India's High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, launched a scathing attack on the country's state-backed broadcaster CBC, saying that Canada has "failed for 40 years" to take appropriate action against extremists functioning from their country, which has led to a non-restrictive environment for the growth of violence targeted towards India, NDTV reported.
What did the High Commissioner say?
In the interview, High Commissioner Patnaik pulled up the bombing of the Air India flight in 1985, which killed 329 people, and said, "We've been talking about terrorism in Canada for the last 40 years. What has anybody done about it? Not a single person has been convicted." He added, "The investigation into the Air India bombing has still not yielded anything."
The interview came amid Canada's attempts to mend its relationship with India. British Columbia Premier David Eby has led a trade mission to India. But the interview swiftly moved beyond a discussion on economics, as accusations related to the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Canada's response to extremist groups came into question, NDTV reported.
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As CBC asserted repeatedly that Canadian intelligence had "credible information" on the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar, Dinesh Patnaik dismissed all speculations by saying, "Where is the evidence? These are allegations that have not been backed by evidence. There's always easy to make accusations. Accusations are easy."
'Canada playing double standards'
High Commissioner Patnaik further stated that Canada is playing double standards by asking for evidence when India warns about terrorists operating in the country, and at the same time, asking India to answer questions based on allegations alone. He said "When I accuse you and you tell me evidence is not enough, I agree with it. When you accuse me and I tell you evidence is not enough, please accept it with the same alacrity."
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The High Commissioner categorically denied the claim that the core of India's issues was the holding of separatist referendums in Canada, saying that India has never said that holding a referendum is a crime, but the people involved in the referendums are wanted in India for being involved in terrorist activities in other nations.
