr. Adani was the chief guest of the function.
Further, the four time Maharashtra Chief Minister said that he supports the NDA government over alleged Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar row. “As an Indian citizen, my total support will be with the policy of the Indian government,” he said.
Despite voter concerns about inflation, unemployment and uneven growth, opinion polls suggest the right-wing BJP will comfortably win a third term in the federal elections, expected to be held in April and May.
It's no sure thing, though: growing anti-incumbency sentiment is conspiring with a newly formed national alliance of 26 opposition parties, including archrival Congress, to pose what BJP officials say will be Modi's toughest test by far.
"For once we are now seeing a united opposition," said Tamoghna Ghosh, a senior BJP official campaigning in Kolkata. "They may be devoid of a shared political ideology or vision, but their determination to defeat Modi can't be overlooked."
While Modi and his party stress they govern for all Indians, their emphasis of their Hindu faith and culture has disquieted some members of minority groups who feel politically excluded, especially Muslims who make up about 14% of the 1.4 billion population.
Some critics warn of an erosion of India's status as a secular democracy, long enshrined in its constitution.
BJP leaders in New Delhi have been spurred to action by an internal report presented to them by researchers in February that concluded that an anti-incumbency vote could see the party lose about 34 of their 303 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, robbing it of the majority that gives it a freer hand to pass laws, three senior party officials told Reuters.
"This time we will have to win in uncharted territories as retaining all the existing seats for the third time in a row is going to be a challenge," said BJP national president J.P. Nadda, who is leading the grassroots mobilisation drive.
In conversations with Reuters, Nadda and six other senior BJP figures outlined previously unreported details of the project - dubbed the "Big Outreach" internally - which they said marked a shift from its 2014 and 2019 election strategies focused more on large campaign rallies across the country.
It won't be an easy task, or free of risk, according to Nalin Mehta, dean at the UPES School of Modern Media in Uttarakhand and author of the book "The New BJP". He said the ground mobilisation, accompanied by an online campaign blitz, could fuel anti-incumbency sentiment in some quarters.
"The BJP's challenge as the dominant national party is to manage voter fatigue and to sustain the enthusiasm among its cadres after two terms in power," Mehta added.
"The party's ground-level cadre-building goes hand in hand with the creation of a massive digital footprint ... as well as an industrial scale use of social media."
Central government office space of the size of around 320 football fields has been cleared of clutter and junk in the past two years as part of two special drives, data shows. Out of the 84 Ministries and departments, the e-office has been adopted fully in 75 Ministries.
The BJP's outreach began over the summer, much earlier than in its previous campaigns when mobilisation started about four months before national elections.
The campaign isn't focusing on wooing voters from rival parties, according to the party officials, but will instead make direct contact with people who voted BJP in 2019 to lock down their support, enlist their campaigning assistance and provide intelligence on local issues.
The first phase, slated to end in early October, targets 134 priority constituencies with Hindu-majority populations where they lost by narrow margins in 2014 and 2019.
"These seats require energetic intervention and insulation of existing vote share," said Nadda, adding that the second phase ending in January would see activists visit all of the 303 seats that the party won four years ago.
"This time, the world's biggest party has launched the biggest-ever outreach to win the world's biggest elections."
Mahua Moitra, a national lawmaker with the regional opposition All India Trinamool Congress, isn't impressed. She said the bolstered outreach efforts reflected the threats posed to the BJP by the "INDIA" alliance of 26 rivals formed in July to challenge the ruling party's nationalist platform and oust Modi.
Workers of India's ruling BJP paint slogans and party symbol on a wall during an outreach program in Kolkata© Thomson Reuters
"The BJP is in panic mode and it's forcing them to set up a taskforce to meet voters a year before elections," she added. "They won't be third-time lucky."
Moitra is MP for Krishnanagar in West Bengal, a state in India's far east where Muslims make up about a quarter of the population. The BJP is resented by many voters there who fear its brand of Hindu nationalism has marginalised minorities and hindered their economic progress.
Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the rival Congress party, said the coalition of 26 regional parties might not have the financial clout enjoyed by the ruling to launch a similar grassroots campaign, but the alliance had mustered a broad enough opposition base to oust Modi.
"The BJP's grassroot workers can gather intelligence or coax voters but they will not win the 2024 election," he said, adding that too much "in-your-face" campaigning could turn off voters.
Not so, says BJP leader Nadda who says politicians must keep their ear to the ground.
Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is a city with deep historical, strategic and political significance. Long a trading hub for commodities like jute and tea, it was once the seat of British power in India as well as the cradle of an intellectual and artistic renaissance born in the 18th century.
Kolkata North, where and his group are campaigning, is a prime example of an early priority seat being targeted by the ruling party, as well as the problems the BJP faces nationally.
