Most Californians want reparations for slavery but don't want to pay cash. Now what?
Laura J. Nelson, Anabel Sosa
Sun, September 24, 2023 

Longtime Los Angeles resident Walter Foster, 80, holds up a sign as the California Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in 2022. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

For a strong majority of California voters, the question of whether the Golden State should offer cash payments to the descendants of enslaved African Americans has a clear answer: No.

But despite that stark finding, from a new UC Berkeley poll co-sponsored by The Times, most California voters possess a more nuanced view on the lasting legacy of slavery and how the state should address those wrongs. They agreed that slavery still affects today’s Black residents, and more than half said the state is either not doing enough, or just enough, to ensure a fair shake at success.

The debate and commentary over California’s reparations plan, the first of its kind in the nation, has focused largely on cash payments. But the Reparations Task Force created by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers in 2020 also recommended more than 100 other policies to help address persistent racial disparities, including reforms to the criminal justice system and the housing market.

Those options, contained in a 1,080-page report on the effects of slavery and the discriminatory policies sanctioned by the government after slavery was abolished, may be taken up next year in the next legislative session, leaving plenty of room to explore the spectrum of opinions that voters have so far expressed, experts said.

“Often, people will be in favor of the principle but not the policy,” said Ange-Marie Hancock, the executive director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University and a former department chair of political science at USC. “When you get to the question of what the government should do about it, that’s when the rubber hits the road.”

Richard Malone, a 71-year-old retiree in Rancho Cucamonga who is a registered Republican, said he fears what California’s reparations plan could do to his tax bill. Already, he said, the state is becoming too expensive for people on fixed incomes.

Read more: New poll finds California voters resoundingly oppose cash reparations for slavery

“I know who will pay: It’s people like me,” said Malone, a retired IRS agent. “It won’t be the rich. It won’t be the poor. It will be all of us in the middle. You don’t have to be a mathematician to know that our taxes will have to go up to pay for this.”

Malone, who is white, said he would rather see California legislators provide “more of a helping hand” to all disadvantaged residents regardless of race. That could include more investment in schools in low-income neighborhoods, he said, as well as a revamp of community colleges and trade schools to create pathways to jobs that will pay “not only a living wage, but a good wage.”

Malone said he supports some reparations, including the 1988 decision to pay $20,000 to each of more than 80,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated by the government during World War II. But he questioned whether Black people who were not enslaved themselves deserve that same treatment.

Malone’s concern echoes the most common reason why most poll respondents opposed cash reparations. Six in 10 said it was unfair to ask today’s taxpayers to pay for wrongs committed in the past, while 53% said it would be unfair to single out one group when other racial and religious groups were also historically wronged. About 1 in 5 said the proposal would cost too much.

Kamilah Moore, the chair of the Reparations Task Force, said she considered it a win that 6 in 10 California voters agreed that slavery still affects today’s Black residents.

She said that negative views on the task force and cash payments were partly shaped by media consumption, especially from right-wing news outlets. Those who vote Republican, own homes and live in rural areas reported hearing about the Reparations Task Force in significantly higher numbers than Democrats, city dwellers and renters.

“The Daily Mail and Fox News and Breitbart have been consistently covering the task force since December of 2022, and that’s when we really started talking about the cash part,” Moore said. “So of course Republicans and conservatives will know more about it.”

Cash payments were slightly more popular among women, younger voters and those born in the U.S.

Read more: California's slavery reparations plan: Eligibility, payments and other details

Moore said she would still like to see a lawmaker introduce a bill on cash reparations so the idea “can be debated in a democratic process.”

California Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), who sat on the task force, recently introduced a bill that would create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, tasked with overseeing and implementing reparations, including cash reparations, and helping people determine their eligibility.

Newsom and state lawmakers reached a $310-billion deal on the state budget, Bradford said, and “if we just put 0.5% into a fund, we can pay for this program.”

Bradford said the California Legislative Black Caucus and members of the task force are also working to write legislation to “address all of those harms that were identified.”

The task force’s recommended remedies go far beyond cash payments, including proposed reforms to the criminal justice system such as ending cash bail, repealing the “three-strikes” law and paying fair market wages to incarcerated people who work in jails and prisons.

The report also touches on policies aimed at unwinding California’s history of racially discriminatory real estate policy, including implementing rent caps, subsidizing down payments in ZIP Codes where Black people were denied home loans and the right to purchase property because of their race, and providing interest-free loans to owners of small businesses in African American commercial areas.

The panel also recommended providing free tuition to California’s public colleges for anyone eligible for monetary reparations, and smaller, community-based efforts, including funding health clinics and building more parks in predominantly Black neighborhoods.

