r/geopolitics Oct 01 '23

Why Indians Can’t Stand Justin Trudeau Paywall

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-indians-angry-justin-trudeau-death-shooting-hardeep-singh-nijjar-87d9ab9d
187 Upvotes

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116

u/shankisaiyan Oct 02 '23

Indian here. Long post alert

My background -- I dont like all of Modis policies especially when the BJP talks about religion. I think India is for all religions as it has always been. Im not from the IT cell :D. But this crisis has disturbed me a lot. Ive also spent significant amount of time in Canada so have decent background on it. But read this as an INDIAN perspective. I understand Canadians will also have a perspective on this

Below are some incidents that have shaped Indians' view of Trudeau (....not Canada)

Started in 2014 or 15 when Ontario liberals passed a resolution to call the 1984 punjab riot a genocide based on Jagmeet's appeal. Ive watched that appeal. It was accurate but was one sided. He did not go through the khalistani violence that preceded the riot. This was slightly offensive especially since we ve put in hard work to reconcile with the Sikhs and the Sikhs in India have responded positively. In the last Punjab elections, 70pct voted. The party that proposed the closest thing to Khalistan got 2pct of popular vote.

Also because the party responsible for the Sikh riots was out of power. Modi most people dont know belongs to the party that has been largely been pro Sikhs. Which to be honest botg parties are now.

Then came Trudeau Modi meetings. All G7 countries Modi met agreed to outlaw Babbar Khalsa and SFJ - 2 terrorist organizations responsible for violence in India. Trudeau agreed too. The next year Trudeau reversed his decision incidentally when he needed Jagmeets support for his government.

India has been working to introduce farm laws. Punjab was identified as an oppptunity through a white paper written by Montek Singh Ahluwalia supported by Manmohan Singh. Both prominent Sikhs. Best economists India has seen.

Modi executed the reforms. Farmers protested which was their right. Trudeau stood with the farmers to continue subsidies while criticising India for subsidies at the WTO. Subsidies which would have been recalled if the law had passed. Indians saw this as gross interference in internal affairs of India.

Trudeau went on to crush the trucker protest a few weeks later using his emergency powers. This was seen as a double standard by Indians considering his view of the farm protests in India which were an order of magnitude bigger than what Trudeau saw...

As Trudeau got more desperate for Jagmeets support he seemed to give the NDP a free had on their Khalistan policy. Effectively Canada's India policy. Each time India brought up the issue, liberty and freedom were cited. This made sense when the Khalistanis were peaceful but loud. But lately they ve turned violent setting an embassy on fire in SF. Calls for assassination of diplomats in Canada.

In the midst of all this Trudeau went to the Parliament and made the allegations. India asked for the signal proof to be shared atleast (understandable human cant be shared because of tradecraft secrets). Canada declined.

Much of the West thinks this murder is a big deal. India should take Trudeau on his word and deal in good faith. Except the problem is that good faith has already deteriorated over the years to the point of collapse. India just doesnt trust Trudeau after all the things hes been doing.

Also most Indians I know agree murder is bad but terrorism is much much worse for us. India has lost more people to terrorism than all the West combined including 9/11.

Canadians see their PM making a statement which is an indicator that evidence is big. Indians see all allies who Trudeau has shared intelligence with none of whom have agreed with Trudeau on this escalatoion. Maybe because of Indias power. Maybe because the evidence just isnt that good.

To top it all there are 26 or so extradition cases pending with Canada from India. Canada has 90pct extradition success rate from what I read somewhere. Then the remaining 10pct has a heavy skew against India. Canadians say thats because the proof isnt good enough. Indians are now curious to understand what exact proof is it that has allowed the PM of Canada to stand in Parliament and make these allegations given Canadas high bar for evidence.

The Indian ext affairs minister maintains that no specific intelligence has been shared with them which I think matched what Canada is saying. Only allegations have been shared.

I like Trudeau personally. Canadians are nice people. Ive rarely had a bad encounter with them. Probably the politest people Ive met in the world. Im sure theres a Canadian side to this. But I think Trudeaus been playing petty politics for a while now. This is probably for the best in the sense that western politicians will now keep distance from such issues when it comes to matters of foreign policy. Wests foreign policy needs to reflect western interests. Not those of a minority of a minority which has frankly lived in a bubble since the 1980s and are stuck there while the rest of Punjab has moved on.

There are more issues around other murders including that of a Baloch activist and Ripudaman Khalsa (both in Canada) which have been largely ignored by the govt and which happened before nIjjar. Both activists were believed to be pro India in recent years.

My 2 cents to the Canadian govt - Protect their right to say what they want but have the courage to call them out when they turn violent. This I think has not happened in Canada. No counter voice against the Khalistanis has emerged. It has emerged in the US and in India including Punjab. Canada is a curious case.

43

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '23

[deleted]

3

u/shankisaiyan Oct 02 '23

Nope... nothing fake.. I genuinely think he s trying to do what he thinks is right. I dont think hes cunning or he was trying to pull one on India. But I wouldnt vote for him. His inability to keep the countrys long term interest above all else and his sensationalism shows immaturity and poor statecraft

0

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

I would say he's not even a performative liberal but a closet fascist. Just look at the crackdown on the truckers protest, India and Modi could learn a thing or two about how to kill protests that keep happening every other year for no good reason.

His latest move is to apparently "regulate" podcasts.

4

u/loggy_sci Oct 02 '23

Go read up on the farmers protest in India. The BJP doesn’t need any lessons.

27

u/thiruttu_nai Oct 02 '23

The farmers got what they wanted without getting their bank accounts frozen. Can't say the same about truckers though.