The BJP was beaten by a regional opposition party four years ago, even though it had strong support there, winning roughly 600,000 of the total 1.5 million votes cast.
Nonetheless Partha Chaudhury, an ophthalmologist by profession, has a clear vision as he traverses streets dotted with the 300-year-old crumbling architectural legacy of a bygone colonial era.
His first stop is a tin-shed shop in a slum district skirted by Victorian-era houses that have seen better days, where introduces himself to a bare-chested shopkeeper tending a cauldron of oil and kneading dough to fry samosas.
"Please tell us, elder brother, what can we do to make your life better?" Chaudhury asked the shopkeeper and simultaneously ticks off the man's name in his voter list.
He speaks fervently about a slew of reforms introduced by the federal government to improve lives of the urban poor since Modi came to power in 2014.
Chaudhury intones a mantra he'll repeat to more than 20 voters in the next three hours: "We know you vote for the BJP and we are here to understand what we should be doing to win this seat in 2024."
Cough syrups made in India and Indonesia have been linked to deaths of more than 300 children globally. The medicines were found to contain high levels of DEG and EG, leading to acute kidney injury and death. Abbot is locked in a tussle with drug regulators in Goa, India after the company, starting in August, voluntarily recalled many batches of its Digene Gel syrup produced there after it received customer complaints on taste and odor. Digene maker Abbott, which is in a tussle with India’s state drug regulator, warned of potential supply shortages of Cremaffin, Duphalac syrups after the regulator prohibited manufacturing of syrups on finding lapses at their Goa unit.
Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, Western democracies have kept silent on the country’s democratic backsliding — mainly to keep him onside against China, but also to push through trade deals and gain access to India’s markets.
However, the long rope given Modi may just snap under the strain of Canada’s recent accusations that India carried out a targeted killing on Canadian soil.
New Delhi has denied any involvement, describing Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd and motivated,” with India’s foreign affairs ministry depicting it as an attempt to distract from Canada’s inaction against “Khalistani terrorists and extremists” — a reference to secessionists calling for an independent state for Indian Sikhs.
Sikh separatists have sought shelter in Canada since the mid-1980s, after the Indian government cracked down on the movement and its leadership.
Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star in 1984, killing the group’s leader who was holed up in the holiest Sikh shrine. Later that year, she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. And just one year later, an Air India flight en route from Montreal exploded mid-air, killing all 329 passengers. Some of the Sikh separatists who fled to Canada were accused of being the culprits.
But while there is little to no popular support for Khalistan in the Sikh-dominated region of Punjab today, and no imminent fear of its revival, the diaspora has clung to the cause and tried to re-energize the campaign. At the time of his killing, Nijjar was organizing a nonbinding referendum to ascertain support for an independent Sikh nation.
The Indian state has legitimate concerns about Sikh separatists in Canada, but would that merit ordering an assassination in a friendly nation?
The burden of proof here lies with Trudeau who, at least for the first two days, didn’t receive the support he expected from his Western allies.
The United States expressed concern but calibrated, calling on both Canada and India to uncover the full truth without condemning New Delhi. The United Kingdom, home to a large Sikh population, said that it was not looking to “conflate’’ ongoing negotiations over a U.K.-India trade deal “with other issues.’’ And Australia, home to more than 200,000 Sikhs, was also restrained, simply stating it was “deeply concerned.”
Pro-government journalists in India have hailed all this restraint as support for the state, leaving their Canadian counterparts flummoxed, as they had apparently expected more from Canada’s allies — especially since Canada is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that includes the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
However, it was Trudeau’s own comments that in some ways led to speculation that he had vague intelligence rather than concrete evidence, as he said Canadian security agencies had been actively pursuing “credible allegations” — not credible evidence — of a “potential’’ link between Indian agents and the killing.
There is, of course, an argument to be made that Trudeau shouldn’t have gone public and shouldn’t have paused trade talks with one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But perhaps the choice was made for him, as a Canadian paper was on the verge of publishing the story, and he wanted to get out ahead of it.
And with pressure building on Trudeau for more clarity, Washington apparently felt compelled to pick a side, with U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen telling a Canadian television channel on Saturday that “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners” informed Trudeau’s public allegation, insinuating there might just be a smoking gun.
But if any such evidence exists and were to be eventually produced in a public forum, such as a court, the prosecution would have to reveal how it was sourced — something that might jeopardize India’s ties with all Five Eyes members, including its most important ally, the U.S.
If proven, Canada’s accusations could be a game-changer, compelling Western leaders to reprimand the Indian government. As political analyst Scott Reid said to CTV, “You just can’t go to other people’s countries and kill their citizens. This is not a James Bond movie, that does not occur.’’
