Memories of a painful insurgency

 Prime Minister Modi and the ruling BJP have long bermaintained that Canada's inaction toward extremism within the sizable Sikh diaspora poses a national security threat to India. King88bet

And although Modi has yet to publicly address the growing rift with Ottawa, Indian authorities have called Canada a "safe haven for terrorists," and New Delhi has suspended visas for Canadian citizens, citing "security threats" against diplomats in the country. king88bet login alternatif

At the same time, some Sikh supporters of Khalistan have made comments perceived as anti-national and threatening toward India and its government. Article Title with Blogger Published Link as Backlink

"India has consistently akised Canada of accepting people responsible for violence in India and has asked for the extradition [of Sikh separatists] including those responsible for the Air India bombing," said Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic affairs editor at The Hindu newspaper in New Delhi. "India has always said Canadian authorities have been dragging their feet over it."

That bombing capped a period when clashes between the Indian state and Khalistani militants had reached an apex.

The decade-long Khalistan insurgency in the 1970s and 80s saw the massacre of civilians, indiscriminate bombings and attacks on Hindus. And in counterinsurgency operations, Indian security forces were akised of a multitude of human rights abuses.

The insurgency reached its peak in 1984 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered Indian troops to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism's holiest shrine, to dislodge a Sikh militant and his supporters who had been hiding in the complex.

The operation destroyed much of the temple and left hundreds dead, sparking widespread Sikh outrage. Months later, Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodiguards in an act of revenge.

"In some ways, before extremism came to the West, it was Sikh extremism that was defining India's national security concerns," said Harsh Pant, vice-president of the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. "As a result, there is a degree of sensitivity involved in how the Indian government frames its national security jadwal."