Activist who took over Khalistan campaign from Hardeep Singh Nijjar warned life at risk

globalnews.ca:

The activist who took over a referendum campaign for Khalistan independence from slain Sikh temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar said police have warned him his life is in danger.

Inderjeet Singh Gosal said the Ontario Provincial Police visited his Brampton, Ont., home after midnight on Friday to notify him he was the subject of a “duty to warn” notice.

Since he was not at home at the time, an officer later phoned to tell him he was at risk, and that he should be vigilant and report anything suspicious, Gosal told Global News on Tuesday.

“I was a little shocked,” he said.

The 35-year-old is the coordinator of a Canada-wide referendum on independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab state. He assumed the role after Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, B.C., last year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly linked the June 18, 2023, murder to agents of the government of India, which opposes the Khalistan separatist campaign and had branded Nijjar a terrorist.

Gosal said he believed the Indian government was behind the threat to his life, which he attributed to his role organizing voting events that ask whether Khalistan should gain independence from India.

“I am coordinating all the referendums in Canada, taking the role after Mr. Nijjar,” Gossal said. “I was thinking I was safe here, in a beautiful country like Canada, but clearly India is not letting up.”

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been accused of engaging in transnational repression and assassination plots that aim to silence pro-Khalistan voices. Police believe Indian agents have been contracting the killings to organized crime.

The New York-based organizer of the referendum, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, of the group Sikhs For Justice,