Canadians protest at Indian consulate over murder of Sikh member

Canadian Sikhs gathered outside India’s diplomatic missions on Monday, to stage a protest against the killing of a Sikh separatist advocate Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

The demonstration was staged a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there may be a connection between the Indian government and the murder of the 45-year-old.

Trudeau a week ago stood in parliament to say that domestic intelligence agencies were pursuing credible allegations tying New Delhi’s agents to the shooting of the Canadian citizen.

According to Reuters, about 100 protesters in Toronto burned an Indian flag and struck a cardboard cut-out of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a shoe.

Also, about 200 protesters also gathered outside the Vancouver consulate condemning the murder of their member.

In Ottawa, fewer than 100 people gathered in front of the Indian High Commissioner’s office (embassy) in the capital.

They waved yellow flags marked with the world “Khalistan”, a reference to their support for making India’s Punjab region an independent state for Sikhs, a cause Nijjar campaigned for.

“We are really thankful to Justin Trudeau… We want no stone left unturned to get to the bottom of this cowardly act,” protester Reshma Singh Bolinas said in Ottawa. Canada should put pressure on India to “stop the killing of innocent people in future.”

Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs – the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab – and in recent years there have been many demonstrations that have irked India.

India labelled Trudeau’s allegations “absurd”. It warned travellers last week that there were growing “anti-India activities” in Canada, urging “utmost caution” but did not provide evidence or details of specific incidents.

The allegations have put a spotlight on Canada’s Sikh community. Sikhs make up just 2% of India’s 1.4 billion population, but they are a majority in Punjab, a state of 30 million where their religion was born 500 years ago.

“The Indian government used dirty tactics and compromised the sovereignty of Canada,” said Kuljeet Sing, a protester in Toronto and a member of the group Sikhs for Justice.

Canada’s accusations have sparked tit-for-tat retaliation, leading to each nation expelling diplomats and New Delhi suspending visas for Canadians.

Some of the protesters in both Toronto and Ottawa called for the expulsion of the Indian High Commissioner (ambassador) to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, who earlier said authorities have been informed of the protests and were providing security.

Nijjar, who worked as a plumber, left the north Indian state of Punjab 25 years ago and became a Canadian citizen. He has supported the formation of an independent Sikh homeland. India designated him a “terrorist” in July 2020.

The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation into the Sikh separatist leader, CBC News reported last week, citing unidentified sources.

The United States worked closely with Canada on the intelligence pointing toward the possible involvement of Indian agents in the murder of a Canadian citizen in June, a senior Canadian government source told Reuters.