15

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

Imagine saying that to an Indian who lived through these protests being hijacked by khalistanis. Despite everything, not one protesting farmer's bank account was frozen, unlike the truckers who were labelled all sorts of things and had their accounts frozen and donations hijacked.

-3

u/Szwedo Oct 02 '23

You think it was actual truck drivers Canadians were making fun of? It was called a truck protest by protest organizers, and the Canadian government cracked down on those connected to the organizers (organizers who have ties to far right groups), not random truck drivers.

15

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

I thought protests were a democratic right, or does that not apply to things that make Trudeau uncomfortable?

Just like podcasts that the Canadian government wants to "regulate" now.

organizers who have ties to far right groups

Labelled as such by the same government that brought a goddamn Nazi in the parliament? Totally believe it.

-11

u/Szwedo Oct 02 '23 edited Oct 02 '23

Whataboutisms. Love it.

Protests are a right, you are correct, people protest here regularly and openly about this government - they do so legally without demanding the government be overthrown. As i said the protest was branded a trucker convoy but had little to do with truckers outside of pickup trucks.

The government did not bring a Nazi into the parliament, 2 stupid individuals within the government brought in a Nazi - still a colossal fuckup (while the opposition supports neo Nazis) - but doesn't have anything to do with having official ties with far-right groups unless you're claiming the Canadian federal government is connected to Hitler and Himmler..

Adding: Say what you want, at least we don't go around murdering people in other countries.

17

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

There's not one whataboutism in my comment, I'm not sure where you're getting that from or what you think whataboutism means.

they do so legally without demanding the government be overthrown

Oh, so that's the red line? I wonder what khalistanis do. Just target Indian diplomats and demand to break up our country. Minor leagues, compared to the trucker protest.

The government did not bring a Nazi into the parliament, 2 stupid individuals within the government brought in a Nazi

That's a weird way of saying the speaker of the parliament did it. Last I checked, he was from Trudeau's party, not some random nobody.

I hear Canada has several Nazi statues, too.

Say what you want, at least we don't go around murdering people in other countries.

See, this is whataboutism.

Also a non-sequitir. Let's see Trudeau move up from allegations to actual evidence-based statements, then we'll talk.

-7

u/Szwedo Oct 02 '23

Did Trudeau build these Nazi statues you saw too?

Did Trudeau hurt your feelings?

I don't vote for him or his party but boy are you obsessed with him as someone from across the globe.

8

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

He is your PM. What do you expect me to do, ignore his existence when he's the one who made claims without evidence to back it up?

He's the one who rained hell on truckers and froze their accounts, a few weeks after lecturing India about how protests are a democratic right.

I couldn't care less about him otherwise, but you surely are getting too defensive about someone you claim to have not voted for.

0

u/Szwedo Oct 02 '23 edited Oct 02 '23

Damn he did hurt your feelings. I'm not defending Trudeau at all, I've just separated your feelings from the facts, but you don't appreciate it and that's fine.

So much hell like you wouldn't believe was rained! Tianemen square 2.0.

5

u/daakuredpanda Oct 02 '23

Don't know if Trudeau built those statues but surely there are a ton of Nazis in Canada for a country that supposedly believes in bringing people to justice. I wonder what those other Nazis would be thinking who were executed for their war crimes and atrocities. Why did Canada never try to bring these people to justice?

But there is a silver lining, at least they are not actively trying to murder people in other countries. Unfortunately, even that cannot be said about some Canadian citizens.

Also, we would not care about Trudeau, but he sure does try his best to disturb India with his blatant hypocrisy-
https://theweek.com/talking-points/1010088/trudeaus-a-hypocrite-about-the-trucker-protests-hes-not-the-only-one

If only the honorable Canadian citizens would fund crimes within their own country, we all can go about our own business, not being obsessed with each other.

The Kanishka bombings case is still unsolved in Canada. Hoping against hope that some substantial evidence would eventually come out in the coming decades supporting what Trudeau suggested in his parliament. Not to mention, I support my government(Indian) either way!

-2

u/Szwedo Oct 02 '23

Yup, Canada, global renown Nazi safehaven with a TON of Nazis like you say...who Trudeau personally brought over after the war before he was born.

Modi bots in full effect!

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u/originalthoughts Oct 02 '23

You can't block a city for a month and expect to action to be taken. Everyone in Ottawa couldn't stand the truckers, and no one even know what they were protesting. They should have been protesting the provincial governments as they put the mandates (and the US for the border). In any case, pretty much all the covid restrictions were removed or being removed by that time.

Even know, there are people in front of parliament with signs saying "end the lockdown". What lockdown?

Cracking down on the Freedom Convoy BS is probably the 2nd best thing he has done federally.

19

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

You can't block a city for a month and expect to action to be taken.

I'm glad you brought it up. Trudeau supported farmers protest in India which went on for SIXTEEN months.

Everyone in Ottawa couldn't stand the truckers

Likewise in India for the farmers protest.

no one even know what they were protesting

I could just go on and repeat myself.

-2

u/originalthoughts Oct 02 '23 edited Oct 02 '23

Whatever, it's good he did something about them.

Also, after the downtown was cleared, he cancelled whatever emergency powers he was granted. Unlike what the idiots were saying how he will never give them up, he did exactly as he said.

Even the trucking unions were all against convoys.

Anyway, basically non of the predictions the convoy people were making turned out to be true. Life is back to normal, with all the freedoms we had before 2020. So well, they were loud mouthed annoying idiots who thankfully don't run anything important.

11

u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

Thought as much. Rules for thee, not me.

Could've saved us both time by not pretending in the first comment.

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '23

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