California Sikhs report threats, troubling incidents to FBI following assassination in Canada


Joe Rubin
Thu, October 19, 2023

Bobby Singh looked at his ringing cell phone and noticed the caller on the other end was the FBI. He wasn’t surprised.

He answered the phone and the agent on the other end informed Singh that he might be in imminent danger. That, too, did not surprise him.

Just two days earlier, Singh, who is a Sacramento Sikh rights activist, had heard devastating news. A man he considered a mentor, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was slain by masked gunmen outside a gurdwara — a Sikh place of worship — near Vancouver, Canada. Nijjar was a leader of a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in parliament, would later say that Canadian intelligence had found “credible evidence” that “agents of the government of India” had carried out the assassination. The increasingly Hindu nationalist government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had labeled Nijjar a terrorist and sought his extradition for years.

The June 18 assassination and growing tension between Sikhs and the Modi government are of particular concern in the Central Valley and Bay Area, home to a large Sikh population. California elected officials of Sikh descent, including Elk Grove’s Mayor and a member of the California Assembly, told The Sacramento Bee that the assassination of Nijjar is part of a worrying trend of transnational repression that they believe can be traced to the Government of India.

For Singh, the assassination was especially personal.

Singh, whose parents immigrated from India in the 1980s, befriended Nijjar at a Sikh activist conference in Toronto in 2019. Nijjar and the young activist communicated frequently via texts and phone calls.

“It was just so shocking. It’s something I am still coming to terms with,” Singh said. “We all have to carry on his work.”

Singh says that two days before Nijjar was cornered by a vehicle and shot with dozens of bullets, he told Singh in a phone call he was being followed. Singh said that Nijjar told him he strongly suspected India.

Three days after the shooting — and just a day after he received the call from the FBI concerned for his safety — Singh received this text, which he shared with The Bee: “Just a head up for you. You’re next in the USA. We have all the tools ready to fix the problems.”

The text message was sent from a masked cell phone number. The chilling message, which Singh shared with the FBI, concluded with a nationalist Indian slogan, “Jai Hind,” which translates to Victory to Hindustan.


The threat to Singh is just one of a number of troubling instances that have been shared with The Bee following Nijjar’s assassination.

On June 24, two days after Dr. Pritpal Singh, founder of the American Sikh Caucus Committee, was warned by the FBI about concerns for his safety, security footage showed an SUV taking cell phone images in front of Singh’s Fremont home.

In August, after Sikh American Assemblywoman Jasmeet Kaur Bains championed a resolution declaring a massacre of at least 3,000 Sikhs in Punjab province in 1984 a genocide, Bains said that four Indian men visited her Bakersfield office and threatened her. Bains told The Bee she filed a complaint with Bakersfield Police and the California Highway Patrol.

On Sept. 7, according to a gurdwara in Stockton, California known for being an important center of Khalistan activism, a man claiming to be a representative of the Indian government visited the gurdwara and told a priest that there would be immigration and other consequences if the gurdwara did not back off its pro-Khalistan activism. According to the gurdwara, the man asked for and received phone numbers for board members of the gurdwara.

On October 15, a man was arrested at a gurdwara in Fremont, California after he allegedly tore down posters memorializing Hardeep Sing Nijjar. As police took the man away in handcuffs, he could be heard in a cell phone video filmed by a bystander yelling, “Khalistan is a terrorist organization.”

The Indian Consulate in San Francisco and the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. did not respond to inquiries from The Bee.

Bobbie Singh-Allen, Elk Grove’s mayor and the first elected Sikh woman mayor in the United States, told The Bee that it is hard to know, given the current tense climate, what is state-sponsored harassment and what is simply a byproduct of polarization created by the Modi government.

“You want to support your community,” Singh-Allen said, “but these days you have to look over your shoulder and wonder what the consequences will be.”

A Washington Post investigation last month into a “digital campaign by Hindu nationalists to inflame India” concluded that, “They have perfected the spread of inflammatory, often false and bigoted material on an industrial scale.”

Singh-Allen said that she has felt the flames of hatred directed toward her numerous times, including when she spoke out against a three-day shutdown of the internet in her native Punjab in March. The shutoff was justified by the Indian government as a necessary part of a manhunt for a Sikh separatist.

“Can you imagine our government blocking forms of communication to the outside world while looking for one person?” Singh-Allen wrote on Facebook.

