Insulting the Canadian Sikh Khalistani Groups

"Carney's decision is not merely a diplomatic miscalculation."

"It is a direct insult to the Sikh community and a grave threat to the integrity of Canada's institutions."

"[Members of Parliament must speak out about the invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and] reafirm commitment to holding Indian officials accountable for interference and violence in Canada."

"[The decision to host Modi is] reprehensible."

"It sends an unequivocally clear message: the safety, dignity and rights of Sikhs in Canada are expendable." 

World Sikh Organization/ British Columbia Gurdwaras Council / Sikh Federation / Ontario Gurdwaras Committee/ Quebec Sikh Council 

Narendra Modi speaks in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, last year. Photograph: Dean Kassim/AFP via Getty Images

 

Interference in New Delhi's affairs and violence perpetrated against India by radical Canadian Sikh groups and individuals created the largest, most deadly act of terrorism ever plotted and carried out within Canada in a deadly scheme that succeeded in killing Canadian citizens who happened to be Hindus in June of 1982, in the infamous Air India Flight 182 when 329 people on board, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 22 Indian citizens were blown up along with their aircraft. 

 

Sikh militants in Canada have continuously agitated for a breakaway state of their own in the Punjab, they refer to as Khalistan. Before and after the ghastly tragedy these radical Sikh Canadians have been involved in violence of one kind or another, including public demonstrations celebrating the assassination death of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards. They have, as committed Khalistanis, defaced images of Indian Prime Minister Modi, at their protests, and hanged him in effigy. 

 

Parade float depicting Indira Gandhi's assassination at an event organized by pro-Khalistani supporters in Brampton city of Canada. (Screengrab from video tweeted by @BalrajDeol4)

 

So much for 'interference' in other countries, that they now bitterly accuse India being guilty of, in Canada. The government of Canada has never attempted to stifle these protests, including conferences where Khalistani terrorists are celebrated as heroes. The agitation committed by Sikh Canadian extremist groups is responsible for demonizing by default, Hindu-Canadians whose citizenship in Canada equals in number (about 800,000) that of the Sikhs, and whose activities go a long way to creating sectarian-tribal stress and alienation, threatening national security.

 

The “punishment” posters displayed during a parade in Brampton -- Hindustan Times 

 

An invitation went out from the current Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed to the Indian Prime Minister, to attend the G7 leaders' summit to take place in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 15 to 17, under understandably tight security arrangements. Members of the G7 are Canada, the U.S., U.K., France, Japan, Germany and Italy. It is not unusual for the rotating leader of the G7 summits -- usually with the tacit agreement of the other members -- to invite leaders of other countries to attend. For this summit, Mexico's President Sheinbaum, India's Prime Minister, and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmon were invited to attend.

 

The major Canadian Sikh organizations sent an open letter to the Liberal government of their outrage over the invitation extended to Prime Minister Modi. Canada's previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau standing in Parliament, had released a publicity and diplomatic bombshell in accusing Mr. Modi's government of involvement in the murder of a British Columbia Sikh involved in the Khalistani movement who was agitating for a 'vote' to take place on the matter of a Khalistani state.

 

The parade included a large truck with a mock-up of a jail that had effigies of PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The parade took place in Toronto.

 

The letter of outrage was sent to 23 Members of Parliament with various Canadian political parties across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta representing ridings with sizeable Sikh populations. According to Statistics Canada, Canada has the second-largest Sikh population outside of India.  

"What kind of a message does this send to us, that our lives are expendable for the sake of trade or economic ties."

"[There has been] outrage [across the Sikh community]. It feels as though this is adding injury to insult." 

"Many [of the MPs who received the letter are expected to attend meetings to discuss the issue]." 

Moninder Singh, national spokesman, Sikh Federation  

The Khalistani referendum organizer and activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar had been shot to death by assassins outside a gurdwara in June of 2023. As far as Indian authority was concerned, Mr. Nijjar was a terrorist, a prominent activist in the Khalistan movement. Four Indian nationals have been charged and will stand trial for his murder. India is piqued with Canada for allowing Sikh extremists to thrive in Canada, obviously interfering in Indian politics and occasionally with deadly results. Asking Canada, nation-to-nation to extradite Canadian Sikhs found guilty in India of terrorism has been fruitless.

 

 

 

The reality is that it is expatriate Sikhs in Canada, Britain and elsewhere who continually agitate against India, calling for a Khalistan state. In India itself, Sikhs are fairly disinterested. They may once have been allies in the move to rally for a state of their own, but in present-day India, most Sikhs seem more than comfortable considering themselves to be members of the Indian state, and have no interest in pushing the government to grant a partition of India. 

