Who knew that official government communiques could become a meme template. But here we are! Following Justin Trudeau's calls with various global leaders -- and the official statements thereafter -- the Canadian Prime Minister has become the subject of jokes of desi netizens.
Here's what happened -- Trudeau, following his accusations of the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the subsequent diplomatic consequences and retaliation dialled up world leaders to speak on a wide range of issues...and India.
This gave netizens the now much-used meme template of "We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding-- and respecting-- the rule of law", which made it to multiple official readouts.
Here are some of the samples:
"General Secretary Xi praised the resolve shown by my government to suppress dissent and promised to set up another dozen police stations in all our cities. All except one. He pooh-poohed the idea of setting one up in Winnipeg. We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding-- and respecting-- the rule of law," the post read.
Senior fellow at the Observers Research Foundation (ORF) Sushant Sareen also shared the screenshot of a post that was yet another satirical take on Trudeau's calls with Jordan's King Abdullah Il bin Al-Hussein and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. According to this post, Trudeau had a conversation with his "father" and "discussed the healthcare system of his native island, and the economic impact of US sanctions on it". This post also ended with "We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding-- and respecting-- the rule of law".
Another satirical post was about Justin Trudeau visiting an SBI branch in Toronto, albeit at lunchtime. This post further said that he wrote a detailed complaint to SBI and spoke to them about the recent events related to the pro-Khalistan elements in Canada.
These satirical posts come after Justin Trudeau's calls with Jordan's King Abdullah Il bin Al-Hussein and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan where he updated them on the situation between India and Canada. He had also raised the India-Canada stalemate with his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak, who said he hoped for a de-escalation of the issue.
Trudeau's popularity has been waning furthermore since he said that the Canadian government was "actively pursuing credible allegations" that linked the Indian government agents to the killing of Nijjar. These allegations were refuted by India as being "absurd and motivated".
In June this year, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a gurudwara in Canada's Surrey. India suspended visa services for Canadian nationals. The Indian government also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat after Ottawa expelled an Indian official.
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