Canada Suspected Nijjar Was Killed To Avenge Murder Of Kanishka Bombing Accused: Ex-NSA

Ottawa: Amid the ongoing row between India and Canada over the assassination of a Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a former Canadian national security adviser (NSA), Jody Thomas, claimed that Nijjar was killed in retaliation for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik according to the initial intelligence and police probe.

Malik was accused of being involved in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing.

The former NSA had mentioned, while appearing before Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, that that certain members of the Canadian Sikh community were not satisfied with the assessment that Nijjar’s killing was in retaliation for the murder of Malik. Thomas was Canada’s NSA when Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey last year.

Claiming that Malik’s murder had occurred almost exactly a year before Nijjar’s killing, Thomas, in her testimony, said: “The initial hypothesis was that it was a retaliation. But the community was raising concern.”

But, she also stated that during the course of investigation, intelligence indicated that Nijjar’s assassination might have been an extra-judicial killing. “Through very good intelligence and policing work, we learnt that there was a high probability that this was an extra-judicial killing,” Thomas stated. In fact, she claimed that Nijjar’s killing was the second high profile murder in the same Gurudwara where Malik was killed.

Thomas’s testimony was similar to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations against India. Trudeau had earlier alleged the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. However, the Ministry of External Affairs of India had declined such allegations. New Delhi had claimed that Canada had not provided India with any evidence of such allegations.

‘We Couldn’t Share Much As America Because…’: Ex-NSA

In her testimony, Thomas also mentioned as to why Canada did not share much information regarding the case with India. “…..It was difficult…we weren’t investigating a murder plot but we were investigating a natural murder,” she said.

“We couldn’t share as much evidence with India as America was able to. This explains the difference in the handling and cooperation of the two cases,” she stated.

What escalated the tension between India and Canada?

The India and Canada ties soared after Trudeau accused India of supporting criminal activities there. The ties further strained after Ottawa alleged that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’ in the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi rejected these allegations as “motivated and absurd”.

Later, Trudeau acknowledged that Canada had not provided India with concrete proof regarding Nijjar’s killing in Canada. He acknowledge this while testifying before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. Canada does not have any “hard evidentiary proof” to back its allegations, he admitted.

Who Was Ripudaman Singh Malik?

Ripudaman Singh Malik was once suspected of having funded the bombing of the Air India Kanishka in 1985. He was shot dead in Canada in July 22 by unknown gunmen near Vancouver. On June 23, 1985, Kanishka, which was operating on Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, exploded near the Irish coastline. All 329 persons on board were killed. Malik’s death came after a public smear campaign was launched against him by Nijjar, the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force.