Yaroslav Hunka and the "Nazi" Chimera: Can he be called a WAR Criminal

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Yaroslav Hunka is 98 years old, He is in extremely poor health. And frail. He was at the behest of the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, Anthony Rota, given a standing ovation for having fought  for Ukrainian Independence against Russia. Of course this does imply working on behalf of the Germans. The Canadian Press and Politicians promptly started a campaign of self righteous indignation that threatens the stability of the Justin Trudeau regime. Let us look at the facts.

Canada has always been "permissive" as Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar pointed out recently in the context of the reluctance to repatriate serious offenders an criminals to face trial. Soon after World War II ended, Canada took in refugees from Europe and did not screen the immigrants for Nazi antecedents. At least 6000 Ukrainians were allowed entry along with a  considerable number of Germans. By 1948 the two Anglo Saxon powers, Britain and USA decided that USSR was a great threat and that there was no point in pursuing past enemies when one more loomed large. The Nuremberg Tribunal was abandoned and by 1950 even the prohibition, largely on paper, of keeping out Nazis was dropped from the category of those denied entry into Canada. After all, Nazis had a proven record of being anti communist.

It was against this background that Yaroslav Hunka entered Canada and his Nazi past was not discovered even though Professor John-Paul Himka has used his papers to document atrocities that were committed against Jews. Surprisingly the State of Israel has not made a public statement on the controversy nor has it demanded the extradition to Israel to face charges. This should give us reason to stop and pause and not be carried away in the cacophony emanating from Ottawa. 

The Government of Canada appointed the Deschenes Commission in 1985 to investigate the infiltration of Nazis into Canada and it specifically looked into the charges against the Waffen SS to which Yaroslav Hunka belonged and concluded that the Waffen SS did not commit WAR CRIMES. While they did participate in violence against Jews and Poles, the Commission clearly stated that war crime charges cannot be brought against those who were part of the Waffen SS. This division served in Galicia and was involved in ethnic cleansing the Poles who had settled in the region after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I. White politicians, academics and media propagandists are sensitive to the anti Semite trope and hence the unwillingness to go into the details. As a non white I have no such blinkers.

I am not suggesting that Hunka was innocent and does not have blood on his hands. He certainly does but I am only clarifying the point whether he can be considered a war criminal as he is alleged even by George Galloway, whose opinions are usually grounded in research. 

There were groups that participated willingly in arresting and transporting Jews from Ukraine and these groups associated with the OUN, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its armed wing, UPA, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army were deeply anti Semitic and their participation in the Holocaust is established. The case of John Demjanjuk makes this point clear.

There is no reason to join the collective chorus against Yaroslav Hunka. He is certainly an unsavory fellow  with a shady bood soaked past. But the Canadian Law has always been apathetic to criminals and that explains the presence of gangsters, drug lords, Mafioso, Nazis and internationally wanted terrorists in Canada. Right from World War II Canada has been permissive in its immigration policy.

Canada, India, Terrorism and Diplomatic fallout: Is there truth in Trudeau's Charge of Indian Involvement in Nijjar's Killing

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Hardeep Singh Nijjar 

  The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada has led to a firestorm with charges flying fast and thick between India and Canada. Justin Trudeau, the Premier of Canada, accused India of orchestrating the killing and expelled the  R&AW Mission Chief in the Indian High Commission at Ottawa and India reciprocated. The first question we need to ask is on what basis did Trudeau make this charge. India is quite right in asking for evidence to back up the claim.

Nijjar's killing was preceded by the killing of Ripudaman Singh Mallik who had written a letter to the Prime Minister thanking him for removing the names of some Khalistani supporters from the list of proscribed individuals whose entry into India was illegal On July 14, 2023 the 75 year old Mallik was shot dead. Is there any link between the to killings. Nijjar whose son has claimed his father worked closely with the Canadian Intelligence, CSIS, is a suspect and therefore his murder is being linked to India as a case of revenge killing. It must be borne in mind that Ripudaman Singh was himself an accused in the bombing of Kanishka, the Air India flight from Vancouver which was  blown up near Cork on June 23, 1985 killing 329 passengers. Two more baggage  handlers were killed in Narita Airport Japan on the same day. 