Cheryl Thornton, a public health worker in San Francisco, said she strongly favors the state giving reparations to Black Americans as a way to make amends for decades of systemic racism. She said the state should also do something to help other groups that faced discrimination and oppression, but that she sees a crucial distinction for Black Americans: No other group was enslaved, legally defined as property or brought to the country by force.

Read more: California task force will consider paying reparations for slavery

Thornton said she felt empathy for Californians who are skeptical about reparations, particularly those who are from other marginalized groups.

“It’s important to recognize that people may have different perspectives and concerns about this complex issue,” she said, adding that “people need to become more knowledgeable. Because they think the playing field is fair, but it’s not.”

Thornton, who is Black, works at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She and eight other Black women in the department sued their employer in 2020, alleging discrimination toward Black employees. The city settled Thornton’s lawsuit out of court last year for $100,000.

A reparations check from California would allow Thornton to pay off her son’s law school tuition, she said, and help build generational wealth. She suggested that the money could also be used to start or expand their own businesses in their communities.

Tina Mills, a 64-year-old Democrat from Murrieta, said she voted for Newsom and applauded him for creating the task force. But she said she does not support cash reparations, nor does she see it as a winning issue for Democrats.

Mills, who is Latina, took issue with the racial makeup of the task force, which has nine members. Eight are Black, and the ninth is an Asian American civil rights attorney who has advocated for Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. Mills questioned why the task force was not considering the harm experienced by Latinos and Chinese immigrants in California.

The money might be better spent on strengthening schools in rural and under-served areas, Mills said. Many Black students “are getting a crummy education compared to their peers in Palo Alto and Beverly Hills,” she said.

“I think there’s a significant learning curve,” said Hans Johnson, the president of the East Area Progressive Democratic Club, which has more than 1,000 members in Los Angeles County. The club hasn’t had a formal discussion on reparations yet, he said, but it will take it up before next year’s legislative session in Sacramento.

Read more: California's reparations proposal moves to Newsom, state lawmakers

Johnson found the reaction of voters to cash reparations “disappointing but not surprising.” He remains optimistic that other prongs of the reparations recommendations will be more popular.

“I think Californians should be given credit for the ability to make nuanced decisions,” Johnson said.

The Reparations Task Force’s report detailed California’s history with slavery, including Southerners bringing slaves to the Golden State during the Gold Rush to work in mines and perform domestic labor.

California banned slavery in its 1849 Constitution and entered the Union as a “free state” under the Compromise of 1850. But loopholes in the legal system allowed slavery and discrimination against formerly enslaved people to continue.

Census records show about 200 enslaved African descendants lived in California in 1852, though at least one estimate from the era suggested that the population was closer to 1,500 people, according to the task force’s report.

In 1852, California passed a fugitive slave law — rare among free states — that allowed slaveholders to use violence to capture enslaved people who had fled to the Golden State.

Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865, ratified after the end of the Civil War.

Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times

Inside the shadowy Indian spy agency at the heart of Canada killing row

Ben Farmer

THE TELEGRAPH
Sun, September 24, 2023 

trudeau hardeep singh

With his spectacles and sombre grey suit, Pavan Kumar Rai looks every inch the professional senior Indian civil servant.

His low-key, bureaucratic manner fits perfectly with the anodyne name of his employer: the Research and Analysis Wing.

Yet Mr Rai and his organisation were thrust into the spotlight this week, after explosive allegations from Justin Trudeau that India assassinated Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

Mr Trudeau’s announcement, which has provoked outrage in India, was followed by the swift expulsion of Mr Rai, who Canada identified as the local station chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW), India’s equivalent of MI6 or the CIA.

The furore has turned rare attention on an intelligence agency serving the world’s most populous nation is much less well known further afield despite its reputation in its own region.

RAW was founded in 1968 under prime minister Indira Gandhi after New Delhi felt it had twice been blind-sided by its neighbours. The Intelligence Bureau, India’s internal security agency, its equivalent of MI5, had failed to foresee either the humiliating 1962 border war with China, or the 1965 invasion by Pakistan in disputed Kashmir.

Vappala Balachandran, a senior former RAW officer and special secretary in the government, said: “The 1962 Indo-China war gave us a big jolt because we could not really understand. We didn’t have much intelligence about the capabilities of China. India realised we ought to have a professional external intelligence agency.”

RAW was founded by executive orders to serve directly under India’s prime minister. That means it does not have the same parliamentary or congressional scrutiny as MI6 or the CIA, according to intelligence academics.

