India-Canada tensions shine light on complexities of Sikh activism in the diaspora
India may have been behind the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia has raised several complex questions about the nature of Sikh activism in the North American diaspora.
Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India. There are about 800,000 Sikhs in Canada — roughly 2% of the population.
The United States is home to about 500,000 Sikhs. While some Sikhs argue there is widespread support in the diaspora for an independent Sikh state in the subcontinent called Khalistan, others say there is no such consensus.
The debate over support for Khalistan and what activism looks like in the Sikh diaspora has intensified after Trudeau’s accusation that India may have had a hand in the assassination of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen shot dead outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on June 18.
That information is based on Canadian intelligence as well intelligence from a major ally, according to a Canadian official who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The information is based in part on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada.
Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, was designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for his alleged links to the Khalistan Tiger Force, a group campaigning for independent Khalistan in the Punjab region of India. The active insurgency ended decades ago, but Prime Minster Narendra Modi's government recently warned that Sikh separatists were trying to stage a comeback and pressed countries like Canada to do more to stop them.
The question of Khalistan or Sikh sovereignty “is not a fringe concept or idea in the community,” said Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member with the World Sikh
