The Indian government has expelled a Canadian diplomat. This follows accusations by the Canadian government that the Indian government was behind the killing of a Sikh activist in British Columbia in June.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was an activist for an independent Sikh state in India, according to the Indian government. He ran a plumbing business in Canada, where he had lived since the early part of the century. In June this year he was shot dead when leaving a local Sikh temple.
The Indian government claimed that he was a terrorist and had behind him a number of terrorist incidents, such as a bombing in Punjab in 2016. Nijjar denied the claims and said he was too busy to be involved in expatriate politics.
The expulsion of the diplomat follows an announcement by Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, that there were ‘credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen’.
India denied the claims, calling them ‘absurd’.
Critics say in recent years the Indian government has become more intolerant of religious minorities such as Muslims and Sikhs.