The mayor told The Bee that men she suspected of having connections to the Indian government confronted her at a conference in Los Angeles

“A few aggressive men cornered me, and asked, ‘why am I against India’?” she recalled. “I’m not against India, I’m against the world’s largest democracy not behaving like one. Anytime a Sikh speaks up, they are labeled suspicious.”

The Sacramento State activist Bobby Singh was not the only person to receive a call or be paid a visit by the FBI following the assassination of Nijjar.


The Bee learned of at least a half-dozen such outreach efforts in California including one to Dr. Pritpal Singh’s home in Fremont. According to Dr. Singh, he was visited by agents who told the founder of the American Sikh Congressional Caucus they had a “duty to warn.”

Tipped off by FBI concern, Singh reviewed security footage and discovered a person on June 24 (six days after the assassination of Nijjar) in a black SUV in front of his gate taking cell phone photographs for several minutes. He provided the footage to the FBI.

Dr. Singh said he suspects that the SUV was sent by the Indian government.

“We will not be intimidated by India’s transnational repression threatening individuals on U.S soil.,” he said. He added that he believes it’s important that Congress “receives a full briefing from the intelligence community on the threats posed to Americans by the rogue Indian state.”
Little Punjab

While Sikhs make up two percent of the overall population in India, about 40 percent of Californians of Indian descent are Sikhs, or an estimated 250,000, with the majority living in the Central Valley and Bay Area.


So many Sikhs have settled in Yuba City, an hour north of Sacramento, the city is informally referred to as Little Punjab. An annual Sikh festival in November, Nagar Kirtan, draws hundreds of thousands.

While Sikh leaders say they are concerned about several incidents in California, none raised more alarms than the Sept. 7 visit to the Stockton Gurdwara by a mysterious visitor.

The Gurdwara, the oldest Sikh house of worship in the United States, provided The Sacramento Bee with security footage showing a man entering the gurdwara on foot and ultimately, gurdwara leaders say, delivering a message to a priest: Either back off pro-Khalistan activism or face consequences. Afterward, the man could be seen on the security video making a call on his cell phone. Minutes later he was picked up by a 2023 Cadillac Escalade.

The Gurdwara says it has alerted the FBI. It’s not known if the man was officially representing the Indian government. The FBI declined to comment on any investigation into Indian intelligence operations in the United States.

According to the President of the Gurdwara, Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal, the visit followed mysterious phone calls he received with similar warnings to curtail Sikh activism.

“What’s ironic,” Dhaliwal said, “is that our Gurdwara in the early 20th century played a pivotal and historic role in India’s Independence movement from the British. Now it seems the government of India is attacking our fundamental rights of free expression.”

Dhaliwal said that during the visit with one of its priests, “this visitor claimed that the visit was part of an Indian government’s operation to keep a watch on all gurdwaras in the U.S. This man told the employee that the Indian Government can influence the employee’s legal status.”

According to Dhaliwal, the priest provided the visitor with a list of board members of the Gurdwara, including their phone numbers.

Jasjit Singh, a Sacramento Unified School District School Board Member and practicing Sikh, said that the Stockton incident was particularly chilling because Nijjar was slain outside a gurdwara.

“Gurdwaras are open to anybody regardless of religion, race, creed, sexual orientation,” he said. “That openness and acceptance is part of being a Sikh.

“But when you put on the hat of the Indian state, especially after the killing of Hardeep, what is being described is not the visit of an average person, it’s state business, used to intimidate and strike fear into community members.”

Intelligence experts said that Sikhs in California have reason to be concerned.

“After Mr. Nijjar was killed in British Columbia, Sikhs in Canada were saying, Oh, ‘it’s India, it’s India.’ And then all of a sudden you find out it almost certainly was India,” Dan Stanton, Former Executive Manager of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), told The Bee.

Stanton added, “If they can do this in Canada, they can do this anywhere, I’m certain U.S. officials are taking concerns of the Sikh diaspora very seriously.”

For the moment U.S. officials, who seek India’s cooperation on the international stage in the Middle East, China, and Ukraine have only made relatively reserved statements on the Nijjar killing, though behind the scenes assisted Canada with intelligence.

“We’re very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at a news conference last month. Blinked added, “we have been in close contact with Canada about that and at the same time we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation.”