Its ranks have traditionally been filled by Indian civil servants, many of them former policemen like Mr Rai. The focus from the start was India’s own backyard, primarily Pakistan and China.

“East and West, RAW operates everywhere, but our main priority is the neighbourhood and to secure our neighbourhood,” explained AS Dulat, a former RAW chief.

From the beginning there was debate about what action RAW should be allowed to take. It needed to be able to conduct “covert action”, but it was decided that was limited to political action and influence, not assassinations.

Some of the most hawkish Indian securocrats have disagreed, believing instead that RAW should copy Israel’s Mossad, and be able to conduct killings.

Dr Walter Ladwig, an expert on South Asian security at King’s College London, said: “There’s always been this undercurrent, or at least one school of thought, that that should be the model for Indian intelligence.

“They should have the ability, like the Israelis allegedly do, to reach out and touch bad guys wherever they are in the world. That was an aspirational thing, but it’s not been seen to be their bread and butter.”

No assassinations

Former officials are adamant that assassinations have always been ruled out. Mr Dulat said: “We don’t do the kill work. If anything new has started, I have no knowledge about that.”

Mr Balachandran, added: “We never do that. It is against our philosophy. We are purely an intelligence agency. We win over people and collect intelligence through technical or human means. Assassinations have never been part of our culture.”

The wing instead has a reputation for a softer approach and wielding more subtle tools.

“They are more traditionally seen to wield money as a tool of influence and maybe occasionally blackmail, rather than a gun or a bomb,” said Dr Ladwig.

The stance fits in with a broader Indian approach to dealing with enemies and insurgents, said Dr Dheeraj Paramesha of Hull University, who has written a book on RAW.

“The first step is to try to make peace with the concerned party, then if that doesn’t work, the second step is to try and bribe them, and if that doesn’t work the third step is to try and divide them.”

Yet that softly-softly approach does not mean the Indian state has always been opposed to removing enemies, he said. From the 1980s, there was a feeling that Pakistan and its feared Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spies were so heavily involved in fomenting militancy in Kashmir and Punjab that “some individuals needed to be eliminated”.

Building on divisions they had already created, intelligence officers encouraged militants to kill other militants.

Dr Paramesha said: “You don’t have Indian-trained intelligence operatives who are trained assassins, but it would be wrong to consider that Indian intelligence agencies are above and beyond the practice of assassinations, because their way of doing it is to use one group against another group.”

Soon after RAW’s foundation, it helped train and supply rebels in then Eastern Pakistan and spied on Pakistan’s army ahead of the 1971 war which created Bangladesh. RAW has since fought a decades-long battle with the ISI which it accuses of supporting Islamist and Sikh militancy to weaken the Indian state.

Pakistan in turn accuses RAW of backing separatists in its own Balochistan province. Sri Lanka also in the past accused RAW of training and arming Sri Lankan Tamil militants.

More recently, China’s clashes with India at Galwan in the Himalayas mean Beijing rather than Islamabad is now again RAW’s main neighbourhood focus.

West’s discontent

However, further afield, the growth of diaspora communities in the West has also created another arena. Former RAW officials say it has no interest in spying on Western governments, but it is thought to be heavily involved in gathering intelligence in both the Indian and Pakistani communities there.

While Sikh militancy has been largely suppressed in northern India, Canada particularly, and to a lesser extent the UK, are seen as a hotbed of the Khalistan movement seeking a separate Sikh homeland.

Dr Ladwig said: “The thing that I think is hard for us looking at this from the outside, is to really understand how much this Khalistan is such a hot button. The Canadians have always been seen by India as being particularly soft on the Khalistani issue.”

Despite these occasional tensions, RAW had until this week traditionally prided itself on having good relations with host governments.

Mr Balachandran said its staff worked in embassies and consulates.

“There is nothing secret about it. In the West, we tell them our problems and threats and they help us. We don’t want to get into any confrontation. That is not our job at all.”

However, some analysts have questioned whether Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, may favour a more muscular and assertive RAW. The agency’s set up means it is difficult to glimpse policy shifts, but there have been reports of bigger budgets and the promotion of operational field staff over those with more analytical backgrounds.

Dr Ladwig said: “There are people who suggest that they are being encouraged to be more forward leaning. I think there’s just a general sense that the security challenges that India faces, India wants to try to deal with. Certainly part of Modi’s modus operandi is to portray himself as being tough on security and tough on threats to India.”

