The Journal. - A Murder That Sparked a Diplomatic Crisis

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Ties between Canada and India have sunk to a low. This week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India was potentially involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist in a suburb of Vancouver, a charge India denies. WSJ’s Tripti Lahiri explains why the crisis is now ensnaring other big democracies. Further Reading: - India Suspends Visas for Canadians as Rift Over Killing Deepens  - India Blasts Canada Over Trudeau’s Allegation That It Played Role in Killing  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A messy diplomatic crisis is escalating this week. It started in Canada with an explosive accusation from the country's leader, Justin Trudeau. Mr. Speaker, today I'm rising to inform the House of an extremely serious matter. Our colleague Tripti Lahiri watched as Trudeau made an emergency statement in Canada's Parliament. He laid out what was basically an accusation of an assassination or an extrajudicial killing by another government on Canadian territory. Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. So that was really a huge allegation that he made and it created shockwaves in India.

and it created shockwaves in India. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. The allegation, which India denies, is now dragging other Western democracies into the fray. On one side, there's Canada, a trusted NATO ally. On the other is India, an emerging economic superpower. Now it's really, you know, a pretty major geopolitical incident.

And one that the leaders of a number of countries are probably getting briefed on and need to figure out where they stand on. And what sorts of discussions they have about it with Canada, what sorts of discussions that they have about it with India. It is a very tricky position for the U.S. and for others of Canada's allies that are also close with India. You know, many countries that have good relations with both are going to have to think about what is the line that they walk here. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Friday, September 22nd. Coming up on the show, how a killing in Canada is spiraling into an international crisis. media, you can spend more time dinnering with them. How's that spicy enchilada?

Very flavorful. Yodeling with them. Ooh, must be mating season. And hiking with them. Is that a squirrel? Bear! Run! Collect more moments with more ways to earn. Air Mile.

Canada's accusation against India involves the murder of a Sikh activist. His name was Hardeep Singh Najjar. Najjar was advocating for a separate Sikh state in India when he was murdered in June. The killing happened at a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, in a suburb of Vancouver. Here's Tripti again. The evening of June 18, Nijar had finished his prayers in the gurdwara that he headed. And he was getting back into his gray pickup truck to go home. And in fact, he even called his family.

He was in a good mood. He was like, you know, I'm coming home. Can you get dinner ready? This is what his son said. A couple minutes later, the police get notified of a shooting incident in the parking lot. And when they get there, they find Nijar seriously injured in the driver's seat. Nijar was shot multiple times and died at the scene. He was 45. Witnesses said two masked suspects fled in a getaway car.

What else do we know about Nijar? So we know that he lived in Canada about 25 years. He worked as a plumber. Although these all sound like sort of innocuous details, he also was a figure that was seen really differently in Canada and in India, where he grew up in the state of Punjab. So in Canada, he's seen as a community activist and as someone who advocated for human rights and free speech. And after he died, Sikhs traveled from all over the country for his memorial,

you know, and to express their sadness over this killing. But in India, he is seen very differently. Well, or rather, I should say the Indian government sees him differently. In India, Najjar was a wanted man. In 2020, the Indian government named him a terrorist. Nijar denied the claims. He portrayed himself in the press as a peaceful activist and a hardworking plumber. Nijar's activist work was to rally support for carving out an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan. What is Khalistan?

Can you talk about this separatist movement? Well, it goes back to the 1940s when India was seeking independence from British rule and ultimately that culminated in independence in 1947 and the creation of two states, India and Pakistan. And what happened is Punjab was a large state that got split between the two countries, and that ended up upsetting many Sikhs. And, you know, some of their holy sites are in one country and some are in the other. So I think that the idea of a separate homeland dates even back to that time.

India, which is majority Hindu, has had a long history of cracking down on Sikh separatists, and that history is bloody. One of the most dramatic episodes happened in 1984. That year, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered Indian security forces to storm a temple where separatist militants were holed up. After two years of protests and demonstrations in the northern province of Punjab by militant Sikhs demanding an independent state, the government's patience finally snapped. Troops reportedly stormed the temple. What happened in June of 1984 was a days-long

armed battle between the security forces and the militants, and hundreds of people died, including innocent people who had maybe just gone to the temple to worship. And months later, in that same year, in retaliation... Indira Gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today, shot down by two of her own bodyguards. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards, and the violence didn't end there. After the assassination, there were riots in many Indian cities,

