Sikhs Under Siege: Indian Secret Network Exposed

By Sajjad Shaukat

Instead of decreasing, diplomatic tensions between India and Canada have been increasing over the killing of the leading Canadian Sikh leader of the Khalistan’s movement Hardeep Singh Nijjar on 18 June, this year in a Sikh temple in British Columbia’s Surrey, as several events and incidences of demonstration and protest have erupted by the Khalistan supporters.

On October 2, 2023, Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian High Commission in London, United Kingdom, staging a protest. The demonstration came days after Sikhs blocked a planned visit of Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami.

In this regard, India’s High Commission said on September 30, this year that it has reported a “disgraceful incident” involving a top diplomat being confronted by protesters at a Sikh temple in Glasgow. It came as India’s relations with Sikh communities overseas are under the spotlight owing to India’s arrest and torture of a Sikh blogger from Scotland, and involvement in the murder of a Sikh leader in Canada.

New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in London fabricated a story that Vikram Doraiswami had been invited to the Sikh temple, (gurdwara), in Scotland’s biggest city to discuss community and consular issues.

Scottish Sikh group said that ‘misinformation’ and fake news are being spread regarding ‘peaceful and legal protest’ against Indian diplomat’s visit.

Meanwhile, Financial time on October 3, this year  disclosed: “India has told Canada to withdraw around 40 diplomats from the country…has set a deadline of Oct. 10 for their repatriation and has threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those who remain beyond that date”.

Very tensions accelerated between Canada and India on September 18, 2023 when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in the parliament that Canada was investigating “credible allegations” linking India to the June killing of Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

PM Trudeau elaborated: “He brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20…told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation”.

Trudeau added: “Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of Nijjar.” 

Canada has also kicked out an Indian diplomat whom foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly described as the head of the Indian intelligence agency in the country. She said that Trudeau has raised this issue with both US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In response, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat based in India.

As regards the death of Nijjar, Canadian local police had pointed out that he was gunned down in his truck by two masked individuals.

In a video statement, foremost pro-Khalistan’s separatist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had condemned the assassination of SFJ’s Canada leader and leading Sikh campaigner Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

He had revealed that the “Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), acting under the instructions of Narendra Modi—his close associates Amit Shah and Ajit Doval assassinated Hardeep Singh Nijjar—the incharge of Khalistan Referendum in Canada”.

His death shocked and outraged the Sikh community in Canada—one of the largest outside India and home to more than 770,000 members of the religious minority.

Following Trudeau’s comments, two prominent Sikh community groups in Canada, the British Columbia Gurdwaras Council (BCGC) and Ontario Gurdwaras Committee (OGC), urged the Canadian government to “immediately suspend all intelligence, investigative and prosecutorial cooperation with India.

In this respect, the US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen told Canadian CTV News network that information shared by members [‘Five Eyes’ partners] of an intelligence-sharing alliance was part of what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to make public allegations of the Indian government’s possible involvement in the assassination of a Canadian Sikh.

The United States has urged India to cooperate with Canada on Sikh leader’s killing probe. John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council (NSC), emphasised the importance of a fully transparent and comprehensive investigation to uncover the truth surrounding the incident. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed similar thoughts.

According to the CBC News, “Earlier, PM Trudeau briefed his closest allies UK PM Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Joe Biden about the progress made in the killing of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar”. Nevertheless, these major countries insisted upon an impartial enquiry regarding the tragedy.

It is mentionable that condemning this incident as a “reckless and irresponsible act, the spokesperson of Foreign Office of Pakistan Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated on September 20, 2023 that the news of Indian involvement in an extra-judicial killing in Canada have shown that the country’s secret network of extra-territorial killings have now gone global—“India’s act of assassinating a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil constitutes a blatant violation of international laws and the UN principle of state sovereignty”.

Nonetheless, SFJ Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had remarked in June, this year: “While SFJ has been using ballots for the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation, India has set the cycle of violence into motion by resorting to the use of bullets. While Indian bullets cannot stop the Khalistan Referendum which will balkanize India and liberate Punjab, Modi, Shah and Doval should be prepared for facing the justice under the international law for ordering the killing of pro-Khalistan Sikhs.” He avowed “to avenge Nijjar’s death by bringing down and dismantling Indian system”.

In this context, officials also added that when his body was being moved from the scene by the Canadian police, a group of Sikhs raised pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans.

Reports suggest that Nijjar had been warned by Canada’s spy agency about threats against him.

Nijjar’s death came few days after a close aide of Amritpal Singh Avtar Singh Khanda died in the UK. Khanda was the chief of the UK-based group—Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). He was suffering from blood cancer and took his last breath at the Sandwell Hospital in Birmingham. He played a major role in radicalizing Sikh youth towards the pro-independence movement.

Reports also indicated that Avtar Singh was working in close association with UK based Sikhs, Paramjit Singh Pamma and Nijjar who were spearheading secessionist campaign ‘Referendum 2020’ of organization ‘Sikhs For Justice’.

