Invite to Khalistani terrorist leaves Trudeau red-faced
BY Team MP23 Feb 2018 12:00 AM IST
Team MP23 Feb 2018 12:00 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Reeling from a fierce backlash over his spouse Sophie Trudeau's photo-op with a convicted Khalistani terrorist, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said the matter was being taken "extremely seriously".
Trudeau, who is on his first bilateral visit to India, landed in the midst of controversy over an invitation extended to Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal for a dinner hosted by Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel in Delhi.
The Canadian Prime Minister's Office (PMO) quickly cancelled the invite to Atwal when a row erupted over photographs that showed the terrorist alongside Trudeau's wife Sophie at an event in Mumbai earlier this week.
"Obviously, we take this extremely seriously. He should never have received an invitation. As soon as we received the information we rescinded it, a member of Parliament had included this individual," Trudeau told media persons.
Atwal, a member of the now-banned International Sikh Youth Federation, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to kill the then Punjab cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986. Atwal later even confessed he was the shooter.
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