Sikh group protests outside Golden Temple over killing in Canada

Fri, September 29, 2023

FILE PHOTO: A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey

By Manoj Kumar

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sikh activists on Friday staged a demonstration outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, demanding punishment for the killers of a Sikh separatist in Canada.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament that there may be a link between New Delhi and the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia.

India has denied any role in the killing and described the allegations as "absurd". The accusations have sparked tensions between the two countries, with each nation expelling diplomats, and New Delhi suspending visas for Canadians.

Holding posters of Nijjar, the protesters outside the holiest of Sikh shrines shouted slogans asking New Delhi to stop extrajudicial operations against separatists seeking Punjab as an independent state.

Nijjar, who worked as a plumber, left the north Indian state of Punjab a quarter-century ago and became a Canadian citizen. He has supported the formation of a Sikh homeland. India designated him a "terrorist" in July 2020.

"It is time and opportunity for New Delhi to talk with Sikh leadership," said Paramjit Singh Mand, a leader of Dal Khalsa, the group, which is advocating for a separate Sikh homeland and organised the protest.

Sikhs make up just 2% of India's 1.4 billion people but they are a majority in Punjab, a state of 30 million where their religion was born 500 years ago.

Nearly 400 activists participated in the protest and later held prayers at the temple for the release of political prisoners and for the well-being of exiled separatists, said Kanwar Pal, political affairs secretary of the group.

"We thank the Canadian government for exposing the Indian design, how India is operating on foreign soil, intervening in Canadian affairs," he said.

Canadian Sikhs staged small protests outside India's diplomatic missions on Monday, burning an Indian flag, while waiving yellow flags marked with the word "Khalistan", referring to their support for making Punjab an independent state.

Separately, some farmer unions stopped trains and road traffic as part of a three-day protest in some parts of Punjab, demanding a high procurement price for crops, and compensation for those whose crops were damaged in recent rains and floods.

(Additional reporting by Sunil Kataria and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Alison Williams)

Canada is serious about ties with India despite row - Trudeau

BBC
Fri, September 29, 2023 

Mr Trudeau's allegations have sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada


Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his country is serious about building closer ties with India despite an ongoing diplomatic row.

His latest remarks come at a time when ties between the two countries are at an all time low.

Tensions flared up when Mr Trudeau on 19 September said Canada was investigating credible allegations of India's involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.

Delhi dismissed the claim as "absurd".

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered outside a temple in Canada in June.

On Thursday, the Canadian PM said it was extremely important to "constructively and seriously" engage with India.

"India is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player. And as we presented our Indo-Pacific strategy just last year, we're very serious about building closer ties with India," the National Post quoted him as saying.

Tensions between the two countries came to the fore during the G20 summit in Delhi on 9 September when Mr Trudeau skipped an official dinner of the leaders.

He held a short meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi but experts described their body language as "frosty".

A few days later, Mr Trudeau told Canadian parliament they were pursing credible allegations of the involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar's murder.

Both countries have since expelled a diplomat each of the other nation. Last week, India also suspended visa services for Canadians citing security concerns at its diplomatic missions in the country.

On Thursday, Mr Trudeau talked about the importance of relations with India but added that the murder investigation would continue.

"At the same time, obviously, as a rule of law country, we need to emphasise that India needs to work with Canada to ensure that we get the full facts of this matter," he said.

How India-Canada ties descended into a public feud

Trudeau facing cold reality after lonely week on world stage

India has insisted that it had no role in the murder, adding that Nijjar had been designated a terrorist by Delhi in 2020 - an allegation his supporters vehemently deny.

The Indian government has often reacted sharply to demands by Sikh separatists in Western countries for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland.

Nijjar vocally supported the Khalistan movement.

It peaked in India in the 1980s with a violent insurgency centred in Sikh-majority Punjab state.

It was quelled by force and has little resonance in India now, but is still popular among some in the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada, Australia and the UK.

The row between India and Canada, who have been close allies for decades, has also tested Western countries.

The US, UK and Australia have urged Delhi to cooperate in the investigation but stopped short of critising India, which is seen by them as bulwark against China's rise in Asia.

Mr Trudeau added that he had been assured by the US that foreign secretary Antony Blinken would raise the allegations when he met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in Washington.

The foreign ministers met on Thursday but made no mention of Canada in their press conference.

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Blinken raises Sikh leader’s murder in meeting with Indian foreign minister Jaishankar

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Fri, September 29, 2023 

India says murdering separatists abroad is ‘not our policy’ amid Canada row
India has told Canada that it was not the government’s “policy” to be involved in acts such as the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on foreign soil. Source: Council on Foreign Relations

US secretary of state Antony Blinken reportedly asked Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to cooperate with Canada's investigation into the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Ties between India and Canada plummeted after prime minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of the Canadian national.

Nijjar – a designated terrorist in India – was assassinated in Surrey on 18 June by two masked men. He has been linked to the secessionist Khalistan movement, which calls for a separate homeland for the Sikh religious community to be carved out of India's Punjab state.

India vehemently denied what it called an "absurd" allegation, adding it was not New Delhi's "policy" to be involved in assassination on foreign lands.