In this connection, India Today revealed on June 15, 2023: “Avtar Singh Khanda, UK-based chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force and the main handler of Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, has died, sources said—Khanda, who helped Amritpal Singh evade the police for 37 days in between March and April, was suspected of being poisoned—Medical records, though, say that he was suffering from blood cancer.”

It is worth-mentioning that after the brutal operation Blue Star launched by the Indian Army in 1984 at highly sacred Sikh religious place-the Golden Temple complex (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, Punjab where their spiritual leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had taken shelter, international community had thought that perhaps Sikhs had become lethargic in connection with their demand for an independent state in the Indian Punjab, named Khalistan. But, Sikhs organized themselves into an armed power in order to fight the Indian state terrorism. Many Sikhs left India to escape further genocide. Sikhs have spread out all over the world to keep the movement of Khalistan alive. Hence, their struggle is still going on.

Participation of almost 208,000 Sikhs in the Khalistan Referendums held in the recent years in four western countries—UK, Geneva, Italy and Canada to demand the liberation of Indian Punjab show that Sikhs have intensified their movement.

Besides, in Sydney, over 31,000 Sikhs voted for Khalistan Referendum on June 4, 2023 amid stiff resistance from the Indian government and Indian Premier Modi’s personal campaign to stop Sikhs from holding the third phase of referendum in Australia.

In this respect, Pannun stated that the Sydney turnout was a reflection of an extraordinary growing global support for liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation.

It is pertinent to mention that Khalistan Referendum’s voting in Sydney was the third phase of the Australian campaign. The first phase was held in Melbourne in January, this year when over 50,000 Sikhs turned out to cast their votes. The second phase was held in Brisbane in March 2023 where more than 11,000 Sikhs had voted.

Earlier, Sikh activists shouted slogans in support of Khalistan during a protest rally outside the Indian High Commission in London on July 8, 2023. They also held RAW for the death of Khalistani leader Nijjar. Such demonstrations were also conducted in some Western countries.

In the meantime, India’s top investigation agency NIA confiscated the properties of a prominent Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—believed to be based in Canada, was designated as a terrorist by Indian authorities in 2020 and is wanted on charges of terrorism and sedition.

Pannun jumped into the raging row and issued a video telling Canadian Hindus to “go back to India”, claiming they had adopted a “jingoistic approach” by siding with New Delhi—“This is about the Sikh homeland Punjab that is occupied by India and the resources of the indigenous people of Punjab that are being plundered by Delhi.”

Notably, if Nijjar was a threat to India, the RAW should have realized that at least Five Eyes were watching its moves somewhere. New Delhi might have taken a friendly Canada on board before lifting the cat up by its tail. Imagine, if it was a joint operation undertaken jointly by the birds of the same feather, say a NATO operation in Afghanistan, would Trudeau be accusing Modi on the floor of Parliament, in such unequivocal terms—of killing one of his citizens? Would the suave PM of Canada be accusing Modi in no uncertain terms of Nijjar’s killing? Would he be openly referring to the RAW’s Pawan Kumar’s ‘diplomatic’ activities in Ottawa? Trudeau mentioned Nijjar as a Canadian national and not as a leader of the Khalistan movement. What does this distinction signify? Canada is neither interested in the Khalistan movement nor does it officially support the separatist outfit.

One important point needs clarification here. Like several other separatist movements currently taking shape in India, the Khalistan movement is India’s internal matter. To the chagrin of Doval and Jaishankar, India stands exposed. With a general election around the corner and in view of a few recent diplomatic embarrassments, New Delhi could not possibly afford an in-house rift between its Intelligence Agency and the Foreign Office. On the other hand, those who would not believe the authenticity of the dossiers presented by Islamabad or the EU-DisinfoLab or the activities of its several Consulates in Afghanistan or an Indian Naval Commander’s capture on Pakistan’s soil might now start believing that after all, everything was not right with the ‘Shining India’. The question is: how far could the West go in pursuing its China containment policy with India as one of the main actors while the naughty boy is breaking glass windows in the neighbourhood?

In fact, Sikhs in India have long faced discrimination and marginalization, often due to their distinct religious identity. This discrimination manifests in various forms, including limited access to resources, educational and employment opportunities, and political representation. Sikh individuals and communities have been treated as second-class citizens, leading to social and economic disparities.

Sikhs have, also, been the target of numerous violent attacks and hate crimes arson—desecration of Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship), perpetrated by individuals or groups influenced by Hindu supremacist ideologies. These assaults may be driven by religious intolerance, prejudice, or a desire to assert Hindu dominance.

Hindu supremacist attacks on Sikhs have drawn attention and condemnation from the international community, such as the United Nations and human rights bodies, play a significant role in addressing Sikh concerns and advocating for their rights. Reports, resolutions, and mechanisms for monitoring and reporting human rights violations contribute to the recognition and protection of Sikh rights at the global level.

As Sikh community has accelerated their struggle for Khalistan, therefore, notable leaders of Sikh diaspora are on the hit list of Modi regime. The killing of another Sikh leader Sukhdool Singh, popularly known as Sukha Duneke—an active campaigner for Khalistan by unidentified people on September 20, 2023 in Canada verified it.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

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