India anti-terror agency seizes properties of alleged Khalistan militant

Reuters
Sat, 23 September 2023

Pro-indepence Khalistan flags are seen at the Guru Nanak 

Sikh Gurdwara temple, in Surrey, BC

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's federal anti-terror agency on Saturday said it confiscated the properties of an alleged Khalistani militant whom it accuses of terror activities in India, as tensions with Canada grow over Sikh separatists.

The seizure of a house and land owned by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in India's northern state of Punjab "comes as a big boost to the country’s crackdown on the terror and secessionist network being operated from various countries, including Canada," a statement issued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.

Tensions between India and Canada escalated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday there were "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder in Canada in June of a Sikh separatist leader campaigning for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland called "Khalistan".

Following the diplomatic standoff between the two countries, videos of Pannu threatening Indian Hindus to leave Canada surfaced on social media platform 'X' (formerly Twitter).

The anti-terror agency had registered a case against the alleged militant in 2019 for spreading fear and terror in Punjab and other parts of the country.

NIA issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against Pannu in February 2021 and he was declared a ‘Proclaimed Offender (PO)' in November last year.

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh; editing by Clelia Oziel)

India-Canada tensions shine light on complexities of Sikh activism in the diaspora

DEEPA BHARATH
Sat, September 23, 2023 

A woman is consoled as people mourn Sikh community leader and temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar during Antim Darshan, the first part of day-long funeral services for him, in Surrey, British Columbia, Sunday, June 25, 2023. Nijjar was gunned down in his vehicle while leaving the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib parking lot. The September 2023 accusation by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India may have been behind the assassination of Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader, has raised several complex questions about the nature of Sikh activism in the North American diaspora. 

(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File) (

The shocking accusation this week by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India may have been behind the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia has raised several complex questions about the nature of Sikh activism in the North American diaspora.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India. There are about 800,000 Sikhs in Canada — roughly 2% of the population. The United States is home to about 500,000 Sikhs. While some Sikhs argue there is widespread support in the diaspora for an independent Sikh state in the subcontinent called Khalistan, others say there is no such consensus.

The debate over support for Khalistan and what activism looks like in the Sikh diaspora has intensified after Trudeau’s accusation that India may have had a hand in the assassination of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen shot dead outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on June 18.

That information is based on Canadian intelligence as well intelligence from a major ally, according to a Canadian official who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. The information is based in part on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada.

Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, was designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for his alleged links to the Khalistan Tiger Force, a group campaigning for independent Khalistan in the Punjab region of India. The active insurgency ended decades ago, but Prime Minster Narendra Modi's government recently warned that Sikh separatists were trying to stage a comeback and pressed countries like Canada to do more to stop them.

The question of Khalistan or Sikh sovereignty “is not a fringe concept or idea in the community,” said Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member with the World Sikh Organization of Canada, the largest Sikh advocacy organization in that country.

“When you look at Sikh history, it has always been about sovereignty and self-determination,” he said. “Sikh voices calling for an independent state where they can practice their faith freely are getting louder. There is strong support for Khalistan in the diaspora because we have the right to free speech and the right to organize here, while you don’t have that in India.”

India has outlawed the Khalistan movement. Groups associated with it are listed as terrorist organizations under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and are considered a serious security threat by the government. In the U.S. and Canada, Khalistani activism is not illegal and is protected under free speech laws.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel with Sikhs for Justice, has also been listed as a terrorist by the Indian government. The organization was banned by India in 2019.

Pannun has been a leading organizer of the Khalistan Referendum, inviting Sikhs worldwide to vote on whether Punjab should become an independent nation based on religion. Organizers of the nonbinding referendum hope to present the results to the U.N. General Assembly in about two years.

“Sikh sovereignty means having your independent, autonomous state where you have total control of the state’s resources,” Pannun said, adding that Sikhs in India are still forced to live under Hindu laws governing marriage, inheritance and adoption. Pannun faces sedition and a slew of other charges in India and has faced criticism for saying “Indo-Hindus who work against the interests of Canada” should return to India.

Pannun says he worked closely with Nijjar for many years and calls him “one of the dedicated campaigners for Khalistan.”

“He knew his life was in danger,” he said. “We spoke 18 hours before his assassination. But he never took a step back."

Not all agree that Khalistani activism is on the rise in the diaspora. Amandeep Sandhu, India-based journalist and author of “Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines,” believes it remains a fringe movement. Even if 200,000 people may have shown up to vote at referendums held so far, that number is small compared to the 30 million Sikhs who live in India and around the world, he said.

While Sikhs who migrated to North America, Australia and the United Kingdom may carry inter-generational trauma and memories of a “brutal Indian state,” they have not become engaged in the fight for Khalistan because they are busy building lives for themselves, Sandhu said.

