Canada Sikh, Muslim groups demand India cooperate with Nijjar murder probe

World Sikh and other organisations have called for action after the recent allegations involving the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

"This is an unprecedented attack against Canadian sovereignty," Stephen Brown, head of the National Council of Canadian Muslims [NCCM], said on Tuesday after offering his condolences to the family of Nijjar.

"Unfortunately, the revelations of yesterday were painful, but couldn’t for many in our communities be characterised as shocking," Brown added, referring to the assassination of the Sikh activist during the joint conference with the World Sikh Organization of Canada [WSO].

Brown said many experts warned that it was a matter of time before the Indian government's actions "reach Canadian shores."

He also highlighted that while the incident may shock many Canadians, it is a regular occurrence for many Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and many other minorities in India.

"We are no longer in Gandhi's India. This is no longer the world's largest liberal democracy," he said, adding that this kind of state-sponsored terrorism must be met with the "highest response."

Nijjar, a Sikh leader in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, was shot dead on June 18 in front of a Sikh temple in Surrey.

'Terrorist acts'

Mukhbir Singh, who is part of the board of directors of the WSO, said during the conference that India must honour its international obligations and cooperate with Canada in investigating these matters.

"The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other Sikh activists are terrorist acts that must be condemned by the international community," Singh said.

Singh echoed some of the measures called by WSO in yesterday’s statement, which includes the identification of the individuals who carried out the assassination, the protection of Canadian Sikhs facing threats from Indian agents, a review of all Indian diplomats in Canada and the removal of those involved in human rights abuses, a halt in intelligence sharing with India and a public inquiry to examine India’s interference in Canada.

"For decades, India has targeted Sikhs in Canada with espionage, disinformation and now murder," he alleged.

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged India to take the allegations seriously, a concern that Washington later echoed.

"India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate," Trudeau told reporters.

An activist for the creation of a Sikh state known as Khalistan, Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.

He had denied those charges, according to WSO.

The spat has already thrown cold water on trade talks, which have been paused, and Canada last week called off a major trade mission scheduled for October.

Major shift for India?

A US official said Trudeau was in contact with President Joe Biden's administration about Canada's findings before raising them publicly.

The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trudeau's willingness to speak out about the matter was taken by the White House as an indication of the Canadian leader's certainty about what had been found.

Canada has yet to provide any evidence of Indian involvement, but if true it would mark a major shift for India, whose security and intelligence branches have long been significant players in South Asia, and are suspected in a number of killings in Pakistan.

But arranging the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada, home to nearly two million people of Indian descent, would be unprecedented.

India, though, has accused Canada for years of giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar.

The British government, meanwhile, said on Tuesday there were no plans to reinvestigate the death of a UK-based Sikh activist in the wake of Canada's claim India might have been behind the slaying of Nijjar.

Avtar Singh Khanda, who played a prominent role in protests for an independent Sikh homeland, died in June in the English city of Birmingham after falling ill.

Supporters alleged be might have been poisoned, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said police found nothing suspicious.

The Trudeau government's allegations are awkward for the UK, which is a close ally of Canada in the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance that also includes the US, Australia and New Zealand, and is also seeking a free trade deal with India.

"These are serious allegations. It is right that the Canadian authorities should be looking into them," Blain said, adding it would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation is under way.