In 58 posts with close to 100k words, we shared a lot in 2024! Explore 2024’s biggest geopolitical shifts, cultural battles, and bold insights with Drishtikone’s year in review. See you in 2025! Happy New Year! Be safe!
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Dive into the shadowy world of the Deep State—its hidden structures, powerful networks, and the far-reaching impact on global events and control.
Canada has not just 'looked the other way' while terrorists found official refuge in the country but enabled these criminals and facilitated their activities by empowering them with citizenships, and diplomatic cover fire. So we ask the obvious questions.
When Rule by Law became embarrassing, the colonial powers used a semantic trick and continued the imperialist enterprise through the "rule of law".
Rule of law is really a euphemism for Rule by law.
Law, colonial law, to enable Rule by the West, on the rest has been the unambiguous objective. It has blighted humankind for many centuries now.
Ever since then, it has condoned wiping out populations in the so-called pursuit of development and civilization, using the falsehoods of incubator babies and non-existent WMDs to attack countries unimpeded and raze them to the ground. It paves the way to turn the once affluent Libya into a sex slavery market on every street. Impoverishing mineral-rich Africa becomes an obligation under this very Rule by Law.
A law that was born out of the exigencies of colonial endeavors creating the urgent need and requirement to keep control over a large number of people against their will.
Rule over others by laws interpreted and applied in an arbitrary manner to heavily tip the scales when and as needed was perfected.
Gatekeepers installed. Judges trained for a rule in perpetuity. Media controlled to facilitate the facade. And religion to enable the subversion needed amongst the ruled.
The game was set and the pawns obliged.
On June 8th, 2006, a House of Representatives sub-Committee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims met and discussed why the border with Canada needed special focus.
Why?
Because Canada had become a base for fund-raising, planning, and plotting for terrorists from around the world.
In 1998, the CSIS director testified before Canada's Senate that 50 terror organizations, including the world's most notorious, were present in Canada. In terms of numbers of terror groups, this made us number two in the world, after the United States. By 9/11, the previous 20 years had transformed Canada from a terrorist backwater to a significant piece on terror's international chessboard. Testifying before a Canadian Senate committee, a CSIS official referred to in earlier testimony, last week warned of Canadian residents who are ''graduates of terrorist training camps and campaigns, including experienced combatants from conflicts in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere.'' And he added that Canadian citizens or residents have been implicated in terrorist attacks and conspiracies elsewhere in the world. He referred to the young man, Mr. Khawaja, in Ottawa, who is the first to be charged under the new Anti-Terrorism Act legislation, a case that promises to draw world attention for its implications. ''Others,'' said the deputy director of CSIS, ''have been involved in plots against targets in the United States, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Singapore, Pakistan and other countries.'' The examples are many. We have heard of the group Fatah Kamel. That helped make Montreal the hub of international GIA Algerian Islamic terrorist activity. (Source: "The need to implement WHTI to protect US Homeland Security"/ US House of Representatives)
The 2004 Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report, the US House committee discussed, had shared that the terrorist groups included Tamil Tigers and major Sikh terrorist groups had found refuge in Canada.
Besides al-Qaida, groups mentioned by CSIS include: Islamic Jihad; Hezbollah and other Shiite groups; Hamas; the Palestinian Force 17; Egyptian Al Jihad and various other Sunni groups from across the Middle East. CSIS has said the Irish Republican Army, Tamil Tigers and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and major Sikh terrorist groups also have supporters in Canada. (Source: "The need to implement WHTI to protect US Homeland Security"/ US House of Representatives)
But this was after 9-11.
Long back in July 1984, Ajaib Singh Bagri was shouting menacingly in Madison Square Garden. The occasion - founding conference of the World Sikh Organization.
But this was not all. The Hindus, who had never targeted Sikhs (1984 was a massacre of one community - Sikhs - by one political party - Indian National Congress), were singled out for extreme hate and violence by Bagri.
(Excerpts from "Cold Terror: How Canada nurtures and exports terrorism around the world" by Stewart Bell.)
The Sikh massacres by the Congress Party led by Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi and father of Rahul Gandhi, in 1984 are the events that became the trigger for enhanced Khalistani terror movements - within India and outside.