and those riots targeted regular Sikh citizens and residents of different neighborhoods. Rioters set more than 60 houses alight, throwing stones at Sikh property and damaging everything in sight. Sikhs are huddling together for protection. More than 500 are known to have been killed by angry mobs, nearly 100 in a suburb of Delhi alone. More violence followed, some of it perpetrated by Sikh separatists. In 1985, an Air India flight between Toronto and London exploded. More than 300 people died. Sikh militants were later implicated

in the bombing. As tensions kept rising, India continued to crack down on Sikhs. The suppression mostly succeeded. By the 1990s, the separatist movement in Punjab was pretty much over. And many Sikhs found their way to other countries, like Canada, which had welcoming immigration policies. Canada is home to one of the world's largest populations, I think the largest population of Sikhs outside of India. So India has maybe, I'd say, about 21 million Sikhs, mostly in the state of Punjab. And Canada has, I think, 770,000 Sikhs. And of course, Canada is a much smaller country in population.

So actually Sikhs are a somewhat bigger share of the Canadian population than of the Indian population. And this immigration happened over a long time, but it really speeded up in the 90s. That's when Hardeep Singh Najjar arrived in Canada, where he advocated strongly for Sikh independence. A few years ago, Najjar began organizing a referendum that gauged interest in a separate Calistani state. And even though it didn't have any political teeth, it alarmed Indian officials. There were posters to advertise these referendums that showed, like, a call for the secession of Punjab.

I think in one case, a poster had pictures of weapons on it. So from the Indian point of view, these were concerning exercises. Right. The messaging was concerning to the Indian government. Yeah. According to reports, Canadian intelligence warned Najjar of threats to his life due to his activism. And after Najjar was killed in June, members of the local Sikh community

immediately pointed the finger at the Indian government. Eventually, so did the Canadian government. Earlier this month, at the G20 summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Trudeau took his concerns to India's leader, Narendra Modi. These two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit, and it's clear now Trudeau said that he raised the issue of Canada's concerns about the killing of this Canadian citizen on Canadian soil with India. And Modi, for his part, I think also really took a very stern approach with Trudeau, saying that India was very unhappy with the level of Khalistan activism.

And also, you know, in the wake of the Niger's death, there had been protests. In some cases, I think in Canada, they carried posters saying, kill India, which the Indian government viewed as threatening. India was really very concerned about these incidents. And so Modi raised them with Trudeau. So a very tense meeting, I think, all around. And whatever happened in that discussion, it seems clear that Trudeau came away feeling that he needed to go public with the allegations. Now Trudeau has thrust the issue in front of allies like the U.S. and the U.K. Coming up, why that's created a headache for some of Canada's closest friends. We'll see you next time. But a banana, that's a yes. A nice tan, sorry, nope. But a box fan, happily yes. A day of sunshine, no.

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Please enjoy responsibly. Available at the LCBO. After Trudeau's bombshell declaration this week, tensions between India and Canada escalated dramatically. India called the allegations, quote, absurd, and accused Canada of sheltering pro-separatist extremists. Canada then expelled a high-level Indian official. And India fired back, with a tit-for-tat expulsion of a Canadian diplomat. So they've gotten to the point where each of these countries is expelling each other's diplomats.

Yeah. So pretty serious. Pretty serious. How would you describe the relationship between Canada and India at this point? Frankly, the relationship seems pretty terrible. I'm not really sure how they move away from this. But now it just seems to have hit rock bottom. India has now put out an advisory telling its citizens to exercise caution

when traveling to Canada. It also suspended visas for Canadian nationals. Canada says it's taking steps to ensure the safety of its diplomats in India. Meanwhile, Canada's allies are taking a cautious approach. Certainly the U.S. and Australia, for example, have expressed concern about the allegations. They have said that these are very serious allegations, but they've also said we need to let the investigation take its course and see

what comes out. You know, maybe if this was a few years ago, these countries would have come out more loudly on the side of Canada. I mean, Canada and the US are like neighbors and longtime allies. But it's been very interesting to see that in a way the response has been muted. So they haven't come out to condemn India or to sort of openly back Canada, but just to say that these types of allegations are serious, which everybody can agree on that. And why this muted response? You know, I think that the nature of that response, the response by the U.S., for example, clearly shows how India's position in the world has changed.

And I think an allegation like this could really make it complicated for the U.S. to sort of draw closer and closer to India or portray it as a more responsible counterweight to China. And I think that's what's driving what seems to be maybe not quite as strong of a response as one might have expected, as maybe Canada would have expected. Yesterday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tried to downplay suggestions that America is somehow cutting India slack. He told reporters that the incident is, quote, a matter of concern for us. There's not some special exemption you get for actions like this.

