Atwal says he has renounced terrorism and he asked to attend Trudeau India event
VANCOUVER — A man at the centre of a controversy surrounding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent visit to India says he has renounced terrorism and no longer advocates for Sikh separatism.
Jaspal Atwal said Thursday that since he was convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister in 1986, he has tried to contribute to Canadian society and those efforts include meeting politicians from various parties.
Atwal, 62, said he was one of many Sikhs who got “caught up” in the separatism movement almost 40 years ago.
“While nothing can excuse my conduct, I can only say that during that time in the early 1980s I reacted to the Indian army storming the Golden Temple … in a way that has caused much pain to many individuals,” he told a news conference at his lawyer’s office in Vancouver.