The social media account of a well-known Indo-Canadian journalist Sameer Kaushal was reinstated 72 hours after the platform X temporarily suspended it, after posting an interview of a former pro-Khalistan militant who claimed Pakistan’s intelligence agency had several operatives in Canada and were secretly collaborating with separatists against India.
Controversial Interview Sparks Suspension from X
Those charges were made by Jaswal Atwal, a convict in Canada for attempting to kill visiting Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in Vancouver Island in 1986. Kaushal, the founder-editor of online news portal News Derby, interviewed him.
Hours later Kaushal received a notice from X that his personal account, where he had posted the video of the interview, had been suspended for violating its “rules against authenticity”.
Kaushal Calls Suspension an Attack on Free Speech on X
“As an independent journalist, I rely on X as a vital platform for exercising freedom of speech and for delivering factual, daring journalism to the community. There is a possibility that some powerful forces may have targeted my account due to my commitment to reporting the truth,” Kaushal said in a statement.
“This sudden suspension has come as a complete surprise and is deeply concerning, as my account serves as a significant platform for communication, information sharing, and engagement with my community,” he added.
Who Is Jaswal Atwal?
Atwal has been a controversial figure who was a hardcore Khalistan sympathizer but switched sides and was issued visas to come to India as part of the amnesty program initiated by the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.
Atwal was notoriously in attendance at a reception organised by the Canadian government in Mumbai for then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his visit to India in February 2018, a development that left Ottawa in utter embarrassment. Canada subsequently accused “rogue elements” within the Indian government of hijacking the visit, but did not clarify how they had managed to get Atwal to an invite-only affair organized by the Canadian government.
CSIS Report and Ongoing Concerns About Foreign Interference
In its 2024 annual report to parliament, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported, “Pakistan undertakes foreign interference against Canada to enhance political, security and economic stability in Pakistan and to resist India’s expanding external influence. Canada remains a target for foreign interference because of its large South Asian diaspora and the presence of groups that can be leveraged as pro-Pakistan or anti-India surrogates.”
It added according to its analysis “Pakistan will continue to target various levels of government as well as ethnic, cultural and religious communities, and in particular electoral nomination procedures. They could also target media.”
Appearing before the foreign interference inquiry last October, senior Canadian intelligence officer Vanessa Lloyd stated Pakistan was “attempting to diminish the role of India”.
She also stated that while interference by foreigners generally concerns suppression of voices, it “may also have the inverse effect of amplifying other voices, and in this specific instance, Pakistan’s influence is directly connected with backing of Khalistani extremism.”