Canada should 'thank & reward' whoever killed a terrorist: Ex-Army officer

Nirendra Dev
New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) Amid India-Canada heightened row, a former military commander Lt. Gen. R.N. Kapur (retd) on Saturday said instead of precipitating diplomatic issues, Canada should "thank and reward" whoever killed a terrorist residing illegally on its land.

"He (Hardeep Singh Njjar) was not only a threat to India but also could become a threat to Canadian citizens. In fact, Canada should be happy and thank and reward whoever killed a terrorist residing illegally on their land," Lt. Gen. (retd) Kapur told this correspondent.

"Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by the US without any permission from a sovereign nation and their indulgence in investigation of a purported similar crime amounts to hypocrisy of Western world. I think the strong but diplomatic reaction against Canada by the government of India is fully justified," he said.

Gen. Kapur said: "It is unfortunate that Canada has made an issue about a terrorist being killed on their  land and put allegations against India without any credible evidence. Nijjar was a proclaimed terrorist who had illegally defected to Canada after murdering people in India and against whom Red Corner Notice was existing.  

"Nijjar was also continuing to carry out anti-India activities including being in possession of an AK-47 rifle in Canada," he maintained.

Answering questions, the retired officer said: "Canada as a member of the UN is guilty of sheltering a proclaimed terrorist by a friendly country and needs to take action against the rest of Khalistan group terrorists lest they  become victims of terrorism on their own land." 

Almost echoing the same spirit, Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute has told the media: "... let's not fool ourselves, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was not simply a plumber any more than Osama Bin Laden was a construction engineer. He had blood on his hands through multiple attacks."

He said, US Secretary of State Antony may say that the US will always stand against 'transnational oppression'. 

"We are actually being hypocritical if Secretary Blinken makes that statement because after all, what we're talking about isn't trans-national repression. We are talking about trans-national terrorism and what the US did to Qasem Soleimani and what the US did to Osama Bin Laden is really no different than what India is alleged to have done in this case." 

Rubin also counseled the US leadership that it should understand why and how things have unfolded.

In Khalistani terorism, "...there's a much greater danger for Canada than India", Rubin opined, and also went on to state, "if Canada wants to pick a fight, frankly, at this point (against India), 
it's like an ant picking a fight against an elephant".

He also said: "I suspect that the US doesn't want to be pinned in the corner to choose between two friends, but if we have to choose between two friends, increasingly we are going to choose India on this matter simply because Nijjar was a terrorist."

"Justin Trudeau probably isn't long for the Canadian premiership, and then we can get rebuild the relationship after he is gone," Rubin has been quoted as saying.

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books 'The Talking Guns: North East India', and 'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth'. Views expressed are personal)