Point of Order

Khalid Mahmood Excerpts

Tuesday 19th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Yesterday, the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said that allegations that India was behind the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar were “credible”. Hardeep was a prominent activist in the Canadian diaspora campaigning for independence for Khalistan. Sikhs have long suspected that India was behind the recent killing, which appears to have been a grotesque and completely illegal extra-judicial expansion of Modi’s Government, an authoritarian crushing of dissent within India itself. I urge our Government to warn their Indian counterparts that such state terrorism will not be allowed to impact Government-to-Government relations. As the House is due to rise, may I ask the Government, through your offices, to make an urgent statement on this important issue, to assure Sikhs in the UK of the Government’s intentions?

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and his forward notice of it. I have received no indication that any Minister intends to make a statement—or statements further to those we have just had today—but if that changes, Members will be notified in the usual way. However, I am certain that those on the Treasury Bench will have heard the point of order that the hon. Gentleman has made.