“Life is hard for migrants," he said. “How much money and resources do you have for Khalistan, a state that remains undefined?”

Neither the Sikh community in India nor the diaspora is monolithic, he said. In India, Sikhs are also among the most patriotic. They are about 2% of India’s population, but form 8% of the nation’s army, and Sikh soldiers are among the nation's most decorated, Sandhu said.

Rajvinder Singh, a New Delhi store owner, said he believes “Khalistan’s ideology has no place in the minds of the Sikhs.”

“I don’t support Khalistan,” he said. “If some foreigners believe in it, what can we do about it? This is a matter for diplomatic discussions. Both countries should work towards becoming better trade partners and not fight over these issues.”

In the diaspora, it is hard to tell how many actually support state separatism, said Anneeth Kaur Hundle, associate professor of anthropology and a specialist in Sikh studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Hundle said that in addition to the Khalistan issue, a lot of recent activism in the diaspora has focused on gaining more recognition for Sikh suffering linked to events of 1984, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the Indian army to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest of Sikh shrines, to flush out several key figures in the growing militant Khalistani movement. Months later, following Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards, thousands of Sikhs were killed across north India as the violence spread beyond Amritsar.

“While community members are not in agreement when it comes to what autonomy is or looks like, all Sikhs do want to engage in whatever activism they want without being attacked or killed for it,” she said. “Trudeau, with this statement, has stood up for all activists in the diaspora."

Since Monday, ties between India and Canada have plunged to their lowest point in years as India stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff.

Some say these events are having an impact on the rest of the Indian diaspora and straining relationship with Hindus, who slightly outnumber Sikhs in Canada.

Samir Kalra, managing director of the Hindu American Foundation, said the “resurgence of Khalistani extremism in the diaspora has significantly impacted Indian Americans of all backgrounds and has led to a great deal of fear and insecurity within the community.” He cited “a disturbing trend” of incidents including vandalism at Hindu temples and Mahatma Gandhi statues in Canada and the United States.

“Indian men, women and children have endured intimidation and harassment at India Day festivals in both countries, as well as at a Diwali festival in Canada last year,” said Kalra. He said Indian Americans also have been harassed outside the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, where "Khalistani extremists have frequently shown up and attempted to break into and set on fire the consulate building.”

Cynthia Mahmood, professor of anthropology at Central College in Iowa and an expert on the Khalistani movement, has talked to militants and written about the concept of violence and nonviolence in Sikhism. She holds that it is different from Western ideas.

“In Sikhism, the question is about the fight for justice,” she said. “Sometimes you have to use violence, and sometimes, nonviolence, for self-defense and to pursue justice. The Western polarity of war and peace doesn’t quite apply in the Sikh context.”

___

AP journalists Piyush Nagpal in New Delhi and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

__

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Incendiary rhetoric on Sikh's murder stokes debate in Canada diaspora

Nadine Yousif - BBC News, Toronto
Sat, September 23, 2023

A pro-Khalistan rally and a counter-protest in Toronto after the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

A row between Canada and India over the murder of a Sikh separatist has stoked talk of political friction among some Sikhs and Hindus in the diaspora, though others say it's overblown.

After Mr Trudeau's public accusation on Monday that India may have been behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, a clip surfaced on social media showing the head of a US-based Sikh separatist group calling for Hindu Canadians to return to India.

"Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and the Canadian constitution," said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, head of Sikhs for Justice, in a video that was reportedly filmed on 12 September.

"Your destination is India. Leave Canada. Go to India," he said.

• Who was Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

The video of Mr Pannun, a dual Canadian-US citizen who was a friend of Mr Nijjar, was widely shared online and in Indian media.

It caught the attention of Chandra Arya, a Liberal member of Canada's parliament.

"I have heard from many Hindu-Canadians who are fearful after this targeted attack," Mr Arya, a Hindu, wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr Arya said he believed the comments were made to "divide the Hindu and Sikh communities in Canada". He declined to comment to the BBC.

The exchange laid bare apparent divisions within the Indian diaspora, which Canada's bombshell allegation has done little to alleviate. India denies orchestrating Mr Nijjar's murder.

Tensions were up in the wake of Mr Nijjar's murder. His supporters staged protests across Canada in the wake of his killing, accusing India of being behind his death.

Those demonstrations faced counter-protests from supporters of the Indian government. Posters for the event, which labelled Indian diplomats as "killers", were denounced by New Delhi officials.

India has also spoken out about vandalism targeting Hindu temples in Canada with "anti-India graffiti".

