A protest in front of the Indian Consulate in Vancouver Monday drew dozens of demonstrators who condemned the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was gunned down inside a vehicle in the parking lot of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on June 19.
@BCSikhs/Twitter | Sukhwant Dhillon/AM 600 Sher-E-Punjab Radio
Organizers say approximately 100 people gathered outside the consulate to urge the Canadian government to do more in response to the killing on Canadian soil.
The Sikh Press Association/Submitted
There were no arrests or violent incidents at the protest, but footage from the scene showed Indian flags being burned.
The Sikh Press Association/Submitted
The Sikh Press Association/Submitted
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this month that agents of the Indian government have been linked to the killing. As a consequence, Trudeau’s government expelled a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
The demonstrators are calling on Canada to do more, including expelling an additional Indian diplomat, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and asking Canada to end its intelligence-sharing agreement with India.
Jasveer Singh, press officer for The Sikh Press Association, told Daily Hive that Nijjar’s assasination is viewed as the peak of a decades-long issue of India targeting Canadian Sikhs.
“Sikh lives are at stake in this situation,” Singh said. “For a community that has contributed so much to Canada, it is only right that authorities in this country now work to prevent this much celebrated community from continuing to be villainized and attacked on Canadian shores by a foreign nation.”
The demonstration closed Howe Street between West Cordova and West Hastings Street, and officers with the Vancouver Police Department were on scene monitoring the protest.