MELBOURNE, 13 November 2024: Indian National Congress and INDIA Alliance leader, MP, and Chairman of Committee on External Affairs Shashi Tharoor replying to a request to comment by SAT Editor, Neeraj Nanda, on the recent India-Canada spat over the alleged involvement of India in the Nijjar case, said “The Original sin is Canada and called it an unfortunate development in the context of both the countries being democracies.” The SAT Editor caught up with Shashi Tharoor immediately after he finished an interaction organised by the Australia India Institute, ‘On Shifting Perspectives: The State of the World in 2024’ with CEO, Lisa Singh, at the University of Melbourne.
In his candid response, Sashi Tharoor told SAT, ” The lax treatment of extremists, militants and terrorists in their country, they have given citizenship to a number of people who have been openly advocating violence, murder and mayhem back home in India, That I believe is most unfortunate. We have seen the tragedy of the Air India bombing in 1985, this day no body has been convicted by the Canadians even though some people have publicly claimed credit for the doings.
We are seeing disappointing statements coming out of irresponsible figures in Canada which Canada justifies in the name of free speech but which actually threatens the lives of safety and security of Indians, Indian diplomats or Indians in India, So, I can’t say that we can be very happy about that, having said that obviously, I certainly would not approve and hope India … friendly democracies and how they should behave.
If that was done, that was also wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right on either side. But we have to find out what the truth is. So far, there has been no case brought by the Canadians to any court that can stand up in the court of law. And, until that happens, we have to everyone’s word as what it is and …
Question by SAT “Penny Wong has said she has faith in the Canadian judicial system” and Shashi Tharoor replies – “If they had … in the judicial system then, I would have seen somebody being convicted for killing 365 people including several Canadian citizens in the Air India bombing in 1985. The Canadian judicial system has definitely shown deficiencies over the years.”
The lively interaction saw subjects like Indian electoral system being a rolling referendum because of frequent elections, INDIA Alliance as a stronger opposition voice, Kerala’s prominent position in India among others.
Full Video of the panel discussion: https://youtu.be/JLy6SgxgMbs?si=CCQyBie0aleBK3AW
Video courtesy – Australia India Institute, Melbourne.