However, somewhere along the way, the target of the resulting anger became the Hindus and not one political party!
Canada's security and intelligence groups knew about the funding from Sikh terrorist organizations in Canada being sent to the groups in Pakistan and India to be used to target India.
The strong urge to attack India with terror attacks within the Khalistani ranks has been recognized and flagged by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for quite some time.
On April 24th, 2018 for example Bhagat Singh Brar was not allowed to board a flight at the Vancouver International Airport. Reason - he was on Canada's "no-fly list".
On May 17 his business partner Parvkar Singh Dulai was also stopped from boarding a flight from Vancouver to Toronto.
Same reason.
Stewart Bell
But what had they done?
The CSIS had detailed documents stating that Brar was working with Pakistan's ISI to plan an attack in India. That attack was disrupted in 2017.
“The service believes that Brar is a Canada-based Khalistani extremist who has been engaged in [redacted] terrorist-related activities, particularly in fundraising in support of terrorist attacks overseas,” according to a secret case brief report. Brar was also involved in “promoting extremism, including the radicalization of youth, with the aim of achieving Khalistan independence; and attack planning and facilitation, including weapons procurement, to conduct attacks in India,” the documents alleged. (Source: "‘Match. Denied’: Secret documents show why CSIS put 2 Canadians on no-fly list" / Global News)
And it was not just the CSIS that had that information. The assessment of Brar's activities was shared by ,.
The details emerged as two men — Bhagat Singh Brar and his business partner Parvkar Singh Dulai — challenged being blocked from travelling by air. According to the report from Stewart Bell in the Canadian outlet Global News, Brar was “promoting extremism, including the radicalisation of youth, with the aim of achieving Khalistan independence; and attack planning and facilitation, including weapons procurement, to conduct attacks in India,” as per supporting case documents filed by Canadian security agencies, including Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country’s spy agency. (Source: "Canadian report flags ISI using pro-Khalistan elements for terror acts in India" / Hindustan Times)
Parvkar Dulai is friends with the NDP Chief Jagmeet Singh, who is a close political associate of Canadian PM Trudeau.
And, who was this Bhagat Singh Brar?
Brar is the son of Lakhbir Singh Rode, nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and founder of the banned terrorist organization called International Sikh Youth Federation.
He also was a close associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
So what do we have here?
One would assume that Nijjar would have been the subject of a similar assessment.
Right? He was! Canada had him on the "No Fly List" in 2017-18 and the US put him there in 2019.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, sources have revealed that the Khalistani leader was found to be at flight risk in the United States and was on USA’s no-fly list in 2019. Meanwhile, in contradiction to Trudeau’s recent support to the Khalistani activist, it has been learnt that Nijjar was also included in Canada's no-fly list in 2017–18. (Source: "Khalistani Terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar Was Put On USA No Fly List In 2019: Sources" / Republic)
Here is the US list.
This is the United States No Fly List. Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was put in the US No Fly list by the United States Administration because they saw him as a terrorist and a threat to American citizens. Today Canada backed by US look at Nijjar as a global saint. pic.twitter.com/sMVpD0wzlH
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 23, 2023
So would Trudeau's government remind us again - was that for exercising his "Freedom of Speech"?
If he was such a threat to Canada and the US, then these countries would have treated him as a criminal that he was. Correct?!
Wrong!
Nijjar was instead warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about a threat against him.
The New York Times report confirms this as well.
Nijjar's son shares something even more interesting. That the Canadian intelligence officials were meeting his father weekly!
Doesn't that sound fishy?
He was the associate of the guys who were on the Canadian no-fly list and had been responsible for planning and funding terror attacks in India. Nijjar himself was implicated in not one but several terror attacks including the deaths of 6 innocent Indian citizens in a bomb blast in 2007!
But wait, this guy Nijjar's and Canadian intelligence's story gets even more interesting!
The core issue that Canada has brought up is that Nijjar was a Canadian citizen and he was allegedly targeted by "Indian agents".
When some people argued about his citizenship, the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship confirmed that Nijjar had become a Canadian citizen on March 3, 2015.