That isn’t how the situation appears in India, however, where Canada’s allegations seem to be helping Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ask Modi’s supporters, and they think Bond and Smiley are all novices compared to Ajit Doval — India’s national security adviser and the second-most powerful person in the country.
Months before Trudeau’s allegations, Hindu nationalists were complimenting Doval for crushing the “Khalistani” leadership. “The dismantling of Khalistan has begun. Don’t Mess with Ajit Doval,’’ one tweet read. “If you are against India and want terrorism in India, we will get you,’’ read another, echoing Doval’s message.
Yet behind the unabashed nationalism of some of Modi’s supporters, there is a deep sense of victimhood among Indians who have long felt their governments were too weak and diplomatic to end terrorist attacks, often emanating from neighboring Pakistan. The siege of Mumbai in 2008 has left an indelible scar on the country’s collective psyche, and in the past, Modi pledged to wield an iron fist when it comes to terrorists.
In the late 1990s, under former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, India had abandoned, or severely limited, its covert operations, but Modi has since renewed the focus on security. He has given more resources to India’s spy agency, the Research and Analysis wing (RAW), and allowed it to enhance cooperation with Mossad. Suddenly, there were more leaks from unnamed security officials on Indian television claiming the agencies were “hunting down terrorists,” and more stories about the bravado of India’s spies.
But before Nijjar, two other Sikh separatists were also recently found dead under mysterious circumstances — one in Pakistan and the other in the U.K. Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead in Lahore in early May, and Avtar Singh Khanda died in a hospital in Birmingham, just a few days before Nijjar’s killing. And while Khanda’s family said he succumbed to cancer, his supporters insisted he was poisoned. Meanwhile, TFI — a pro-Indian government portal — has suggested an indirect but significant link between these killings and RAW.
Still, Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in Delhi, said he doesn’t believe India has the capability, or stomach, to carry out such assassinations abroad. According to Sahni, an expert on the Sikh insurgency, Trudeau’s allegations were “irresponsible,”and the killing could be linked to an internal dispute within the Sikh separatist movement.
After all, “both countries are approaching critical national elections,’’ he said. “This is helping Modi over here, and Trudeau there.”
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Thank you, as always, for reading. If you have anything like a spark file, or master thought list (spark file sounds so much cooler), let me know how you use it in the comments below.
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-prada- Adi Mulia Pradana is a Helper. Former adviser (President Indonesia) Jokowi for mapping 2-times election. I used to get paid to catch all these blunders—now I do it for free. Trying to work out what's going on, what happens next. Arch enemies of the tobacco industry, (still) survive after getting doxed. Now figure out, or, prevent catastrophic situations in the Indonesian administration from outside the government. After his mom was nearly killed by a syndicate, now I do it (catch all these blunders, especially blunders by an asshole syndicates) for free. Writer actually facing 12 years attack-simultaneously (physically terror, cyberattack terror) by his (ex) friend in IR UGM / HI UGM (all of them actually indebted to me, at least get a very cheap book). 2 times, my mom nearly got assassinated by my friend with “komplotan” / weird syndicate. Once assassin, forever is assassin, that I was facing in years. I push myself to be (keep) dovish, pacifist, and you can read my pacifist tone in every note I write. A framing that myself propagated for years.
(Very rare compliment and initiative pledge. Thank you. Yes, even a lot of people associated me PRAVDA, not part of MIUCCIA PRADA. I’m literally asshole on debate, since in college). Especially after heated between Putin and Prigozhin. My note-live blog about Russia - Ukraine already click-read 4 millions.
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Thanks for reading Prada’s Newsletter. I was lured, inspired by someone writer, his post in LinkedIn months ago, “Currently after a routine daily writing newsletter in the last 10 years, my subscriber reaches 100,000. Maybe one of my subscribers is your boss.” After I get followed / subscribed by (literally) prominent AI and prominent Chief Product and Technology of mammoth global media (both: Sir, thank you so much), I try crafting more / better writing.
To get the ones who really appreciate your writing, and now prominent people appreciate my writing, priceless feeling. Prada ungated/no paywall every notes-but thank you for anyone open initiative pledge to me.
(Promoting to more engage in Substack) Seamless to listen to your favorite podcasts on Substack. You can buy a better headset to listen to a podcast here (GST DE352306207).
Listeners on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or Pocket Casts simultaneously. podcasting can transform more of a conversation. Invite listeners to weigh in on episodes directly with you and with each other through discussion threads. At Substack, the process is to build with writers. Podcasts are an amazing feature of the Substack. I wish it had a feature to read the words we have written down without us having to do the speaking. Thanks for reading Prada’s Newsletter.
Wants comfy jogging pants / jogginghose amid scorching summer or (one day) harsh winter like black jogginghose or khaki/beige jogginghose like this? click
Headset and Mic can buy in here, but not including this cat, laptop, and couch / sofa.