Trudeau and Jagmeet turned partners of sorts from rivals when after the 2021 election Trudeau’s Liberal Party was able to form government with the support of Jagmeet’s NDP. Now, Trudeau’s government is entirely dependent on Jagmeet’s support to survive.
A vocal supporter of Khalistani politics who has association with violent Khalistani leaders, Jagmeet pulls Trudeau’s strings. Before NDP propped up his government, Trudeau indulged in a competitive patronising of Khalistanis since Jagmeet’s sudden rise threatened Trudeau’s hold on Khalistani votes. Now with his government dependent on the NDP support, Trudeau has to acquiesce to Jagmeet’s virulent anti-India agenda. If you add to his acquiescing to Jagmeet his efforts to consolidate his own Khalistani votes, you have a prime minister who will jeopardise Canada’s relations with India just for a few votes. But a few votes matter. Expecting thin victory margins, politicians woo small but consolidated voting blocs.
Jagmeet’s rise in Canadian politics
In 2017, Jagmeet, a 38-year-old Sikh lawyer and an MLA for several years, was elected the leader of NDP, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major political party in the country. The NDP is the third-biggest party in Canada. He was elected as the NDP head to lead the party into the 2019 election against Trudeau’s Liberal Party. This meant he was the prime-ministerial candidate of the party, a big achievement for the Indian diaspora in Canada. Media in India celebrated his success. He said he would focus on issues of climate change, reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and electoral reform.
Later, his win as the NDP head, with 53.6 per cent of the vote, was alleged to be rigged. It was claimed that he enrolled thousands of new members from his community solely to pad up his votes during the party election.Born in 1979 in Scarborough, Ontario, to immigrant parents from Punjab, Singh grew up in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Windsor, Ontario. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Western Ontario in 2001 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005. He worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Greater Toronto Area before entering politics.When Jagmeet became the NDP head and a rival of Trudeau for prime-ministership, he was feted as a Sikh with swag, a charismatic Sikh politician who wore bright turbans and sharp jackets, had social media savvy and was a vocal champion of the rights of people of colour and the LGBT community. His signature style of teaming colourful turbans with bespoke suits got him into the pages of fashion magazines such as GQ and he was called an “incredibly well-dressed rising star in Canadian politics”.
Jagmeet’s anti-India stance was not widely known then. Very few knew that Jagmeet was denied a visa in 2013 to visit India, apparently for his anti-India activities and his links to extremists. However, he said he was to visit Amritsar for an awards ceremony by two NGOs which had selected him for the Sikh of the Year Award. He had told TOI that the Indian government was apparently annoyed with him for “raising the voice of justice for victims of anti-Sikh riots of November 1984”.
Jagmeet’s outing as a Khalistani sympathiser
Jagmeet’s outing as a supporter of the violent Khalistani movement came just a few days after he was elected the NDP leader. It was his interview with the CBC’s Terry Milewski in which Milewski posed him a simple question: Is it appropriate for Sikh gurdwaras in Canada to display posters hailing the architect of the 1985 Air India bombing, Talwinder Singh Parmar, as a martyr?
As many as 329 people, most of them Canadians, were killed in the bombing of Air India Flight 182, called Kanishka. Parmar was killed in India in a gun fight by police in 1992 when he had sneaked in from Pakistan and thus was never brought to trial. Later, inquiries found that he was the leader of the conspiracy to bomb the Air India plane.
Jagmeet could simply say ‘no’, but he dithered. “I don’t know who was responsible, but I think we need to find out who’s truly responsible. We need to make sure that the investigation actually results in a conviction of someone who is actually responsible.”
Jagmeet’s response kicked up a storm. Many interpreted Milewski’s question as racist. He was seen to be targeting a leader who belonged to a religious and racial minority with an irrelevant question when he could ask questions on relevant issues. But the interview outed Jagmeet as a supporter of violent Khalistani movement. After that he was often criticised for his association with Khalistanis.
From Trudeau’s rival to partner
The radical Sikh vote was in Trudeau’s pocket. In his cabinet, he had three Sikhs, including defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan who had open ties with Khalistani organisations. However, Jagmeet, with his charisma and proximity to Khalistanis, was a challenge for Trudeau. That pushed Trudeau to compete with Jagmeet in attracting Khalistani votes. For instance, in 2018, an intelligence report that identified Khalistani extremism as a threat to Canada ignited protests by Sikh groups. Trudeau got all references to Khalistan scrubbed out of the intelligence report to please the extremists.
In the 2019 elections, Jagmeet’s NDP won 24 seats, its worst result since 2004, yet he continued to head the party. His moment came in the next elections in 2021 when NDP won 25 seats and emerged as the “kingmaker” since Trudeau’s Liberal Party failed to get a majority. Trudeau formed the government with the support of Jagmeet’s NDP in what is called a confidence-and-supply agreement where a party props up a minority government with the promise to support in motions of confidence and budgetary matters but does not share power. This makes it easier for Jagmeet’s NDP to withdraw support from Trudeau’s government, which puts Trudeau utterly at Jagmeet’s mercy.
Right after Trudeau accused India of getting Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar murdered, Jagmeet came out in his support and issued a statement against the Indian Prime Minister. “Today, we learned of allegations that agents of the Indian government murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar – a Canadian killed on Canadian soil. To all Canadians, this is my vow. I will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice, including holding Narendra Modi accountable,” he said.
With competitive pampering of Khalistani elements by two major leaders of Canada, India-Canada relations are not expected to improve anytime soon.
