Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canada’s House of Commons last week that authorities were pursuing “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside his place of worship.
At least six men and two vehicles were involved in the June 18 murder, which happened in British Columbia outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs.
Sikhs are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to a Dharmic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak.
Nijjar, 45, the president of the gurdwara, was a leader in the Khalistan movement, which aims to establish an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region of India.
His family said he had received death threats. The Khalistan movement is outlawed in India; in July 2022, India’s National Investigation Agency accused him of conspiring to murder a Hindu priest in Punjab and labeled him a “fugitive terrorist.”
Trudeau’s allegations were based in part on information gathered by one of Canada’s partners in the intelligence-sharing Five Eyes alliance, but the government of Narendra Modi has rejected claims that it had any role in his death as “absurd.”
The Khalistan movement is outlawed in India; in July 2022, India’s National Investigation Agency accused him of conspiring to murder a Hindu priest in Punjab and labeled him a “fugitive terrorist.”
But the Indian government of Narendra Modi has rejected claims that it had any role in his death as “absurd.” New Delhi says Trudeau’s comments were intended to draw attention from what it says is the real problem: Canada harboring people that India views as terrorists.
India and Canada have engaged in retaliatory diplomatic expulsions as part of an escalating row over the slaying of the Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil.
Nijjar’s killing was captured by a gurdwara security camera. The video has been shared with investigators.