Canada claims that Indian agents killed a Khalistani seperatist who was living in Canada and had Canadian citizenship. The Khalistan movement wants an independent Sikh state carved out of India, and is considered a security threat by India.
The Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. The bloodiest episode in the conflict between the government and Sikh separatists occurred in 1984.
Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the military into the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, to evict armed separatist leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters, which infuriated Sikhs around the world.
A few months later, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi. The army launched operations in 1986 and 1988 to flush out Sikh militants from Punjab.
Sikh militants were also blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed off the Irish coast.
The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and Punjab still bears the scars of that violence.
Although the Khalistan movement has little support now in India, it has small pockets of backing among sections of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which has the largest population of Sikhs outside Punjab, and in Britain, Australia and the U.S.
In April this year, India arrested a self-styled preacher and Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh for allegedly reviving calls for Khalistan, sparking fears of new violence in Punjab.
Earlier this year, India hit out at Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi, perceiving this to be a glorification of Sikh separatist violence.
India has also been upset about frequent demonstrations and vandalism by Sikh separatists and their supporters at Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, Britain, the U.S. and Australia, and has sought better security from local governments.
Indian diplomats based in Canada have on numerous occasions said that Ottawa's failure to tackle "Sikh extremism", and the constant harassment of Indian diplomats and officials by Khalistanis, is a major foreign policy stress point.
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Malaysia’s government announced Wednesday that it was imposing a ban on all Israeli owned and flagged ships, as well as any vessels headed to Israel, from docking at its ports.
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CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The leader of Hamas paid his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and free more hostages....
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Black, gay Trump supporter brutally taunted with slurs at rightwing conference (www.lgbtqnation.com)
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Ethiopia and Egypt say no agreement in latest talks over a contentious dam on the Nile (apnews.com)
Ethiopia and Egypt say the latest round of yearslong negotiations to find an agreement over a highly contentious hydroelectric dam Ethiopia has built on the Nile’s main tributary ended with no deal.
Malaysia bans Israeli owned and linked shipping citing ‘cruelty against the Palestinian people’ | CNN (edition.cnn.com)
Malaysia’s government announced Wednesday that it was imposing a ban on all Israeli owned and flagged ships, as well as any vessels headed to Israel, from docking at its ports.
Samsung expands repair program to more devices, now in 43 countries (arstechnica.com)
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CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The leader of Hamas paid his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and free more hostages....
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Catholic Church put up 30,000 children for adoption without mothers' consent (www.brusselstimes.com)
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