India under Modi, who was first elected in 2014, has long been concerned about Sikh activism in California. In 2016, officials from the Indian Consulate in San Francisco made the unusual move of visiting every member of the Fresno City Council, stalling a resolution recognizing the 1984 coordinated killing of thousands of Sikhs as a genocide. After a nine-month delay, the resolution ultimately passed.


Seven years later, Bains, a family physician who became the first South Asian woman elected to the California Assembly in 2022, described a toxic backlash when she introduced a resolution in the assembly in March recognizing the 1984 mass killing of Sikhs as a genocide.

After the resolution passed, Bains said she received numerous anonymous threats to her safety. Then in August, four Indian men paid a visit to her office.

Bains thought the meeting was just a typical get-together with constituents, but things derailed when one of the men uttered a racist trope.

“Sikhs were created to protect Hindus,” Dr. Bains recalled one of the men telling her. I told him “that is offensive, my identity is much larger than that as a Sikh American.”

The same man, according to Bains, began yelling and pointing his finger at her, telling her, “I will do whatever it takes to go after the person behind this. This is an open challenge to you Doctor Bains.”

Bains says she filed complaints with both the Bakersfield Police and the California Highway Patrol, which protects California legislators. She said because the incident happened in a state office, she believes several laws were broken.

Bains said she would like to see more forceful statements of concern from U.S. officials about the Nijjar killing and the general atmosphere that Sikhs are facing.

“When the Canadian Prime Minister spoke out, I think that there was a collective feeling amongst California Sikhs that we were absolutely right to think this way,” she said. “The concern is now that we have proof, why isn’t more being done to protect Sikh activists within America?”

UPDATED

India wakes up to 'startling accusations' of government involvement in B.C. killing

Canada expels Indian diplomat as it investigates India's possible link to Sikh activist's slaying

 Joly's statement

ROB GILLIES

 Mon, September 18, 2023 







Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, left, and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, right, speak to reporters in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian authorities had intelligence that India’s government may have had links to the June assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada.

 (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO (AP) — Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.

Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.

Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence.

“If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” Joly said. “As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."

The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.

“Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau said Canada has declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”

Trudeau said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canada’s allies on the case.

“In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,” he said.

Trudeau said he knows there are some members of the Indo-Canadian community who feel angry or frightened, and he called for calm.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada’s national security adviser and the head of Canada’s spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.

He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Joly also said she would raise the issue with her peers in the G7 on Monday evening in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly

Relations between Canada and India have been tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.

Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true they represent ”an outrageous affront to our sovereignty.”

“Canadians deserve to be protected on Canadian soil. We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as authorities investigate this murder, because the truth must come out," Poilievre said.

Opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging India’s record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.

“But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined,” Singh said.

The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora.

Modi expressed “strong concerns” over Canada’s handling of the Punjabi independence movement among the overseas diaspora last week during a meeting with Trudeau at the G-20, according to a statement released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs

The statement described the Sikh movement as “promoting secessionism and inciting violence” against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who “often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.”

“Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies,” the statement said.

The human rights advocacy group Sikhs For Justice says peaceful protests will “shut down” Indian consulate offices in Canada next week, with new intelligence appearing to link the Indian state to a high-profile murder in British Columbia.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was gunned down in the Surrey temple’s parking lot after evening prayers on June 18. Nijjar, 45, was a prominent community leader and supporter of Sikh separatism. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed national security authorities had obtained “credible” intelligence that “agents of the government of India” were behind the grisly killing — something the World Sikh Organization of Canada and others had suggested shortly after Nijjar’s death. Protests were slated to take place outside Indian consulates in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver next Monday, according to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal counsel for Sikhs for Justice. Global's Rumina Daya reports.

  

‘Credible evidence’ India behind alleged assassination of Sikh leader, says Trudeau

India rejects as ‘absurd’ allegation by PM that it was responsible for fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil
Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN

Tue 19 Sep 2023 

Justin Trudeau has said there is “credible evidence” India is responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader, a claim Delhi dismissed as “absurd”.

The Canadian prime minister told the House of Commons of Canada on Monday that, in recent weeks, national security authorities had been probing allegations that New Delhi was behind a state-sponsored assassination.

“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” he said. “Canada is a rule-of-law country, the protection of our citizens in defence of our sovereignty are fundamental.



