A demonstration in Toronto calling for an independent Sikh enclave in India. Canadian Sikhs have been threatened or extorted by what the Canadian authorities are describing as an Indian government-run criminal network in Canada aimed at the Sikh separatist community. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
ON a warm July night two years ago, Moninder Singh received a chilling visit from federal agents at his home in British Columbia.
They issued a dire warning: there was an imminent threat to his life. “Avoid public spaces,” they advised, and urged him to secure his home.
The first person he contacted – a fellow Sikh activist campaigning for an independent homeland – had just received the same ominous message.
A year later, his friend, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was dead.
Nijjar was shot in June 2023 by masked assailants outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, where he was a community leader. The Canadian government swiftly placed blame on India, igniting a severe diplomatic conflict.
Now, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal law enforcement have presented an even more alarming picture: Nijjar’s assassination, they say, was part of a targeted campaign by India against Sikh activists on Canadian soil, a campaign that includes harassment, extortion and intimidation – an escalation that has sparked a wave of fear among Sikh communities.
Canadian authorities claim India orchestrated this campaign through diplomats stationed in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. They allege India’s ambassador and other embassy staff coordinated operations targeting Canadian Sikhs.
Trudeau’s government, however, has refrained from releasing specific evidence due to ongoing investigations, although recent court records and police reports reveal an increase in violent incidents affecting Canada’s Sikh community.
Over a dozen cases of alleged extortion and arson involving Sikh-owned businesses outside Toronto have been documented since Nijjar’s killing.
According to court records and law enforcement officials involved in the investigations, the surge in violence coincided with Trudeau’s accusations against India in September 2023.
Citing public safety concerns, Trudeau and federal authorities have opted to issue broad warnings about these alleged threats, although they have yet to confirm any direct links to India.
Canada expelled India’s ambassador, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five other diplomats in October 2023, in response to what it called “state-sponsored violence”.
India, in turn, condemned the allegations and retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats.
The situation has disturbing parallels in the United States. After Nijjar’s death, the FBI charged an Indian official with plotting to assassinate another Sikh activist in New York.
India has historically attempted to suppress Sikh secessionist efforts within its borders, although support for Khalistan – the proposed Sikh homeland – persists, primarily among diaspora communities.
Canada, with its sizeable Sikh population of around 800,000 concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario, remains a focal point for Khalistan advocates.
While only a minority of Canadian Sikhs support the movement, those involved report facing an escalating level of violence.
Moninder, devastated by Nijjar’s killing, received further warnings from Canadian authorities about “imminent threats”. Three other Sikh activists from their temple had also received similar warnings.
For Moninder, the source of the threat was clear.
“I felt this was India trying to silence us,” he said. “To either eliminate us physically or scare us into stepping away from the movement.”
India, meanwhile, has dismissed Canada’s accusations as “preposterous”, with Indian officials accusing Trudeau of pandering to Sikh voters for political gain.
The Indian government has long held that Canada has failed to curb what it considers Sikh extremism on its soil.
Sikh nationalists were implicated in Canada’s deadliest terrorist act, the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight from Montreal that killed 329 passengers.
Although the suspects were acquitted, the tragedy fuelled longstanding tensions between the two countries.
Court records paint a harrowing picture of violence targeting Sikh communities in and around Brampton, Ontario, where a large Sikh diaspora resides.
Among the cases documented is the attack on a Sikh-owned car dealership where tyres on multiple vehicles were punctured with bullets. The perpetrator later demanded large sums of money, threatening harm if they were not paid.
The owner, Jiwan Sidhu, a recent immigrant and Canadian citizen with no ties to the Khalistan movement, found 32 bullets littered around the dealership’s parking lot one morning, along with 12 damaged vehicles.
Law enforcement reports describe groups of perpetrators orchestrating attacks in Sikh-majority areas.
Last year, a regional police department established a task force to tackle extortion and violent crime targeting Sikh-owned businesses.
Many victims believe that this spate of violence is meant to intimidate their community, instilling fear through threats and aggression.
Ruby Sahota, a Member of Parliament for Brampton, has received numerous reports of intimidation from Sikh constituents.
“People were being victimised in this manner,” Sahota said. “The sense of insecurity was overwhelming and people felt that they had nowhere to go.”
She added that the campaign of intimidation was particularly unsettling because perpetrators often recorded their crimes, circulating the videos online to amplify fear.
The accusations against India have strained relations with one of Canada’s key trading partners.
Vincent Rigby, a former national security adviser to Trudeau, notes that the seeds of the rift go back to the Air India bombing.
The pro-Khalistan movement, meanwhile, continues to organise referendums and protests, as well as distribute information supporting an independent Sikh homeland. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