It is important to know that India issued its first Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Nijjar in November 2014!
As per reports, during talks with Canada, the Indian government had raised concerns over Nijjar's citizenship being approved by the authorities, months after the very first Red Corner Notice was issued against him on November 14, 2014. The first RCN was issued after a case (FIR No. 159) was registered against Nijjar at the Kotwali police station, Patiala, by the Punjab Police. The second RCN was issued in FIR No. 19 lodged at the Nurpur police station, Ropar, in 2016, reported The Tribune. (Source: Canada granted citizenship to Nijjar despite Red-Corner Notice issued against him: Report / WION)
Realizing after a day that he had screwed up his government's stand, he and his ministry apparently backtracked and "backdated" (?) his citizenship to May 2007!
That's mighty convenient!
It is important to note that Nijjar was wanted in India for many cases, including for a 2007 blast of a cinema packed with 600 people - where 6 people were killed and 42 injured for being a co-conspirator.
Let's review.
Fatal Terror Blast: November 2007 / Nijjar's "revised" Citizenship date: May 2007
The Canadian citizenship processing dates have been very conveniently placed just before Nijjar's act of terror.
Hmmm.. intriguing indeed.
That bomb blast wasn't the only thing Nijjar had done. He was consistently planning to target Hindu leaders in India in connivance with Pakistan and with a winking acquaintance of the Canadian Intelligence Services.
Let us list all the things we have learned here:
So let us ask the question that needs to be asked given all these rather unbelievably intriguing and inexplicable sets of facts.
The Indian government has officially alluded to it rather charitably saying that Canada is now considered a "Safe Haven for Terrorists, for Extremists, and for Organized Crime".
If there is any country that needs to look at this, I think it is Canada and its growing reputation as a safe haven for terrorists, for extremists, and for organized crime. And I think that's a country that needs to worry about its international reputation. I think that covers it. (Source: "Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (September 21, 2023)" / Ministry of External Affairs, India)
This charge assumes importance because of how multiple terrorist and genocidal groups across the spectrum targeting Indian citizens have been converging openly within Canada.
On 7th August President of 'NAMTA' (North American Manipur Tribal Association) Mr. Lien Gangte was invited by Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara to speak in the presence of Khalistani Terrorist Nijjar.
Here is the video of Gangte speaking at the Surrey Gurudwara.
Whatever we have said and shared is all based on "open source publicly available information."
If you think the use of "open source information available in the public domain" is a rather naive way to approach such a serious situation, then we derive comfort from the fact that Canada's Premier Justin Trudeau and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is ostensibly in the same boat!
As David Elby, Premier of British British Colombia confirmed the state of evidence - it was all "open source and in public domain"!
"The only briefings that I’ve been able to receive were open source briefings, which is information that’s available to the public doing an internet search. Which I find frustrating," Eby said. David Eby said that despite a briefing with the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), he found the information provided to be frustratingly lacking in concrete details. He said that all the information he is aware of about Nijjar’s killing is already in the public domain. "If that's what's required, let's make it happen because the only way that we are going to make traction on this is by the federal government trusting the provincial government with information, and being able to act on it in our local communities," he added. (Source: "India-Canada tension: Info I got on Nijjar killing available on internet, frustrating, claims Canada leader" / Business Today)
If that is what it is coming to, then people can draw up better conclusions than those in Canada's intelligence agencies trying to smoothen the anger that the Trudeau clan has reserved for India and Indians.
Pierre Trudeau, Justin's dad and Canadian Premier in the 1970s was an enthusiastic backer of Talwinder Singh Parmar, who had fled to Canada after killing two police personnel in Punjab in 1981.
When asked to extradite the terrorist, Pierre Trudeau's government simply refused.
Any ideas on the reason for their refusal?
You cannot even fake this level of spectacular absurdity!
And, if that was not enough, Trudeau Sr used the flimsiest and fakest argument to stop all Indo-Canadian nuclear cooperation after the 1974 peaceful nuclear explosion by India.
What started with Pierre Trudeau has continued with Justin Trudeau. Just that, despite his entitlement status in his country, he has little leverage with India. And India of 2023 is not the India of 1974 or 1985 anymore.