“Our top priorities have therefore been one, that our law enforcement and security agencies ensure the continued safety of all Canadians. And two, that all steps be taken to hold perpetrators of this murder to account.”

Trudeau said the alleged killing “is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves”.

The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, said Canada had expelled a “key Indian diplomat” and “expects India to fully collaborate with us and ultimately to get to the bottom of this”.

India’s ministry of external affairs said in a statement it “rejected” statements by Trudeau and his foreign minister, adding that allegations of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are “absurd and motivated”.

“We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,” the statement read.

The ministry said it would expel a senior Canadian diplomat in response to Trudeau’s claims. New Delhi’s decision reflects its “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities”, the foreign ministry said.

The allegations from Canada’s prime minister are likely to further strain relations between the two nations. Trudeau said he raised the issue “in no uncertain terms” with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, when the two met briefly in New Delhi last week for the G20 summit.

The New Democratic party leader, Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh, said there must be consequences for the assassination. “To hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined,” he said.

“We will ensure that no rock is unturned, that every possible link is examined.”

The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, said the allegations, if true, “represent an outrageous affront to Canada”, adding that citizens should be free from extrajudicial killings.

He added: “Canadians deserve to be protected on Canadian soil. We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as authorities investigate this murder, because the truth must come out.”

In June, Nijjar was shot and killed in front of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. He was a strong advocate of the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab region.

New Delhi had previously alleged Nijjar was part of a plan to murder a Hindu priest in Punjab, offering a bounty of nearly $12,000 (£9,688). The fatal shooting of Nijjar led many to accuse India of playing a role in the killing.

“Today, the prime minister of Canada has publicly said what Sikhs in Canada have known for decades – India actively targets Sikhs in Canada,” said the World Sikh Organisation.

The diplomat expelled by Canada is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), India’s foreign intelligence agency in Canada. “We’ll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice,” said the public safety minister, Dominic LeBlanc, adding the RCMP was leading the murder investigation.

The Indian high commission in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes a week after Trudeau was in New Delhi for the G20, where there were signs of tensions with Modi. After the meeting, Modi’s office said the Indian leader had “strong concerns about continuing anti-Indian activists of extremist elements in Canada”.

India and Canada have been negotiating a trade agreement, but talks have been paused.

India responds to Justin Trudeau’s accusation it was involved in Sikh leader’s killing

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Tue, 19 September 2023

India has responded to Justin Trudeau’s allegations of New Delhi being involved in the killing of a separatist leader on Canadian soil.

Mr Trudeau told the Canadian parliament on Monday that the Indian government could be behind the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed on 18 June in the parking lot of a gurudwara in Surry, British Columbia.

The Canadian prime minister said he had raised the killing with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi "personally and directly" during the G20 summit in September.

“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Mr Trudeau said.

A top Indian diplomat, who was the head of the country’s intelligence agency, has also been expelled as a consequence, Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly said.

New Delhi has retaliated by expelling a senior Canadian diplomat. The foreign ministry said the move reflects India’s “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities”.

“The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days,” the foreign ministry was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

The foreign ministry in a statement earlier in the day said “similar allegations” of the alleged involvement in the killing “were made by the Canadian prime minister to our prime minister, and were completely rejected”.

"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," India said, adding that the country was concerned over the inaction of the Canadian government.

"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."

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 

(REUTERS)

India has previously denied any involvement with Nijjar's killing even as it has condemned the rise in support for the Khalistan movement in the West with a sizeable Indian population, such as Canada, the UK and the US.

Mr Nijjar, 46, was a prominent leader of the Sikh secessionist movement that called for a separate homeland for the religious community to be carved out of India's Punjab state.

Canada's allegations against the Indian government come at a time when relations between the two countries are at an all-time low with New Delhi accusing Ottawa of allowing the Khalistan movement to thrive. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.

India accused Canadian "political figures" of "openly expressing sympathy for such elements".

"The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new," the statement read.

"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil."

Mr Modi expressed "strong concerns" over Canada's handling of “anti-India activities of extremist elements” during a meeting with Mr Trudeau during the G20 summit, New Delhi had said.

Mr Trudeau responded by saying that Canada will “always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us... at the same time we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred”.

The Canadian prime minister reportedly raised Nijjar’s killing with US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.

