James cudmore harjit sajjan biography

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Read Next. Latest National Stories. Featured Local Savings. Notice for the Postmedia Network. You've reached the 20 article limit. You can manage saved articles in your account. InSajjan apologized for exaggerating his role in Operation Medusaa military operation in Afghanistan in which he was involved. Inhe was censured by james cudmore harjit sajjan biography in the House of Commons for his claims about Operation Medusa, as well as his handling of the issue of sexual assault within the Canadian Armed Forces.

InSajjan came under criticism for prioritizing the evacuation of Sikhs with no links to Canada during the fall of Kabulas well as for requesting troops to appear as backdrop to a pop concert by a Punjabi singer. Sajjan was born on September 6,in Bombeli, a village in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, India. Sajjan married Kuljit Kaur, a family physician inand they have a son and a daughter, Arjun and Jeevut.

Sajjan was baptized as a Sikh when he was a teenager, seeing it as a way to get away from a bad crowd, such as his classmate Bindy Johal who became a notorious gangster. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He deployed overseas four times in the course of his career: once to Bosnia and Herzegovinaand three times to Afghanistan.

Sajjan's first deployment to Afghanistan was shortly before the start of Operation Medusa induring which he took leave from his work in the Vancouver Police Department's gang squad. Fraser evaluated Sajjan's leadership during the operation as "nothing short of brilliant". Upon his return, Sajjan left his position with the Vancouver police, but stayed as a reservist and started his own consulting business that taught intelligence gathering techniques to Canadian and American military personnel.

Sajjan returned to Afghanistan for another tour of duty intaking another tour of leave from the Vancouver Police Department to do so. Terrythe commander of American forces in Afghanistan. He was bestowed with the Meritorious Service Medal in [ 18 ] for diluting the Taliban's influence in Kandahar Province.

James cudmore harjit sajjan biography

His Sikh beliefs require him to keep his facial hair which prevents the use of regular military gas masks, so Sajjan invented his own gas mask that worked with his beard, and patented it in Sajjan was elected for the riding of Vancouver South during the federal electiondefeating Conservative incumbent Wai Young. His alleged links with the Khalistan movement have caused diplomatic james cudmore harjit sajjan biography with Punjab's former chief minister, Amarinder Singh.

In SeptemberSajjan attended an event that was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of Chinafor which he was subsequently criticized by the Conservatives. In an April public speech in New DelhiSajjan called himself "the architect" of Operation Medusaa September Canadian offensive to remove Taliban fighters from around Kandahar.

One of the anonymous officers cited in the National Postwhich first broke the story, called Sajjan's statement "a bald-faced lie", while others praised him on a personal level and for his expert intelligence work, but found his claim "really, quite outrageous" because the planning for Operation Medusa was collaborative. Granatstein said that while the mistake was not one that was worth resigning over, it would still hurt his relationship with the military.

Vernon noted that Sajjan had worked "hand-in-glove" with the Australian lieutenant colonel who was the lead planner and that without Sajjan's intelligence work, the operation would not have happened. Sajjan issued apologies in which he apologized to members of the Canadian Forces, the United States Armed Forcesand the Afghan Armed Forces in the operation, and noted that the successes of Operation Medusa were due to the contributions of all members of the Canadian Forces who were involved.

Sajjan also acknowledged that describing himself as "the architect" was a mistake, and highlighted the role of Brigadier-General David Fraser in leading the team that planned the operation. Sajjan was supported by Justin Trudeau amidst calls from the opposition for him to resign. Sajjan was moved from Minister of National Defence to minister of international development in an October cabinet reshuffle.

Sajjan has come under substantial criticism for his handling of sexual assault within the Canadian Armed Forces. InSajjan was presented with alleged evidence of a sexual assault by General Jonathan Vance but refused to look at it. Sajjan was censured by the House of Commons in over his handling of the sexual misconduct issue. Anonymous military sources cited by the Globe and Mail accused Sajjan of misusing military resources that could otherwise have been dedicated to evacuating Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada.

During the final days of the airlift, the Canadian armed forces were instructed to rescue Afghan Sikhs with no connection to Canada, diverting vital resources which would have facilitated the rescue of priority targets. Sajjan alleged that he merely passed along information about the Sikhs to the military and did not issue any direct orders to rescue them.

However, General Wayne Eyrethe Chief of the Defence Stafftold the media that the military was following "legal orders" when it attempted the rescue of the Sikhs. The Globe and Mail 's editorial board wrote that "Sajjan failed Canada, and Canadians" by compromising the evacuation of Canadian citizens and people with links to Canada through his request.

Bloc Quebecois MP Christine Normandin, criticized Sajjan's actions, stating: "We learned through The Globe and Mail that the minister might have provided some directives to prioritize the evacuation of Afghans of the Sikh faith to the detriment of Canadians" and "Certain individuals including [former Canadian military] interpreters were left behind because the resources to evacuate people were limited.

The Globe also reported that directors of the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation, a Canadian Sikh group that sought to privately sponsor Afghan Sikhs' arrival to Canada, made multiple donations to Sajjan's Liberal riding association; the donations coincided with the foundation pressing Sajjan and the government to rescue a group of Afghan Sikhs during the Kabul evacuation.

Sajjan claimed that the foundation reached out to him personally, and he relayed the information provided to him by the foundation to the military's chain of command. The donations also coincided with Sajjan seeking reelection during the Canadian federal election. In Septemberit was reported that the House of Commons committee on national defence plans to investigate Sajjan's actions during the Kabul evacuation.

InThe Globe and Mail reported that. Sajjan's spokesman defended the request, saying that Dosanjh "is the biggest Punjabi artist in the world". Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Canadian politician born The Honourable.

Early and personal life [ edit ]. Military and police career [ edit ]. Political career [ edit ]. Controversy over role in Operation Medusa [ edit ]. Controversy over handling of sexual assault within the Canadian Armed Forces [ edit ]. Controversy over Kabul evacuation [ edit ]. Controversy over proposed use of military personnel for concert [ edit ].

Honours and decorations [ edit ]. Electoral record [ edit ]. References [ edit ].