“Blinken raised the Canadian matter in his meeting, (and) urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada’s investigation,” Reuters quoted a US official as saying, though a State Department statement made no mention of the issue.

Mr Trudeau has been reportedly mounting pressure on Canada's "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing allies to push India into cooperating with the investigation.

The prime minister on Thursday said he was certain that Mr Blinken would broach the issue with India's Jaishankar.

The US State Department’s formal statement on its website after Mr Blinken’s meeting with Mr Jaishankar made no mention of Nijjar’s murder or of Canada.

A readout from the State Department listed points like India's G20 presidency, the creation of an India-Middle East-Europe corridor, defence, space and clean energy as topics of conversation between the two.

Mr Jaishankar on Tuesday said New Delhi has told Canada it was open to looking into any "specific" or "relevant" information it provides on the killing.

Mr Trudeau, who is yet to publicly share any evidence, said last week he shared the "credible allegations" with India "many weeks ago".

Mr Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week the United States was “deeply concerned” about the allegations raised by Canada.

India has responded to the allegation by suspending visa services in all categories for Canadian nationals citing “security threats” to its consulates. Each country expelled one senior diplomat from the other in a tit-for-tat move.

A group of hackers called the “Indian Cyber Force” claimed responsibility for temporarily taking over the official website of the Canadian Armed Forces on Wednesday.

"That's a very common thing that happens, unfortunately, often. But our cyberofficials and security officials acted very, very quickly," defence minister Bill Blair told reporters.

With agency inputs

India raids 53 sites nationwide as crackdown on Sikh separatists deepens

Rhea Mogul, CNN
Thu, September 28, 2023 

ANI/Princess Ilvita/Reuters


India’s anti-terror agency has raided 53 sites across seven states and union territories in a crackdown on what it says are “terrorists” and “gangsters,” some of whom it alleges have links to Sikh separatist groups.

The National Investigative Agency (NIA) said Wednesday it had seized pistols, ammunition and a large number of digital devices during the raids, and that among those it had detained were several people with suspected links to “pro-Khalistan” groups.

“Khalistan” is a reference to a separatist movement that seeks to create a homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region of India.

News of the raid comes as India remains in a tense diplomatic standoff with Canada, following allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India may have been involved in the killing in British Columbia of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh Canadian who was a vocal advocate of Khalistan.


India, which has strenuously denied Trudeau’s claims, has previously accused Nijjar of being a terrorist with links to the Khalistan movement and of “trying to radicalize the Sikh community across the world.”

But it has long accused multiple foreign countries of harboring what it describes as Sikh militants within their diaspora communities.

The NIA said Wednesday the latest raids “relate to conspiracies of targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, extortion, etc. by the gangsters, many of whom are lodged in various jails or are operating from various foreign countries, including Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal and Australia.”

“Many of the criminals and gangsters who were earlier leading gangs in India have fled abroad in recent years and are now pursuing their terror and violence related activities from there, as per NIA investigations,” the statement said.

“These criminals have been engaged in planning and commissioning serious crimes, including contract and revenge killings, in association with criminals lodged in jails across India,” it added.

The operation spanned the states of Punjab, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand, and also included the union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.

New Delhi has responded angrily to Trudeau’s claims and the deepening spat has seen both nations expel senior diplomats in reciprocal moves, raising the prospect of an awkward rift between key partners of the US.

Things escalated further when India suspended visa services for Canadian citizens over what it said were “security threats” against diplomats in Canada.

Though Modi is yet to speak publicly about the growing dispute, Indian authorities last week announced an “intensified crackdown” on what it says is a “Khalistani terrorist campaign.”

Last week, the NIA promised a cash reward for five individuals who they accuse of “spreading terror” in the state of Punjab.

Digital vandals hit Canadian websites amid tensions with India

Thu, September 28, 2023


Digital vandals hit Canadian websites amid tensions with IndiaA message left by a group calling itself the "Indian Cyber Force" is seen on an archived version of a website of a Canadian dental clinic

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A handful of Canadian websites were defaced and the site for the country's armed forces was briefly disrupted Wednesday amid simmering tensions with India.

The low-level hacks were claimed by an obscure pro-India group going by the name "Indian Cyber Force," whose logo includes an American bald eagle with orange and green wings, the colors of the Indian flag.

The hackers told Reuters via Telegram, "Everyone know" why they were targeting Canada but did not elaborate. The group has previously said it was retaliating against Canadian allegations that India had a hand in the killing of Sikh separatist leader outside Vancouver on June 18.

Indian officials have denied the charge and downsized the Ottawa's diplomatic presence in India, issuing travel warnings and freezing visa issuance to Canadians.

Digital vandalism is typical whenever tensions between two countries rise and intrusions of the kind claimed by the Cyber Force rarely deal lasting damage. Several targeted websites appeared to have been picked at random; among them was an Ontario dental clinic.

The Canadian Armed Forces said in an email Thursday that the disruption had been limited to a few hours and has since been "rectified." The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in a statement that "geopolitical events often result in an increase in disruptive cyber campaigns" and that it was keeping an eye out for developing threats.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)