“We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by prime minister Trudeau,” said White House national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

“We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.”

Explainer: what’s behind the growing tensions between Canada and India?

Justin Trudeau has said there is ‘credible’ evidence that Indian government agents were behind the alleged assassination of Sikh leader


Guardian staff and agencies

Tue 19 Sep 2023 

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced on Monday that there was “credible” information linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June.

The announcement marks a significant worsening of bilateral ties between the two countries at a time when India is already unhappy that Canadian authorities are not cracking down on Sikh protesters who want their own independent homeland.

On Tuesday, an Indian government spokesperson called the allegations “absurd and motivated”, adding that “similar allegations were made by the Canadian prime minister to our prime minister, and were completely rejected.”

Canadian authorities also say they have expelled a “key Indian diplomat”. The diplomat is the head of India’s foreign intelligence agency in Canada.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

On 18 June this year Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.

Nijjar had campaigned for an independent Sikh nation – known as Khalistan – to be carved out of India’s Punjab state. He was wanted by Indian authorities and had been designated as a “terrorist” in July 2020.

He had been warned by Canada’s spy agency about threats against him, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which alleged he was “assassinated in a targeted shooting”.

India’s Punjab state – which is about 58% Sikh and 39% Hindu – was rocked by a violent Khalistan separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, in which thousands of people died. Today, that movement’s most vocal advocates are primarily among the Punjabi overseas diaspora.

Why is India focused on Canada’s Sikh community?

Canada is home to one of the largest overseas communities of Indian origin, which number approximately 1.4 million out of an overall Canadian population of 40 million. About 770,000 people reported Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab.

Khalistan flags are seen outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia where temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in June. Photograph: Darryl Dyck/AP

India has often complained to Canada’s governments about the activities of Sikh hardliners among the Indian diaspora who, it says, are trying to revive the insurgency.

In June, India’s foreign minister hit out at Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of then-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists.

In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India but he has repeatedly said he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate.
What does this mean for Canada-India relations?

The two countries, which earlier this year said they could agree the outlines of a trade deal by the end of 2023, have now frozen talks on the agreement. Canada gave few details while India cited “certain political developments”.

India is Canada’s tenth largest trading partner and plans for a trade deal have been in the pipeline for over a decade. However, in 2022, bilateral trade between the two amounted to just C$13.7bn out of a total of C$1.52 trillion of all Canadian trade, according to Statistics Canada.

After rejecting the allegations in a statement on Tuesday, the Indian government urged Trudeau to take actions against, what it termed, “anti-India elements” operating from inside Canada and followed this up by ordering a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country.

Reuters contributed to this report

Canada trade minister is postponing

a planned trade mission to India

Fri, September 15, 2023 

Canada's Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng speaks at a Lunar New Year celebration in Ottawa

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng is postponing a trade mission to India planned for October, an official said on Friday, reflecting increasingly tense diplomatic relations just days after India's prime minister scolded his Canadian counterpart at a G20 summit in New Delhi.

"At this time, we are postponing the upcoming trade mission to India," said Shanti Cosentino, a spokesperson for the minister, without giving a reason.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held formal bilateral meetings with many world leaders during the G20 summit, snubbed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, allowing only a short, informal meeting on the sidelines five days ago.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab in India, and the country has been the site of many protests that have irked India.

"They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship," India's government said after the leaders met.

Earlier on Friday, India said it had paused trade talks with Canada. Canada made a similar announcement earlier this month, saying such a pause was needed to "take stock".

Only about four months ago the two nations said they aimed to seal an initial trade agreement this year.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)

Trudeau Says India Involved in Killing of Khalistani Supporter, Sparks Diplomatic Row

Firstpost

Sep 19, 2023  

Trudeau Says India Involved in Killing of Khalistani Supporter, Sparks Diplomatic Row

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of being involved in the killing of a Khalistani supporter. Canada has also expelled a senior Indian diplomat. This was done in an emergency parliament session held by Trudeau. 

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has demanded India to comply with their demands. 

Meanwhile, India has dismissed Trudeau’s allegations and slammed him for supporting anti-India activities. India has also expelled a Canadian diplomat and asked the envoy to leave within the next five days.

MODI SECRET POLICE ACTIVE IN CANADA

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.”

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

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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.