Sikh killings: US and Canada turning up the heat on India? | Political news

A year after Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in front of a community shrine near Vancouver, a series of diplomatic and legal moves are intensifying scrutiny of India’s alleged role in suppressing Sikh separatist movements overseas with assassinations both in ​The United States, as well as in Canada.

In Canada, an upcoming hearing on the Nijjar case on June 25 will give prosecutors another chance to present evidence to support their allegations of India’s involvement in the crime.

Meanwhile, Nikhil Gupta, suspected of being involved in a plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US earlier this month.

Here’s more on what Canada and the US are doing and what it means for India:

What is happening in Canada with the Nijjar case?

Four Indian nationals were arrested in May this year following the fatal shooting in Nijjar last June. The four men are Amandeep Singh, 22; Kamalpreet Singh, 22; Karan Brar, 22; and Karanpreet Singh, 28.

Sikh activists marked the first anniversary of Nijjar’s death by holding a mock trial of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the Indian consulate in downtown Vancouver. They carried an effigy of Modi in prison stripes, asserting the Indian government’s role in Nijjar’s death.

Meanwhile, Canada’s parliament last week honored Nijjar on the anniversary of his assassination with a moment of silence — prompting a furtive response from India. Nijjar, 45, was designated a terrorist by the Indian government three years before his death.

Sikhs in Canada continue to hold non-binding referendums on the creation of a separate Sikh nation in India’s Punjab state, with the next vote scheduled for July 28 in Calgary, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The four men accused of involvement in Nijjar’s murder will appear in court on June 25 in Surrey.

How has Nijjar’s case strained relations between India and Canada?

Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada on June 18, 2023. Surrey has a large Sikh population, making up 2% of Canada’s population.

Nijjar has been associated with the Khalistan movement, an ethno-religious movement that emerged among India’s Sikhs, who make up 2 percent of India’s population but nearly 60 percent of the population of the northern state of Punjab.

Khalistan is the proposed name for a Sikh nation envisioned by some Sikhs, incorporating the state of Punjab as well as other Punjabi-speaking areas of northern India.

While the movement died out after a crescendo in India in the 1970s and early 1980s due to repression by Indian forces and Hindu mobs, it has recently seen a revival among Sikhs in the diaspora.

In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada was investigating the possibility that the Indian government was involved in Nijjar’s assassination. India has denied any involvement in Nijjar’s death.

The incident put a strain on the relationship between the two countries, with India withdrawing its diplomats from Canada and briefly suspending visas for Canadians. Trade talks between the nations have been frozen since Trudeau’s bombshell accusations.

Last week at the G7 conference in Italy, Modi and Trudeau shook hands, but it was unclear whether they discussed India’s potential involvement in Nijjar’s death.

Tensions are not likely to ease anytime soon, especially with hearings in the Nijjar case expected to reveal more about Canada’s allegations against India. The Modi government has repeatedly accused Trudeau of pandering to Sikh separatists in search of their votes, ignoring India’s national security concerns.

That criticism resurfaced last week after the Canadian Parliament’s nod to Nijjar. “Again, we have said that Khalistani activities are a serious issue for us. We have repeatedly called on the Canadian government to take action. The political space given to extremist anti-India elements and those who advocate violence must stop and action must be taken,” said India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

India claims Canada has yet to provide it with any clear evidence linking Nijjar’s assassination to Indian agents. New Delhi has hinted that a rivalry between criminal gangs in Canada may have been behind the killing.

What is happening in the USA?

But Canada is not the only country where the overseas actions of Indian security agencies are under scrutiny.

The Czech Republic has extradited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to the US, where prosecutors have accused him of involvement in a botched manslaughter plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Gupta, 53, who was arrested last June by Czech authorities while traveling from India to Prague, arrived in the US on June 14.

As with Nijjar, the Indian government tried to disassociate itself from the plot against Pannun. However, he said he would formally investigate the security concerns raised by Washington.

Last month, Washington said it was so far satisfied with India’s steps to ensure accountability in the alleged plots, while adding that more steps still needed to be taken.

Gupta, who has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York since his arrival in the US, pleaded not guilty on June 17.

What was the case of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun?

On November 29, 2023, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Gupta, accusing him of working for the Indian government to carry out the planned assassination of Pannun, who is an American citizen, in New York.

Federal prosecutors described Gupta as an associate of an employee of an Indian government agency, identified only as “CC-1,” who previously worked with the Central Reserve Police Force, a major paramilitary force of the Indian government, it is shown in the indictment.

The indictment alleged that CC-1 directed the murder plan in India and recruited Gupta around May 2023 to coordinate it.

Gupta, at the direction of CC-1, contacted a person he believed to be a criminal associate who might commit the assassination, the indictment alleges. But the person he contacted was, unknown to Gupta, working confidentially for US law enforcement.

That source, in turn, connected him to a “hit” who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer working for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the indictment said.

Gupta agreed to pay the hitman $100,000 to kill Pannun, paying him a $15,000 cash advance in Manhattan around June 9, 2023, according to the US Department of Justice.

If convicted, Gupta faces up to 20 years in prison.

The DEA, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are investigating the case, according to a June 17 Department of Justice press release.

Do you feel the tremors elsewhere?

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently published an article accusing Indian agents of harassing and threatening members of the Sikh diaspora in Australia and linking these cases to Nijjar’s assassination as well as the alleged US plot targeting Pannun.

The ABC previously reported that Australia had expelled an alleged “nest of spies” from India. The reporting suggests that agents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), the national intelligence agency, met with Sikh activists in Australia about Nijjar’s death.

ABC said YouTube blocked some of them in India ahead of the country’s general election. YouTube said the ban followed a “confidential” order that came under India’s Information Technology Act 2000.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who in May 2023 had celebrated Modi in Australia, comparing his popularity to that of iconic singer Bruce Springsteen – or his government did not comment on the ABC reports.