Mr Nijjar was a vocal advocate for the creation of a separate homeland for Sikhs - Khalistan - in the Indian state of Punjab. India has strongly opposed the Khalistan movement, and labelled Mr Nijjar as a terrorist.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Pannun said his remarks did not intend to target all Hindus, but rather those who align with the interests of the Indian government, which he said happens to be majority Hindu.

Indo-Canadians who spoke to the BBC said that while their community was taken aback by Canada's allegations, they have not experienced threats to their safety or heightened tensions day-to-day.

Canada has a large Indo-Canadian population with deep ties to both countries. There are 1.86m residents of Indian descent in Canada, with diverse religious and socio-economic backgrounds.

Ranbir Grewal, a tech professional in Toronto whose family is Sikh, said his social group is a mix of Hindu and Sikh Canadians - all of whom denounce remarks that Hindu Canadians must leave Canada.

"Those are relatively offensive statements, and they get a reaction, people are talking about it," Mr Grewal said.

Mr Grewal also spoke out against the government of India's recently issued travel advisory for Canada, warning its citizens to exercise "utmost caution" when visiting the North American country because of the potential for violence.

"I've been going about meeting people the same way, my day-to-day life hasn't changed much," he said.

He said he believes any inflammatory remarks are being made to certain factions of the Indo-Canadian community, and do not represent how the majority feel.

Radhika Sharma, a Vancouver-based student who is Hindu, said she views talk of a rift as a "political" issue.

She added that some, including her Sikh friends, have been upset by Mr Trudeau's accusation, as his government has not yet provided evidence publicly to back it up.

"We don't know if it's true or not, but if it is then it should have supportive evidence," she said. "This is just creating a tussle and a war between two great countries."

Rupinder Liddar, a PhD student at McGill University in Montreal, whose research focuses on the Sikh-Canadian community, said she has seen misinformation being spread online, conflating the Khalistan movement with violence or terrorism.

But she said that despite a sense of political divide among some in the Indo-Canadian community, Hindus and Sikhs in Canada have always had close ties.

"There should be no tension between the Sikh-Canadian and Hindu-Canadian communities," she said, "rather this is all about foreign interference in Canada by a foreign government."

Canada-India row puts spotlight on Sikh activism in UK

Aleem Maqbool - Religion editor, BBC News
Sun, September 24, 2023 

Gurpreet Johal's brother was imprisoned on a visit to India and accused of extremist activity

Given the dramatic developments in Canada, where PM Trudeau has said there is credible evidence to suggest India was involved in the killing of a Canadian Sikh, it is unsurprising that rumours now swirl around the deaths of other Sikh activists around the world, including in the UK.

Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, was well known for his support of the creation of a breakaway Sikh homeland, Khalistan.

He died from a sudden illness in Birmingham in June, and some of those close to him insinuate there was foul play involved.

West Midlands Police say they thoroughly reviewed the case and there were no suspicious circumstances and that there is no need to re-investigate.

But British Sikhs have long talked about feeling under undue pressure, as the Indian government has openly demanded that the UK authorities do more to stamp out "extremism" within the community.

Gurpreet Johal is a lawyer and Labour councillor from Dumbarton. He says he entered politics because of what happened to his family.

Six years ago, Gurpreet's brother Jagtar - a well known pro-Khalistan and Sikh rights activist - went to India to get married.

Mr Johal's family says that in the town of Rami Mandi in Punjab, he was forced into an unmarked car. He has been in prison ever since accused of extremist activities.

Jagtar Johal says he was tortured and forced to sign confession statements. It took years for him to be charged and he has never been tried.

"Fair play to Justin Trudeau," says Gurpreet Johal. "The Canadian prime minister has stood up for his citizens, whereas the UK government has failed to do so."

The human rights group Reprieve says it has compelling evidence that Mr Johal's arrest in India followed a tip-off from British security agencies.

British Sikh organisations expressed outrage at that, but also at the fact that even after a UN working group called for the release of Jagtar Johal - saying his detention had been made on arbitrary and discriminatory grounds - the UK government has failed to do the same.

"It seems like the UK government cares more about getting a trade deal with India than it does about its citizens," says Mr Johal.

The Foreign Office has said that calling for Jagtar Johal's release would not help matters and may even make things worse. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is "committed to seeing Mr Johal's case resolved as soon as possible".

There are strong ties between India and the UK, but the issue of Sikh activism in Britain is frequently raised by Indian officials.

In March this year, Prime Minister Modi's administration expressed its concern when Sikh rights and pro-Khalistan protestors vandalised the Indian High Commission in London during a demonstration. The Indian government reiterated its frequent call for Britain to deal with "extremism".