Regardless of the country, we will stand up and defend our basic principles. And we will also consult closely with allies like Canada as they pursue their law enforcement and diplomatic process. Sullivan rejected the idea that Canada and the U.S. were at odds on the issue. Hours later, the Financial Times reported that President Joe Biden also spoke with Modi at the G20 summit about Najjar's murder. The journal has not independently verified the report. It is a very tricky position for the U.S. and for others of Canada's allies that are also close with India. But I think it's particularly for the U.S. very awkward in the sense that the U.S. has traditionally held itself up as, you know, a champion for human

rights and free speech. And it's also like, you know, when it seems that the U.S. is critical of some countries, but less so of others, that is an awkward line for the U.S. to be walking. And who knows, it might be that if Canada were to come out with more information or say more about how it arrived at its conclusions, it's possible that we might see the stance of some of its allies change. So at this point, Canada is only making allegations. It hasn't come out with any evidence yet about the killing. How much weight do those allegations alone carry, given that they're coming from Canada's leader?

On the one hand, people have pointed out the fact that Trudeau didn't say that he had credible intelligence, but he said that the security agencies had been pursuing credible allegations. So we still need to see exactly what they have. But on the other hand, I mean, it's difficult to understand why Trudeau would come out and make a statement like this unless he really felt very convinced by what security agencies were putting in front of him. And if these allegations about India carrying out an extrajudicial killing are true, if, how big of a deal is that?

I mean, I think it's really a pretty big deal because it puts India in very unsavory company. I mean, when we think of these types of killings or incidents, you know, we think of Russia first and foremost. You know, we think of these poisonings thatings or incidents, you know, we think of Russia first and foremost. You know, we think of these poisonings that have happened in the UK and elsewhere of dissidents. Or we think, for example, of Saudi Arabia and the Khashoggi killing a journalist who was killed in Turkey. And, you know, that is not really company

that you want to be described in the same breath in. But I think if there want to be described in the same breath in. But I think if there comes to be a point where this is widely seen as a very credible and substantiated allegation, then I think that really does harm how India is seen locally. Before you go, we wanted to tell you about something new coming to the feed this weekend. It's the start of our new series looking at how the founder of one of the biggest crypto exchanges ended up on trial for fraud. The trial begins in just two weeks, and you won't want to miss our coverage. Here's the trailer. A lot of us thought we knew Sam Bankman-Fried. He was a curly-haired math nerd who built a crypto giant called FTX. Not only one of the nicest people in crypto, but one of the smartest as well.

The Michael Jordan of crypto, if you will. He promised to revolutionize finance and use his billions to save the world. Instead of answering questions like, well, you know, how much money do I need to eat? You're answering questions like, well, how much money does the world need to eat? But last year, the company Bankman Freed founded, FTX, collapsed. And a different story started to come out. This morning, we unsealed an eight-count indictment charging Samuel Bankman Freed, FTX's founder, with a series of interrelated fraud schemes that contributed to FTX's collapse.

Bankman-Fried now stands accused of stealing billions of dollars from his customers and investors. If found guilty, he faces decades behind bars. I'm Caitlin Ostroff, and I cover crypto for The Wall Street Journal. For the past year, I've been down a rabbit hole, trying to find out everything I can about Bankman Freed. To answer the question, did he set out to defraud his customers? I've listened to hours of interviews with him. I mean, look, I screwed up.

And I've spoken to his rivals, friends, and the people who lost huge investments on FTX. Imagine being with this amazing relationship and like one day out of the blue, you found out that this person is not exactly the person you think he or she was. Is there anything you would want to say to Sam, if you could? I would say give me my f***ing money back. you would want to say to Sam, if you could? I would say, give me my f***ing money back. Bankman Freed faces the trial of his life,

and I'll be in court watching it unfold, bringing you every twist and turn. But first, I'll tell you how Bankman Freed went from billionaire philanthropist to defendant in one of America's biggest fraud cases. From The Journal, this is the trial of crypto's golden boy. Find it in The Journal feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out September 24th. Give it a listen.

It's in your feed starting Sunday. That's all for today, Friday, September 22nd. The Journal is a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal. Additional reporting in this episode by Paul Vieira and Shan Lee. The show is made by Annie Baxter, Catherine Brewer, Maria Byrne, Victoria Dominguez, Pia Gadkari, Rachel Humphries, Ryan Knudsen, Matt Kwong, Kate Leinbaugh, Annie Minoff, Laura Morris, Enrique Perez de la Rosa, Sarah Platt, Alan Rodriguez-Espinoza, Heather Rogers, Jonathan Sanders, Piers Singhi, Jivika Verma, Lisa Wang, Catherine Whalen, and me, Jessica Mendoza.

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