Article content

How did Jaspal Atwal, a man convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian politician and a former member of a banned extremist organization intent on creating a Sikh homeland by dismembering India, get into that country in the first place?

It doesn’t make any sense — until you start to consider who stands to benefit from Atwal’s attendance this week at parties organized as part of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s official visit.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: The Indian government removed Jaspal Atwal from its blacklist. Why? Back to video

India has a blacklist of Sikh extremists, intended to stop people who intend to undermine India’s democratic institutions from entering the country. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, for one, has been denied a visa in the past. Until very recently, it is a list on which Atwal figured.

But Canadian officials say that, despite his criminal past — Atwal was convicted of attempted murder for his role in a 1986 attack on an Indian cabinet minister — he has now been removed from that list, and not at the behest of the Canadian government.