After its peak in the 1980s, support for a breakaway Sikh homeland waned in India, with all major political parties strongly opposed to the idea. But it has seen a resurgence in recent years, particularly in the Sikh diaspora.

• Why Western nations fear India-Canada row

• Why are some Sikhs calling for a separate state?

For the most part, pro-Khalistan support in the UK has taken the form of peaceful activism, and the tension between Delhi and London can sometimes be over what constitutes "extremism" and what is freedom of political expression. But there have been occasions when violence has been used.

In 2014, while on a visit to London, retired Indian general Kuldeep Singh Brar was attacked and had his face and throat slashed with a knife.

In 1984, at a time of growing unrest and agitation for a Sikh state, Lt Gen Brar had led the Indian army's attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It is Sikhism's holiest shrine, but at the time it was also where leading separatists had taken residence.

Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in the Golden Temple operation; among them separatists but also large numbers of pilgrims packed into the complex on what was a Sikh holy day.

It was a pivotal moment. In revenge four months later, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, precipitating widespread anti-Sikh riots across India in which thousands died.

To some extent, these events still have a profound impact on Sikh consciousness.

Lt Gen Brar survived the London knife assault in 2014 and his attackers, including a British Sikh who lost his father and brother in the Indian army operation on the Golden Temple, were imprisoned.

Pro-Khalistan activism has been mostly peaceful, such as this protest in Canada

But, as well as the imprisonment of Scottish Sikh Jagtar Johal, many British Sikhs cite other incidents from recent years as evidence that theirs is a community under pressure because of demands being made by Delhi.

In 2018, there were raids carried out on the homes of five Sikh activists in London and the Midlands.

No charges were ever brought, but Sikh groups here have said the fact that details of the raids appeared in the Indian media that had not been made public by the British police suggests that Delhi had a hand in the operation.

Just this year, British Sikhs across the political spectrum shared their confusion and concern about the findings of a recent review into Britain's faith landscape by the UK government's Faith Engagement Advisor, Colin Bloom.

After years of research, Mr Bloom devoted more of his final report to Sikh "extremist and subversive activities" than it did to Muslim, far right and Hindu extremism combined.

Many Sikh leaders said publicly that they felt the report's findings were a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, that has long been vocal about the fact it wants the governments of countries with large Sikh populations - particularly Canada, Australia and the UK - to do more to counter Sikh activism.

Last month, the UK Home Office announced a further £95,000 to tackle the issue of "pro-Khalistani extremism".

Calls for Khalistan separatism may have diminished over recent decades in India, but the issue continues to cause tensions and divisions among British Sikhs, with prominent voices in the community who do not support the creation of a Sikh homeland sometimes receiving online intimidation.

But it appears these often polarised sections of the community are coming together in their concern about misrepresentation.

"The Sikh community has integrated into British society and is known for its educational attainment and its seva (selfless service)," says Jagbir Jhutti Johal OBE, professor of Sikh Studies at the University of Birmingham. Though she does not discuss it, Professor Johal is one of those who has previously faced the ire of pro-Khalistanis. But of late, she has been deeply troubled by pressure she feels is being put on the whole community.

"This recent scrutiny as a result of the Indian and UK Government's focus on 'extremism' is unfairly creating a negative impression of the community. That's causing many Sikhs to question the intentions of both governments," she says.

Professor Johal warns that all the focus and talk in recent years of tackling Sikh extremism here is potentially unhelpful and counterproductive.

The UK's tactics and the news from Canada will be raising concerns for younger Sikhs, she says. They may not have been interested before but they will now study the concept of Khalistan, the alleged human rights abuses against Sikhs and the restrictions on freedom of expression.

Biden makes case that climate, labor interests can go hand in hand as auto strike fuels attacks

Rachel Frazin
Sun, September 24, 2023 

President Biden is making the case that fighting climate change can create jobs, countering a key Republican narrative surrounding the autoworker strike.

The president’s GOP opponents have sought to paint climate action as a job-killer, seizing on concerns over worker pay in the transition to electric vehicles in light of the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.

But Biden, who has argued throughout his presidency that efforts to combat climate change can go hand in hand with workers’ interests, underlined that stance this past week in both words and actions.

He created a climate-jobs program that is expected to, in its first year, employ 20,000 people in jobs to fight climate change and protect the environment.

“We’re not just opening up pathways to decarbonization. We’re opening up pathways to good-paying careers,” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters of the program.

Biden also launched a Partnership for Workers’ Rights alongside Brazil’s president. One of the issues the partnership aims to address is “advancing worker-centered approaches to the clean energy transition.”

