‘Give Them A Place, Call It Khalistan’: Recalled Indian Envoy Sanjay Verma's Advice To Trudeau

Sanjay Verma, stated that if Canada is sympathetic to the cause, it should offer Canadian land for a 'Khalistan.'

Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma (ANI photo)

New Delhi: Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma on Friday launched a sharp attack at the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and its sympathy with Khalistan cause. In a blunt retort, he asserted that if Ottawa is so concerned about the 'small percentage of Canadian Sikhs' supporting Khalistan, it should "give them a place and call it Khalistan." 

In an interview with ANI, Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Verma, stated that Khalistani extremists and terrorists are posing a direct threat to India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “As long as these people, these Khalistani extremists and terrorists keep talking about Canada, I have no issues. That's their domestic issue. They can do whatever they want. As soon as they look at dividing India, then it is my problem,” Verma asserted. 

Verma added that if Canadian citizens are challenging India's sovereignty, then " I will certainly take to the Canadian authorities to say that listen, you have to resolve this." 

"They (Khalistan elements) want a country for themselves. I would say if Canada wants them to be there and they are so kind to them, Canada is a huge country. Give space to them, call it Khalistan," Verma said highlighting that, "if Khalistan is to be made, it is in Canada, never in India." 

Verma noted a false narrative among the Canadian community, he said, “Babies who cry louder get attention. So, they get fed. And somehow, they have been able to build a narrative that these 10,000 of the Khalistani terrorists and extremists represent the Sikh community in Canada, which is absolutely incorrect and falsehood.” 

He said due to this manipulated perspective, “The Indian diaspora, is also seen as being led by these Khalistanis. And these narratives which had been built over a period of time tells the regime of the day that they are important." 

Sanjay Verma reiterated the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) statement that Trudeau’s government has not shared any shred of evidence in support of thier claims about India-designate terrorists Hardeep Nijjar’s assassination. "Zero zilch. Nothing. So far what I have heard is what they keep saying in the media,” he said. 

Relations between India and Canada deteriorated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in Parliament last year that he had ‘credible allegations’ implicating India in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India firmly rejected these accusations, labeling them as ‘absurd’ and ‘politically motivated,’ and accused Canada of fostering extremist and anti-India elements within its borders. Nijjar, designated as a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot dead outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.

(With inputs from ANI)