Are Indian security agencies capable of carrying out strikes abroad. While there is no point in becoming sanctimonious and saying that Indian law and Constitution does not allow the Government such freedom, we should rather look at the conduct of agencies like R&W. They have not carried out strikes abroad as they are not trained to carry out such operations and their role is only that on intelligence gathering and monitoring. So far we have not heard of a single instance of the R&AW being involved in serious crime like murder. And certainly the Government of India cannot operate like Israel and the US in spite of open glee with which such covert operations are met with in India. So in spite of the vociferous public sympathy and support for covert activities, India lacks both the will and the capacity for sophisticated strikes in the heart of terrorism. At best the R&AW keeps track of the movements of terror suspects and if they step foot in India, the agencies at home are pressed into service and the only country where Indian covert operations are visible is Nepal. Canada is a white Anglo-Saxon majority and an ally of USA and India will not strike directly. Trudeau took up the Nijjar killing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his extended stay in New Delhi.

India has been warning about terrorists finding a safe haven in Canada even before the Kanishka bombing. Talwinder Singh Tomar, the founder of the terror module, Babbar Khalsa, who was later killed in a police encounter in India, was suspected to have been the master mind of the Kanishka Air India 182 bombing. Justin Tredeau senior who was then the Premier of Canada refused to extradite Parmar even though his hate rhetoric against India and a particular religious group had come to the notice of the Indian authorities. Since the bombing, R&AW has been monitoring hate groups like Sikhs for Justice, Babbar Khalsa, and the like and has collected a great deal of information. The reason why India is suspicious of sharing Intelligence with Canada  due to the fact that CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service which was aware of the activities of the Air India Bombers Ajai Singh Bagri and Reyat along with the conversations that Talwinder Singh Parmar had with these individual, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police took no steps to either stop the bombing or seriously prosecute the accused. The CISIS used a legal loophole that it is not a Law Enforcement Agency to destroy 151 tapes containing the recorded wiretaps of the Air India bombers. Therefore India decided to step in and monitor hate groups focused on India. There is a sinsister motive underlying Canada's strident plea for Indian cooperation. India cannot afford a repeat of the Air India Kanishka fiasco and there is no guarantee that Information shared will not find its way into the hands of Sikh terrorists who may use the information to gut India's assets in Canada. 

The Sikh Panthic forces that animate terrorism against India are led by Pannu, a man who was in the news recently for threatening Canadians of Indian origin. In both USA and to a much greater extent Canada, there is tolerance extended to ethnic groups wedded to a political cause. The welfare state in Canada provides resources for poor immigrants from Punjab support themselves and there is a well established ecosystem of politicians, civil society groups, community institutions and leaders and of course, lawyers who use very lax immigration  laws and a narrative of political prosecution to give citizenship to people like Nijjar who are wanted in India for  heinous crimes like murder and extortion. Even Talwinder Singh Parmar who was protected from extradition by Trudeau senior was wanted in India for killing 2 policemen in 1981 in the Indian state of Punjab.

The Canadian Government and the complicity of its law enforcement agencies in protecting terrorists is brought out very clearly in Cold Terror by the Canadian journalist Stewart Bell. Trudeau is unable to deal with terror sympathizers in his own land as the survival of the Canadian regime is dependent on the support of the Jagmeet Singh controlled National Liberal Party. Jagmeet Singh is not a terrorist and is a Lawyer who has worked for Sikh refugees in Canada, However Sikh identity politics makes it difficult for anyone to separate a terrorist from a bigger groups. India needs to keep track of Sikh Terrorists i Canada in order to protect our country since Canada is clearly incapable of doing so.

India has now come down heavily on Khalistani elements in India by setting the NIA to identify their property and confiscating them. The Overseas Citizens of India card of those in touch with Khalistani elements and who have participated in demonstrations against India will be cancelled.