Threats against Canadian Sikhs receive international media attention amid diplomatic row
Incidents of violence against the Canadian Sikh community amid diplomatic tensions between Canada and India are receiving international media attention.
Most recently, The New York Times published an article titled “Violence and Threats: How a Campaign of Fear has Shaken Canada’s Sikhs.”
The report highlights several key events involving Canadian Sikh activists tied to the campaign for Khalistan, an independence movement seeking a separatist Sikh nation in Punjab, India.
It also reveals several acts of intimidation and threats Sikh Canadians have reportedly faced amid the ongoing diplomatic spat.
Incidents against Sikhs in Canada highlighted
The piece recounts the murder of Sikh Canadian leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot and killed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.
The 45-year-old was a plumber and a prominent member of Surrey’s Sikh community, and an advocate for Khalistan.
Following the shooting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced “agents of the Indian government” were linked to the death of Nijjar, leading to heightened diplomatic strain between Canada and India.
Hardip Singh Nijjar | @BCSikhs/X
Following Trudeau’s accusations, India suspended visa applications from Canada and diplomats were removed from both countries.
The political rift was reignited earlier this month when an RCMP report accused agents of the Indian government of “serious criminal activity” in Canada.
“Over the past few years and more recently, law enforcement agencies in Canada, including the RCMP, have successfully investigated and charged a significant number of individuals for their direct involvement in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence,” reads the RCMP report.
Canada also removed India’s high commissioner and five additional diplomats, and India struck back, expelling six Canadian diplomats.
While the RCMP said it would not release evidence linking individual cases to the Indian government due to ongoing investigations, The New York Times states that “a review of court records and interviews with local police uncovered new details of a surge in such crimes in Sikh communities over the past year.”
It reports the “spike began soon after Mr. Nijjar’s killing” and Trudeau’s accusations against India in September 2023.
In a review of over 100 pages of court documents detailing various incidents targeting Sikh businesses in Brampton, Ontario, over the past year, the publication highlights several cases of “threats and violence committed by perpetrators working in groups.”
These include a car dealership being shot at, a Sikh-owned restaurant being set on fire, and businesses being targeted by extortion calls.
History behind tensions
The Sikh Press Association
The Times provides additional context into the Khalistan movement, noting that its supporters aren’t prominent in India and most live overseas.
Most Sikhs in Canada are “not involved” in the movement, but several who are feel their lives have been “punctuated by violence and intimidation.”
The publication interviewed Monider Singh, a friend of Nijjar’s, who received a warning from Canadian authorities in 2022 that there was an “imminent threat” to his life.
Singh told The New York Times that he felt India was trying to “silence” him and other Sikhs who were outspoken about the Khalistan movement.
The report says India has been adamant that Canadian officials do not have “concrete evidence” supporting accusations against its government.
India also feels that Canada hasn’t been taking enough action against “Sikh extremism” — a stance the country has had for decades, specifically following the 1985 Air India bombing, also known as the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history.
Sikh extremists from Canada were accused of the bombing, and two individuals were acquitted of all charges.
The government of India also released a statement that followed the latest RCMP report.
It said it “strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics.”