It will be tough to push India and have the Modi government rollover.
So we see that the US is coming behind Canada's claim and offering to buoy its rather pedestrian "open source public information" backup. And while the current US establishment is doing the dirty work for Trudeau's tantrum play, it is also hopeful that it will be able to "use India as a bulwark against China".
Does that even make any sense?
Canada's actions quite firmly established it in the haloed company of countries like Pakistan. Countries that have a winking relationship with non-state actors used to target certain countries on cue.
High-sounding concepts like "Rule of law" and "Freedom of Speech" are used to weaponize these terror actors.
The entire concept of the Rule of Law came about during and as a result of the colonial pursuits of the British Empire. In fact, Law and Order and Rule of Law were considered central to Colonial modernity.
In Britain's empire across Asia and Africa from the mid-nineteenth century, two political-legal principles were central to colonial modernity, law and order, and the rule of law. These two principles secured the legitimation of colonial rule, in the eyes of those who ruled. (Source: Law and Order, the Rule of Law, and the Legitimation of the Colonial Presence in Late British Burma / The Historical Journal by Cambridge University)
The rule of law because of its colonial and imperial genesis is a tainted instrument.
Examining colonialism and its relationship to the rule of law seems counterintuitive since colonialism implies the exercise of power, and the rule of law portends to bound power. But looking at the historical practices of British colonial rule illuminates how the rule of law was an element in the development of an unequal system of international economics, politics, and law. The connection between colonial regimes and ideals of the rule of law has led some observers to reject the rule of law as a tainted instrument. This chapter argues that focusing upon the practices, as opposed to the ideologies, of the rule of law in the context of British colonialism can illuminate how the rule of law functions in shaping international political orders. (Source: "Colonialism and the Rule of Law" / Keally McBride)
So let's get past these meaningless concepts that are thrown around willy-nilly to establish a colonial order, for that is where the foundational structures of "Rule of Law" were established, shall we?
So why is Biden's US playing this double game with India? We come back to our earlier discussion around Modi's visit to US and the events that unfolded.
Desh Kapoor
The stark reality of this dictum we arrived at in the embedded article stares in our faces - yet again!
So what do we expect next?
The intel games will start intensifying with leaks coming out. While the US and Canada seem hellbent on putting Modi in the dock for "targeting Canada's sovereignty", India's bet will be to lay out the entire evidence on how the US, Canada, and even the UK have been complicit in the entire Khalistan terrorism.
Properties of declared Khalistani terrorists in India have been seized.
The plan is to continue to seize the properties of every Khalistani terrorist in India and revoke their OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card and consequent privileges. They will not be allowed into the country.
Sources privy to the matter said that the government has asked the agencies to identify the properties of the terrorists settled abroad. The source also said that the government has asked the agencies to identify Khalistani terrorists settled in countries like US, UK, Canada and Australia and cancel their Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) so that they don't come to India. (Source: "Mega Crackdown By India: OCI Cards Of Khalistani Terrorists In US, UK, Canada & Australia To Be Cancelled, Properties To Be Confiscated" / Free Press Journal)
India's cards with the US in the future geopolitical battles are very limited with them targeting Modi through various mechanisms.
Just as the cancelation of Russia from the SWIFT platform started a series of actions from other countries in the direction of de-dollarization, one suspects, this cozying up of the US with Canada on its terrorism enterprise against India will end up pushing India to re-assess its options. The US may not figure very high on that list.
Sadly the African native spirituality has been eaten up by Abrahamic religions. This is a rather thought-provoking discussion that does have very deep and profound moments. But spiritually you can sense the plight of these smart but still shackled thinkers.
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Dive into the shadowy world of the Deep State—its hidden structures, powerful networks, and the far-reaching impact on global events and control.
America's Justice Department and SEC have targeted India's Adani Group with a bribery case. Using Nationalistic sentiment doesn't help. Yes, law has been weaponized and India's sovereignty compromised but not how they think. A definitive guide to understanding the case.
While game-playing the future, one of the main flashpoints we came across, where the global conflict can start, was the Arctic. We look at it in complete detail.
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