 

Kolkata: Peoples from the Sikh community stage a protest against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari after he allegedly called a Sikh IPS officer 'Khalistani', outside BJP office, in Kolkata, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (PTI Photo)(PTI02_21_2024_000237B) (PTI)

 

Canada, Once Again on the World Stage

"Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, sources have revealed that the Khalistani leader was found to be at flight risk in the United States and was on USA’s no-fly list in 2019."

"Meanwhile, in contradiction to Trudeau’s recent support to the Khalistani activist, it has been learned that Nijjar was also included in Canada's no-fly list in 2017–18."

YouTube

 

"Murdered Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India, was allegedly involved in crime since the 1980s and had connections with local goons from a young age, a detailed dossier prepared by Indian authorities, and accessed by NDTV, revealed. It further says Nijjar, who fled to Canada on a forged passport in 1996 and maintained a low profile as a truck driver there, travelled to Pakistan for arms and explosives training. He also allegedly ordered several killings and attacks in Punjab while taking refuge on Canadian soil."

"Later, he allegedly came in touch with Pakistan based KTF Chief, Jagtar Singh Tara. He also visited Pakistan in the garb of a Baisakhi jatha member in April 2012 and underwent an arms and explosive training there for a fortnight, the dossier said."

NDTV legacy news outlet

 

"In light of the current environment where tensions have heightened, we are taking action to ensure the safety of our diplomats."

"As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to temporarily adjust staff presence in India."

Jean-Pierre Godbout, spokesperson, Global Affairs Canada

 

"There is no question that India is a country of growing importance. And a country that we need to continue to work with."

"We're not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians and standing up for our values."

"We call upon the government of India to work with us to take seriously these allegations and to allow justice to follow its course."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

 

"[It appears Canada's allegations] are primarily politically driven."

"No specific information has been shared by Canada on this case. We are willing to look at any specific information; we have conveyed this to the Canadians."

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 9  Evan Vucci—POOL/AFP/Getty Images

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's accusation on Monday that the Indian government had a role in orchestrating an assassination of a Canadian Sikh embroiled in Khalistani agitation against India did not go down well in India. As a prime minister with a personal background in administrative malfeasance, lapse of ethical conduct, theatrical and embarrassing behaviour on the world stage, while at home pushing a woke agenda on mostly unwilling Canadians whom he refers to as 'racist' and 'homophobic' for their protests, and having alienated one end of the country from the other by his environmental politics, it is hard for many to take his accusations seriously.

 

In June of this year a Surrey, B.C. resident with citizenship in Canada, Hardeep Singh Nijjar -- described variously as a "Sikh community leader" and a "peaceful advocate for Sikh independence" as president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey -- was gunned down in the parking lot of the gurdwara by two masked thugs who fled the scene and whose identities remain unknown. In India, on the other hand, the man had a notorious reputation as a terrorist: a "terrorist fugitive from India who emigrated to Canada".

 

On his disastrously embarrassing 2018 trip to India, Justin Trudeau had been handed a list of "Khalistani operatives in Canada" by Amarinder Singh, at the time chief minister of Punjab province. Nijjar's name was on that list. Canada has a reputation of harbouring Sikh separatists. Khalistanis, as they are called, are known to be extremists and have been involved in violent incidents in the past, not the least of which was their bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people -- most of whom were Canadian-Indian Hindus -- in mid-flight over Ireland in 1985.

 

A banner with the image of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia (REUTERS)

Little wonder that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is convinced that Canada has done nothing to prevent the threat of violence against its diplomats assigned to Canada on the evidence, blatant and ignored. There are more incidents of agitation for a Punjab Khalistani homeland out of Canadian Sikh separatists than there is among Punjab majority-Sikh residents where it is now considered a non-issue. The provocations and threats emanate from among Canadian Sikh separatists who stage loud protests in Vancouver and Toronto with placards openly threatening Indian diplomats.

One parade float in Brampton Ontario glorified the 1984 assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her trusted Sikh bodyguards. And then there was the issue of an unofficial Khalistani secessionist referendum held in the Toronto area a year ago, a referendum that Hardeep Singh Nijjar was deeply involved with. Billboards in Surrey in the aftermath of Nijjar's killing were emblazoned with "assassination wanted", listing names and photographs of Indian diplomats. 

Little wonder the government of India is convinced that Canada is wholly indifferent to the safety and security of its large expatriate Indian community, both Hindu and Sikh, living in Canada, almost two million in combined numbers, much less the large number of Indian students who come to Canada for their post-secondary education in a fellow democracy.

Supporters of the Khalistan movement, a push for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India, protest outside the Consulate General of India in Vancouver on Sept. 8. (Ben Nelms/CBC)