Close X
Thursday, November 7, 2024
ADVT 
National

Justin Trudeau Backs Conspiracy Theory Over Jaspal Atwal's Invite, India Denies Allegations

IANS, 28 Feb, 2018 11:34 AM

    OTTAWA — India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement Wednesday saying the Indian government had no role in an incident in which an attempted murderer was invited to a pair of events Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended during his visit to India last week.

     

    Jaspal Atwal — a B.C. Sikh convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — attended a reception in Mumbai but Trudeau's office said a later invitation to a party in New Delhi was revoked as soon as his name was spotted on the guest list.

     

    In a background briefing arranged by the Prime Minister's Office, a government official has suggested Atwal's presence was arranged by factions within the Indian government who want to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from getting too cosy with a foreign government they believe is not committed to a united India.

     
     

    But the official spokesman for the Indian ministry said Modi's government had nothing to do with invitations issued to Atwal.

     

    "Let me categorically state that the government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian high commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian high commissioner's reception in New Delhi," Raveesh Kumar said in a brief statement posted on the ministry website.

     
     

    "Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable," he said.

     

    Conservatives have identified the Canadian official as Trudeau's national security adviser, Daniel Jean, whom Trudeau defended Tuesday as a member of the professional, non-partisan public service.

     

    But Trudeau nevertheless accepted the offer of Liberal backbencher Randeep Sarai, who has taken responsibility for inviting Atwal to events with the prime minister in India, to resign as the chair of the party's Pacific caucus.

     

    "I want to again apologize for my role in recent unfortunate events," Sarai said in a statement, adding that he'll "be exercising better judgment" in future.

     

    Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs who travelled to India twice with former prime minister Stephen Harper, called the Liberals' suggestion that someone in the Indian government was behind Atwal's attendance "nonsense."

     

    "Who was responsible for taking the picture with his wife? Who was responsible for taking the picture with (Liberal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet) Sohi? Who was responsible for sending out that invitation? Are you telling me that the government of India was? No," Obhrai said.

     

    Atwal, a one-time member of a Sikh separatist group that is banned in Canada and India as a terrorist organization, was convicted of attempting to kill Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986.

     

    He was also charged, but not convicted, in connection with a 1985 attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, a staunch opponent of the Sikh separatist movement, who later became B.C. premier and a federal Liberal cabinet minister.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Father Charged With Second-degree Murder In B.C. Sisters' Deaths

    Father Charged With Second-degree Murder In B.C. Sisters' Deaths
      OAK BAY, B.C. — The father of two girls who were found dead in a Victoria-area home on Christmas Day has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

    Father Charged With Second-degree Murder In B.C. Sisters' Deaths

    No Charges Against Vancouver Cop Whose Police Dog Injured Suspect During Arrest

    VICTORIA — British Columbia's prosecution service has announced no charges will be laid against a Vancouver police officer who deployed his police service dog during the arrest of a suspect.

    No Charges Against Vancouver Cop Whose Police Dog Injured Suspect During Arrest

    Niagara Falls A Winter Wonderland That Draws Tourists During Frigid Weather

    Niagara Falls A Winter Wonderland That Draws Tourists During Frigid Weather
    Diane Zhao has made the journey from China to Niagara Falls three times before, but she has never seen it like this — a veritable ice palace, straight out of a fairy tale.

    Niagara Falls A Winter Wonderland That Draws Tourists During Frigid Weather

    'Sounds More Like North Korea Than Canada,' Says Artist Behind Stalled Subway Art

    'Sounds More Like North Korea Than Canada,' Says Artist Behind Stalled Subway Art
    Two artists behind a controversial art installation commissioned for a newly opened subway station in Toronto say the city's refusal to greenlight the project has ironically achieved what the art was meant to do — spark a debate about free speech.

    'Sounds More Like North Korea Than Canada,' Says Artist Behind Stalled Subway Art

    Police Officer In London, Ont., London, Ont., Apologizes For Wearing Blackface

    Police Officer In London, Ont., London, Ont., Apologizes For Wearing Blackface
    LONDON, Ont. — A police officer in London, Ont., is apologizing for wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume and will undergo cultural sensitivity training.

    Police Officer In London, Ont., London, Ont., Apologizes For Wearing Blackface

    Women Accusing Theatre Star Albert Schultz Of Sex Assault Speak Out

    Women Accusing Theatre Star Albert Schultz Of Sex Assault Speak Out
    The allegations have not been proven in court. Schultz says he plans to defend himself against the claims and Soulpepper's board of directors says it has instructed him to step down as it conducts an investigation.

    Women Accusing Theatre Star Albert Schultz Of Sex Assault Speak Out