Ottawa: Canada’s stance now seems to be softening in front of the strict leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Canada has been on the backfoot ever since India took a tough stand on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in the murder case of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and rejected his claim. India’s strictness is now having an effect on Canadian courts as well. Now for the first time, a Canadian court has rejected the appeal of two Khalistanis to be removed from the country’s ‘no-fly’ list. The court foiled the attempt of two Sikh extremists by saying that there are ‘strong grounds’ to suspect that they would be a threat to transport security or air travel for carrying out a terrorist incident.
In a report released on Thursday from Vancouver, the Canadian news agency quoted an order issued by the ‘Federal Appeal Court’ last week saying that the appellate court has rejected the appeal of Bhagat Singh Barar and Parvkar Singh Dulai. Both of them were included in the ‘fly banned’ list under Canada’s Safe Air Travel Act. Earlier, both Sikh extremists had challenged the constitutionality of this list and their petition was rejected. After this, they knocked the door of the appellate court. Both were not allowed to board planes in Vancouver in 2018.
The court said this in its decision
The judgment said the act gives the Minister of Public Security the power to ban people from flying if there are “reasonable grounds to suspect that they will threaten transport security or travel by air to commit a terrorist act.” “At one point, the appellants tried to fly but they could not do so. Their names were included in the (banned) list and the minister had directed them not to fly,” the order said. The appellate court found that based on confidential security information, the minister had “reasonable grounds to suspect that the appellants would travel by air to commit a terrorist act.”
Dulai is a member of a banned organization in India
Barad and Dulai had approached the Federal Court of Canada in 2019 to remove their names from this list, but Justice Simon Noel ruled against both of them in 2022. Both of them had approached the appellate court against this decision. There was no immediate response from the lawyers of Barad and Dulai on the court’s decision. Sources in New Delhi said that Dulai is a member of the banned organization ‘Babbar Khalsa’. He said that Dulai is close to Jagmeet Singh, leader of the opposition ‘New Democratic Party’. Dulai runs ‘Channel Punjabi’ from Surrey and ‘Global TV’ channels from Chandigarh. According to sources, both the channels spread Khalistani propaganda.
Decisions are important at times like this
The court’s decision comes at a time when relations between the two countries are strained after the Canadian Prime Minister accused India of involvement in the killing of alleged Sikh separatist and Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In September last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of “possible” involvement in Nijjar’s killing. India has rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd and motivated”. India says that the main issue between the two countries is that Canada is providing unhindered space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from its soil. India has repeatedly expressed its “deep concern” to Canada.
New Delhi hopes that Ottawa will take strong action against such elements. Meanwhile, the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday observed the first anniversary of Nijjar’s death by observing a moment of silence in the House of Commons. He was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18 last year. (Language)
Latest World News