The death of a Sikh separatist in Canada left Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) calling for the Indian government to be investigated for an alleged assassination.
Following the lead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the progressive congresswoman took to X Tuesday with apprehensions about the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, stoking concerns of international conflict.
Nijjar, the head of a British Columbian gurdwara, was gunned down in the parking lot of a Sikh temple on June 18, 2023. The religious leader was a known proponent of the creation of a sovereign state for Sikh separatists in the Punjab region of India to be called Khalistan.
Omar spoke to the suggestion that the death of Nijjar had been connected to the Indian government and posted from her official government social media account, “The allegations that Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Niijar [sic] was assassinated by the Indian government are deeply concerning. The US must fully support the Canadian investigation.”
“We are also requesting a briefing on whether there are similar operations in the United States,” she added, further alleging potential wrongdoing on the part of the Indian government.
The allegations that Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Niijar was assassinated by the Indian government are deeply concerning. The US must fully support the Canadian investigation.
We are also requesting a briefing on whether there are similar operations in the United States.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) September 26, 2023
In response to Omar’s demands for an investigation, Indian Parliament member and Deputy Leader of the Shiv Sena party, Priyanka Chaturvedi, laid into the congresswoman with her own slight against the controversial politician.
“Sit down Madam Representative. Such be the case, as an Indian Parliamentarian I urge @MEAIndia (the Ministry of External Affairs) to start an enquiry into how an elected representative in USA is interfering in the peace of Jammu&Kashmir via Pakistan funded PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) visit,” wrote Chaturvedi.
Sit down Madam Representative.
Such be the case, as an Indian Parliamentarian I urge @MEAIndia to start an enquiry into how an elected representative in USA is interfering in the peace of Jammu&Kashmir via Pakistan funded PoK visit. https://t.co/cYV08xt0sD— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) September 27, 2023
The reference harkened back to a 2022 trip Omar had taken to Pakistan that had been funded by the nation’s government. The Minnesota lawmaker’s outspoken positions in support of radical groups and against the stated interests of the United States government had contributed to her ousting from the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the beginning of 2023.
Early in the 118th Congress, the decision to remove her was cemented over alleged antisemitic remarks, in particular a 2019 social media post that read, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” in suggesting that Israel’s allies in U.S. politics had financial motivations over their principles.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Saturday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had urged India to cooperate with the Canadian government’s investigation after Trudeau had voiced his own concerns.
The newspaper added, “After [Nijjar’s] death, American officials told their Canadian counterparts that Washington had not had any advance information about the plot, and that if U.S. officials had they would have immediately informed Ottawa under the intelligence agencies’ ‘duty to warn’ doctrine, according to two allied officials.”
As to Omar’s stated position, one social media user asserted, “She comes out in full support of any terrorist and any terror organisation that operates and attacks outside the US. Such were her sympathies with these radical organisations, that she is ousted from Foreign affairs [committee].”
She comes out in full support of any terrorist and any terror organisation that operates and attacks outside the US.
Such were her sympathies with these radical organisations,that she is ousted from Foreign affairs commitee.— Dr Meghanath (@dr_MNY) September 27, 2023