Minister Nicholson Strongly Condemns Attack

Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement:

“Canada strongly condemns yesterday’s attack on a police station in Gurdaspur, a district in the northern Indian state of Punjab, which killed at least six people and injured several others. Such violent extremism is despicable and is a stark reminder of the grave threat that terrorism poses to the people of India and the region. We expect that the perpetrators of this horrendous attack will be brought to justice. On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

The family of Gurdaspur SP (Detective) Baljit Singh (48), who got martyred in the Dinanagar terrorist attack, was at the receiving end again as he is the third member of the family to have died a hero’s death.

He was a son to a policeman who too was killed by militants during the height of militancy in Punjab in 1984. “aljit’s father and my brother ASI Achhar Singh too got killed in an accident reportedly orchestrated by terrorists in 1984 at Moga. Baljit had got a job on compassionate grounds two years later. Soon after in May 1991, it was my son and Baljit’s nephew Sepoy Manpreet Singh (22), who became the target of the militants in Tarn Taran. He had just joined the Punjab Police then,” recalled Amar Singh, Baljit’s paternal uncle. he had got promoted as SP on July 23, 2013. Prior to moving to Gurdaspur, he remained posted in Tarn Taran. He also served in the AIG (personnel) office at Chandigarh. He got promoted to PPS in 2006. As DSP, he had served in Bathinda. He was SHO City at Kapurthala in 1999 and later got most postings in the border area.