Dinner invitation to ex-terrorist clouds Canadian PM Trudeau’s visit

NEW DELHI: A "rescinded" invite from the Canadian high commission to a Khalistan separatist, Jaspal Atwal , for a dinner reception in honour of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau threatened to further strain India-Canada ties a day ahead of the visiting leader’s meeting with his counterpart Narendra Modi.


The invite for the reception, which was held Thursday evening at the residence of Canadian high commissioner Nadir Patel, was withdrawn hours before the event and after the Canadian media pointed to Atwal’s presence at a Trudeau event in Mumbai. A report in Toronto Sun also carried a photo of Trudeau’s wife

Sophie Gregoire

with Atwal from the Mumbai event.



Atwal, who has been a member of the banned International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), ambushed and shot at a Punjab minister, Malkiat Singh, while the latter was on a private trip to Vancouver Island in 1986. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was also seen interacting with Canadian minister Amarjeet Sohi and Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu in Mumbai.

Trudeau himself sought to nip the outrage in the bud by saying that the invite had been rescinded and that the Canadian MP who had sent out the invite was going to take full responsibility for his action. " Sikhs and Indo-Canadians have contributed significantly to our country. This trip is about taking the relationship forward," said Trudeau, adding that the invite was unfortunate. The Canadian side clarified that Atwal was not a part of Trudeau’s delegation.

Looking to prevent the issue from flaring up, the MEA quickly responded to Trudeau’s clarification saying that the Canadian side had taken note of India’s concerns by withdrawing the invite and that it was time to move on. Canada is also said to have assured the Indian government that the person responsible for the "oversight" would be held accountable.

Following Trudeau's comments, the Liberal MP from Surrey Centre in British Columbia, Randeep Sarai tweeted that he alone was responsible for the invite to Atwal and also that he apologised "without reservation" for the situation.

Trudeau's ongoing visit to India has been marred by what many in the Indian government describe as his Liberal government's disinclination to rein in Khalistan supporters. Indian officials had earlier privately also expressed reservation over the fact that Trudeau initially seemed reluctant to have a meeting with Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.

However, with the Canadians distancing themselves from Atwal and explaining the reception invite as an oversight, the Indian side was left enquiring how Atwal managed to get visa in the first place. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the government was trying to ascertain from the Indian high commission how Atwal managed to get visa.

"Let’s not presume things here. There are many ways of entering the country like the use of e-visa maybe and we are trying to ascertain how he came to India," said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. He said that the government was aware that Atwal had served in jail for the shooting incident in 1986 but that it had to be verified if he had any case pending against him.

Sources here said that Atwal, now a Vancouver-based businessman, had probably used the e-visa facility, which India offers to Canadians, to visit India. While India didn’t make its displeasure public, official sources here said they had expected Canadian authorities to be more sensitive to India’s concerns. Another Canadian businessman and a member of a Sikh organisation with links to the Khalistan movement, Paramjit Randhawa, claimed to have arrived in India as a member of the Trudeau delegation.

"Atwal’s antecedents are well known. The Canadian ministers and MPs could have done better than to publicly interact and pose for photographs with him," said a senior Indian official who did not wish to be quoted.

Atwal is known to have deep links with the Liberal party and this is not the first time he has run into a controversy over the same. Atwal’s presence at a budget speech in 2012 in British Columbia legislature created a furore after a confirmation by then Premier Christy Clark. What’s significant is that the Liberal party official who had handed out the invite and later described it as an error of judgement was forced to resign. While Clark had expressed shock at Atwal’s presence, she was herself said to have attended an event by Indo-Canadians in 2011 in which Atwal too was present.