“As I’ve told labor from the very beginning: When I think of climate change, I think of jobs,” Biden said in remarks announcing the labor partnership.

His comments starkly contrast recent rhetoric from his GOP rivals on the issue.

Former President Trump, looking to court Michigan voters, has repeatedly bashed Biden’s electric vehicle policies, saying on social media that they will ensure “the Great State of Michigan will not have an auto industry anymore.”

Other Republicans have also chimed in. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) wrote in a recent op-ed that “those who have claimed there will be a ‘just transition’ to EVs should visit Northeast Ohio for a glimpse into the industry’s bleak future.”

“Up the road from the once-iconic Lordstown Assembly Complex, where 15,000 union workers once assembled millions of cars, now stands a battery plant that employs a fraction of the workers at a fraction of the wages,” he added.

Union leaders, however, have said they do not oppose a shift toward climate-friendly cars, just that they want workers to be paid fairly for electric vehicle jobs.

The UAW has accused automakers of using the transition to electric vehicles to cut wages, particularly citing the 2019 closure of a General Motors (GM) plant in Lordstown, Ohio, where it said workers were on track to make more than $30 per hour. It noted that after the closure, a new battery plant from a joint GM-LG venture opened in the area, but said workers there only make 16.50 per hour. The joint venture, Ultium, has said that it “will work in good faith with the UAW to reach a competitive agreement.”

The discontent related to this shift is one of several issues fueling the strike, with the UAW and major car manufacturers yet to reach an agreement on a new contract. But the strike is related to pay issues more broadly, as workers are calling for wage increases, getting rid of temporary employment, pensions and cost-of-living adjustments.

The UAW has called on the Biden administration to do more to ensure that workers are protected during the EV transition.

In comments last week at the start of the strike, Biden similarly backed the transition but said he thinks it should be “fair” and a “win-win” for auto workers and automakers. On Friday, it was reported that Biden is set to speak to striking workers in Michigan next week and the president said he plans to “join the picket line and stand in solidarity” with UAW workers.

Democratic strategists say that Biden and the party at large should be making this case that climate action can be a positive for workers, and should generally be looking to frame the energy-transition in economic terms.

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale, who used to work at the AFL-CIO federation of unions, said that the latest announcements from Biden are “good projects” for appealing to both environmentalists and labor.

He praised how Biden has handled the issue throughout his presidency.

“He basically doesn’t make remarks talking about green jobs, solar power, green energy — anything — without talking about how making those jobs union is also what gives people the path to the middle class,” Vale said.

Fellow Democratic strategist Jon Reinish also said that Biden was doing a good job but added that he should be doing even more.

Reinish said Biden and the Democrats should work to further emphasize that “there is a lot of money to be made” in the energy transition, including by doing “a lot of interviews on the subject.”

He spoke to The Hill before Biden announced he would join workers on the picket line. In a follow-up email after the announcement, Reinish said that going to Michigan was a “great move” but that the broader point that even more needs to be done still stands.

Vale noted that with the election still a year away, the president is likely to take further action on the issue.

“There’s a lot more things to come. There’s a lot more announcements, there’s a lot more policies, there’s a lot more campaigning,” he said, adding that Biden will likely continue to address climate and jobs policy together.

As climate change warms the planet and contributes to destruction, leaders around the world are looking to shift to energy sources that emit less carbon, or none at all.

The labor consequences of this are complicated — as some industries will see a decline, but others will grow. But the skills required for the clean energy jobs are not always directly transferable, and the locations where workers are needed may differ.

“On net, ambitious climate policies will probably create more jobs than they destroy, but that’s cold comfort if you’re working in a coal-fired power plant or producing oil in West Texas,” said Daniel Raimi, director of equity in the energy transition initiative at climate think tank Resources for the Future.

“Most clean energy workers are not going to be coming directly from the fossil fuel industry,” he added. “The geographies and the skills are not lined up very nicely to do that.”

Sanya Carley, an energy policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said that in the case of the auto industry, many workers will have similar skills, but she also noted that some plants are being moved into southern states that have lower labor costs, cheaper electricity and less union activity.

“We will see plants close as a result of less production of the internal combustion engine and more production of the electric vehicle,” Carley said.

She added that if a factory is local, many workers “could potentially move over into a battery plant because of the transferability of skills, but … there’s this geographic mismatch that makes it a little difficult.”

Carley also said achieving a just transition to electric vehicles will include a balance of decarbonization, worker pay and keeping prices low.

“This energy transition, if it is to be done in a just and equitable way raises a whole bunch of really complicated trade-offs,” she said.