- Canada-India tensions over Sikh leader.
- Sikh group protests in Canada.
- Diplomatic rift escalates.
One week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the possibility of New Delhi’s involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, a Canadian Sikh group has called on its members to protest outside the Indian diplomatic missions in major Canadian cities on Monday.
Last week, Trudeau stated that Canada was investigating “credible allegations” that Indian government agents may have played a role in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a high-Sikh suburb of Vancouver.
India promptly denied any involvement in the murder and dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous.” The accusations have heightened tensions between the two nations, resulting in diplomatic expulsions and New Delhi suspending visas for Canadians.
On Sunday, Jatinder Singh Grewal, the director of Sikhs for Justice in Canada, told Reuters that his organization would lead demonstrations outside the Indian embassies and consulates in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver to raise awareness about Nijjar’s murder.
Grewal stated, “We are urging Canada to expel the Indian ambassador.”
The Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa and Toronto were not immediately available for comment.
The Toronto Police Department acknowledged the planned protests for Monday but declined to disclose details regarding security preparations or potential responses to any violent incidents that may arise during the protest.
Nijjar, a plumber, fled the northern Indian state of Punjab and became a Canadian citizen twenty-five years ago.
He supports the creation of Khalistan, a Sikh nation in Punjab. India labeled Nijjar a “terrorist” in July 2020.
In its months-long investigation into the assassination of the Sikh separatist leader, the Canadian government has gathered both human and signals intelligence, as reported by CBC News last week, citing unnamed sources.
The report stated that the intelligence collected included communications of Indian officials present in Canada, with some information provided by an unnamed Five Eyes ally.
Canada is home to approximately 770,000 Sikhs, the largest Sikh population outside of Punjab, and has been the site of numerous protests that have irked India.
Sikhs constitute only 2% of India’s population of 1.4 billion, but they form the majority in Punjab, a 30 million-person state where their religion was founded 500 years ago.
The Sikhs of Punjab are apprehensive that a domestic and international dispute puts them at risk.
Some Sikhs in Punjab fear reprisals from India’s Hindu nationalist government and threats to their prospects for a better life in North America as a result of the dispute between India and Canada.
In the village of Bharsinghpura, there are few memories of Nijjar, but his uncle, Himmat Singh Nijjar, 79, stated that locals “consider it very courageous of Trudeau” to accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of possible involvement in the murder.
“For the sake of one ordinary person, he did not need to take such a massive risk with his government,” the uncle told Reuters while seated on a wooden bench next to a tractor in his rural homestead, surrounded by paddy fields and banana trees.
Nevertheless, the elder Nijjar expressed concerns about deteriorating diplomatic relations with Canada and declining economic prospects in Punjab.
Punjab was India’s breadbasket until the last two decades, when manufacturing, services, and technology states took control.
The elder Nijjar remarked, “These days, every family desires to send their sons and daughters to Canada because farming is no longer profitable here.”
The number of international students from India in Canada increased by 47 percent last year, reaching 320,000.
Gursimran Singh, a 19-year-old undergraduate who aspires to travel to Canada, expressed concerns, saying, “We now worry whether Canada will grant student visas or if the Indian government will create obstacles.”
He spoke at the holiest of Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where many students go to pray for or express gratitude for student visas.
The temple became a source of tension between Hindus and Sikhs in 1984 when then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered its invasion to oust Sikh separatists, angering Sikhs worldwide. Her Sikh bodyguards later assassinated her.
Relations between Sikh groups in Punjab and Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government have been strained since Sikh farmers led year-long protests against farm deregulation in 2020 and blocked the capital, forcing Modi to withdraw the measure in a rare political setback.
Sandeep Singh, 31, from the village of Nijjar, stated that the Modi government has fostered a “climate of fear,” especially among young people.
“Parents are reluctant to let their children participate in protests because they fear their children will suffer the same fate as Nijjar in Canada,” he said.
Kanwar Pal, secretary of political affairs for the radical separatist Dal Khalsa, said, “Anyone who advocates for Khalistan is fighting for the right to self-determination and the right to a referendum in Punjab. India views these Sikhs as adversaries, so it targets them.”
A spokesperson for the BJP declined to comment on the allegations.
Senior BJP leaders assert that there is no groundswell of support for independence in Punjab, and they view such demands as a threat to India. Additionally, the party contends that no one has done more for the Sikhs than Modi.
