A convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal, who was active in the banned International Sikh Youth Federation, posed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie Trudeau at an event in Mumbai on February 20, during the Canadian first family's visit to India.
Jaspal was also invited for a formal dinner with the Canadian Prime Minister, hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner on Thursday here.
However, the invite is being rescinded now, as per reports of Canada's CBC News.
"I can confirm that the High Commission is in the process of rescinding Mr. Atwal's invitation," PMO spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said, as per the report.
Atwal has also been photographed with the Canadian Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi in Mumbai on February 20.
However, the Canadian PMO denied Atwal was part of Trudeau’s delegation. Atwal was set to attend an event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi on Thursday.
A statement from the Canadian’s PMO office said: “This individual should never have been invited to any event on the program, and his invitation has been rescinded. We are in the process of looking into how this occurred.” That said, it's important to be clear that this individual is not part of the official delegation to the PM's visit to India, nor was he invited by the Prime Minister's Office. As is the case with international trips, individuals sometimes travel on their own to the location of the visit."
Reacting to the furore, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said: “Humaari bewakoofi thi humne background check nahi kiya. Aur Canadians jo kehte hain ki hum Khalistaniyon ko support nahi karte, unhone unko kaise allow kiya?” (It’s our fault we didn’t check his background. And as for the Canadians that say they don’t support Khalistanis, how did they allow it?)
According to CBC news, his name was submitted by Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai who is one of the 14 MPS travelling with Trudeau.
Jaspal Atwal was convicted of the attempted murder of Punjab minister, Malkiat Singh Sidhu, on Vancouver Island in 1986.
At the time of the 1986 shooting, he was a Sikh separatist active in the pro-Khalistan International Sikh Youth Federation. He and three others were convicted in 1987 of trying to kill Malkiat Singh Sidhu.
Trudeau, who is in India on a week-long state visit, has been under pressure throughout his tour to answer Indian concerns about Sikh separatism in Canada.
With inputs from PTI
