Punjab's Sikhs fear Canada-India row threatens them at home, abroad

Himmat Singh Nijjar, 79, uncle of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, sits inside his house after an interview with Reuters at village Bharsingpura, in Jalandhar district of the northern state of Punjab, India, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

BHARSINGHPURA, India (Reuters) - A bitter row between India and Canada over the murder of a Sikh separatist is being felt in Punjab, where some Sikhs fear both a backlash from India's Hindu-nationalist government and a threat to their prospects for a better life in North America.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a plumber who left the north Indian state a quarter-century ago and became a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in June outside a temple in a Vancouver suburb where he was a separatist leader among the many Sikhs living there.