Amit Shah ordered 'campaign of violence' against Sikh separatists: Canada

A Canadian official has alleged that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told parliament members of the national security committee on Tuesday that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which first reported the allegations.

“The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee.

Morrison did not say how Canada knew of Shah's alleged involvement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.

Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. The United States Justice Department announced criminal charges in mid-October against an Indian government employee in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

In the case announced by the Justice Department, Vikash Yadav, who authorities say directed the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors have previously said was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada.

A criminal network

Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau's national security adviser, told the committee on Tuesday that Canada has evidence the Indian government first gathered information on Indian nationals and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.

She said the information was then passed to the government in New Delhi, which allegedly works with a criminal network affiliated with Lawrence Bishnoi.

Bishnoi is currently in prison in India, but Drouin said his vast criminal network has been linked to homicides, assassination plots, coercion and other violent crimes in Canada.

Before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public with allegations that Indian diplomats were persons of interest in criminal investigations, Drouin said there was an effort to work with the Indian government to ensure accountability.

Drouin said a meeting was held with Modi’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, in Singapore two days earlier.

She said the decision was made to go public when it became evident the Indian government would not cooperate with Canada on proposed accountability measures.

That included asking India to waive diplomatic immunity for the persons of interest, including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Drouin said this was not seen a s likely.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it took the extraordinary step of talking publicly about ongoing investigations because of threats to public safety.

The Indian government denies the allegations and has expelled six Canadian diplomats in return.

Who is Amit Shah?

Amit Shah, accused by Canada of being behind plots to target Sikh separatists in that country, has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest aide for decades and is widely seen as his hard-nosed alter ego and potential successor.

Many political analysts consider Shah, 60, the most powerful politician in India after Modi and the two, both Hindu nationalists, have been working together in national or provincial governments for more than two decades, starting with their native Gujarat state. Shah is widely seen likely to take over if Modi leaves office.

When Modi attended his first press conference in India as prime minister in 2019, he made a brief statement but took no questions, pointing to then-ruling party president Shah sitting by him. "I am a disciplined soldier (of the party), the president is everything to me," Modi said, referring to Shah.

Shah, renowned for campaign strategy, has led Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to election victories across the country, propelling the party to political dominance from near-obscurity.

In 2019, Modi named him as the head of the all-powerful interior or home affairs ministry.

"As a vigilant and alert administrator, Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah considers weak and lumpy security to be a major obstacle in the development of society, country and state," Shah's website says.

It says he was falsely implicated in 2010 in the extra-judicial killing of a "dreaded terrorist" when he was the state home minister in Gujarat, following which he resigned and spent three months in jail. A court acquitted him in 2014.

Born in Mumbai, he has been an elected politician for more than 25 years. The son of a prosperous family in Gujarat, Shah left school around the age of 18, according to a declaration signed in the 2019 general election.

Since then, aside from a short spell selling plastic tubing, he said in a 2016 interview,

Shah has spent almost his entire adult life working for the BJP and its affiliated groups and has gained a reputation as a Hindu hardliner with uncompromising views.

A person who has known both Modi and Shah for decades said both believed in fighting for Hindu causes not just as "thought leaders, but as action leaders" and they are "fearless about it".