Khalistani Terrorist Invited To Trudeau Event; Amid Row, Invite Scrapped

New Delhi: A Khalistani terrorist was invited to two official events for Justin Trudeau in Mumbai and Delhi, in a major diplomatic snafu amid talk of a frosty reception for the visiting Canadian Prime Minister in India. Jaspal Atwal was found guilty of trying to kill a Punjab minister and was sentenced to 20 years in jail. In damage control, Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel has cancelled tonight's dinner invite to Atwal in Delhi.

"This person of course should not have been invited. The invitation has now been rescinded. We are looking into how it happened," said Kirsty Duncan, a Canadian Minister in the Trudeau delegation.

Atwal attended the Mumbai event on Tuesday and in a huge embarrassment for Canada, was photographed with the prime minister's wife Sophie Trudeau and Canadian minister Amarjeet Sohi.

This morning, Mr Trudeau did not respond when asked by a journalist at a Delhi photo-op: "Why did you invite a Khalistani terrorist for a reception?"
 Atwal was a Sikh separatist active in the banned International Sikh Youth Federation when he was convicted of the attempted murder of Punjab minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in Vancouver in 1986. Mr Sidhu was shot at twice on a road and survived, but was later assassinated in India.

A judge called it "an act of terrorism" and sentenced Atwal and three others to 20 years in prison.

It is not yet clear how Atwal got an Indian Visa and why he was cleared to attend official events here.

Atwal is believed to have been active in Canadian politics at both the provincial and federal level in recent years.
 Many in India, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, accuse the Canadian government of a soft approach to Sikh separatists and supporters of a separate Khalistan state.

Despite his strong views on it, Amarinder Singh met Mr Trudeau and his ministers in Amritsar yesterday. The Chief Minister said he had raised the "Khalistan issue" with Mr Trudeau and had been assured that Canada does not support any separatist movement in India or elsewhere.

Amarinder Singh gave Mr Trudeau a list of nine Category 'A' Canada-based operatives allegedly involved in hate crimes, terrorist activities and trying to radicalise young people and children in Punjab.
 The 46-year-old prime minister will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow for the first time since he arrived last Saturday for a week-long visit along with his wife and three children. That PM Modi did not receive him in Delhi or even accompany him in his home state Gujarat, was seen by many, including the Canadian media, as a slight. Government sources, however, denied it.

Sikhs account for roughly 1.5 per cent of Canada's population.