Sikh leaders welcome Canada’s expulsion of Indian diplomats, say India’s alleged criminal acts pose safety threat

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Prominent Sikh leaders in Canada say the RCMP announcement Monday that Indian government agents were involved in criminal activities in this country prove what many in the Sikh community believe has been going on for decades.

Some members of the Sikh community welcomed the news of the expulsion from Canada of six Indian diplomats alleged to have been involved in violent criminal activities, including homicides, extortion and coercion, and said they agreed with the RCMP that the Indian government’s alleged interference activities in this country pose a significant threat to public safety.

World Sikh Organization president Danish Singh said the RCMP has confirmed what his group has suspected from the start of the investigation into the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June, 2023.

“The Government of India’s ongoing foreign interference activities in Canada and its history of targeting Sikhs in this country is only now becoming known to the general public but has been the lived experience of Sikhs for the past four decades,” Mr. Singh said in a statement.

“India’s criminal activities in Canada must end. India’s targeting of Sikhs must end. We expect Canada’s elected officials to unite in condemning India’s foreign interference and its efforts to obstruct justice.”

Global Affairs Canada announced that six Indian diplomats had been given notices of expulsion stemming from a campaign by Indian government agents to target Canadian citizens. India instead formally recalled its officials, including High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma.

Sikhs for Justice, an organization advocating for Khalistan independence and a Sikh homeland created from within the territory of India, applauded the expulsions of Mr. Verma and five other diplomats. It said it had been calling for an investigation into Mr. Verma for months, accusing him of running a spy network in Canada and offering logistical support for the assassination of Mr. Nijjar.

Mr. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was active in the Khalistani movement, was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., last year.

“It is reassuring, and the Trudeau government has demonstrated Canada’s unwavering commitment to the rule of law, irrespective of the country involved,” said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the group’s founder.

Mr. Pannun, a prominent Sikh separatist and dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, was the target of a foiled murder plot directed by Indian security services, according to an indictment released by the U.S. Department of Justice. The assassination plan was thwarted in June, 2023.

“Canada cannot take a side-step and let a country like India, with claims to the biggest democracy, use transnational threats and transnational terrorism to suppress the freedom of speech and expression of pro-Khalistan Canadian Sikhs,” said Mr. Pannun.

Despite the RCMP warning of threats to members of the pro-Khalistan movement, Mr. Pannun is undeterred, vowing to continue his campaign for a Khalistan referendum. His group has also pledged US$500,000 for private investigators to track the diplomats when they return to India.

Activists with the Khalistan movement are pushing for a referendum on a sovereign Sikh state. The Indian government views the movement as a security threat, with officials accusing the Canadian government of tolerating extremist Sikh groups that jeopardize Indian unity.

Gurmeet Singh Toor, a Sikh activist in Canada, was formally warned by police last year after the killing of Mr. Nijjar that his life was also in danger. He said police came to his door in August, 2023, and told him they had information that he was under threat. Mr. Toor said he chose not to hide but to continue his activities and said he still regularly receives threats trying to silence him, including in the last several days.

The RCMP said Monday that it had discovered well over a dozen credible and imminent threats to life that had led officers to deliver warnings to members of the pro-Khalistan movement.

“This is a good step,” Mr. Toor said of the RCMP’s announcement. “We feel a relief, but we also need to prosecute.”

He added that he fears that once the Indian diplomats have left the country, the opportunity for Canadian justice officials to get answers will slip away.

BC NDP Leader David Eby called the RCMP’s allegations “shocking.”

“This is not just foreign interference; these are allegations of direct involvement by the Indian government in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence in Canada – and it has no place in our province or our country,” Mr. Eby said in a statement.

In its press briefing, the RCMP identified what it described as four serious issues: violent extremism targeting both countries; links tying agents of the Government of India to homicides and violence; interference in democratic processes; and the use of organized crime to create a perception of an unsafe environment for the South Asian community in Canada.

Police forces in at least six cities from B.C.’s Lower Mainland to Alberta and Ontario have reported dozens of extortion cases targeting people of Indian origin in the last year. The RCMP said Monday it has found evidence that individuals and businesses have been threatened and coerced into collecting information for the Government of India, which has been used to target “members of the South Asian community.”

Manjit Parmar, an adviser to the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council, said Monday’s announcement is another step in an investigation that will be watched carefully in the Sikh community, but that still needs to run its course.

“As Canadians, we have certain rights and certain laws in this country and everybody who is here needs to adhere to them, whether they are Canadian citizens or Indian citizens or Indian diplomats,” Mr. Parmar said.