16 October 2024, New York City, Michael Shoe – For those who don’t know, India has begun attacking Sikh’s outside of India. In Canada, the Canadian Government has established such state sponsored have occurred. This has led to the expulsion of Indian officials from the shores of Canada.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) welcomes Canada’s declaration of India’s foreign interference activities as a “significant threat to public safety” in Canada.  

In a press conference held today, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme confirmed that Indian diplomats have been linked to extortions, murders and other criminal activity in Canada and the Government of India’s activities pose a serious threat to public safety.  Indian diplomats have been involved in intelligence gathering against Sikhs in Canada which was later used to target these individuals.  The RCMP confirmed that at least 12 Sikh activists and leaders have received duties to warn from law enforcement due to ongoing assassination plots in Canada orchestrated by India. 

Canada has also declared that several Indian diplomats, including India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, are “persons of interest” in ongoing criminal investigations. 

Public Safety Canada has confirmed in an email,

“The covert and illicit activities conducted by some agents of the government of India are in direct contravention of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Canada’s criminal code, and our societal values. 

This is why, in addition to law enforcement action being taken, that the Government of Canada has also taken diplomatic action by declaring some agents of the government of India here in our country persona non grata and ordering their and their family members’ removal from Canada.”

In response, India’s ministry of external affairs has announced that it is withdrawing Verma along with ‘other targeted diplomats and officials’ from Canada.   

India’s Ministry of External Affairs also summoned Canada’s Charge d’Affaires, Stewart Wheeler.  After the meeting, Wheeler told media “Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.  Now it’s time for India to live up to what it said it would do and look into all those allegations.”

Last week, when testifying before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said there continues to be a threat of more assassinations of Sikh in Canada by the Government of India.   She also said that there is currently “no cooperation” from the Government of India with Canadian law enforcement agencies. 

WSO President Danish Singh said today,

“The RCMP have confirmed today that India is involved in serious criminal activity in Canada, including murders and extortions.  We welcome Canada’s naming of Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other Indian diplomats in Canada as persons of interest in ongoing criminal investigations.  Sikhs in Canada have said from the outset that the trail from Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder leads directly to India’s consulates and the Indian High Commission in Ottawa.  India’s announcement that they are withdrawing these diplomats from Canada seems less like a diplomatic maneuver and more like an effort to shield accused individuals from facing justice.

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.  The RCMP has confirmed today that India’s activities pose a threat to public safety in Canada. This is unacceptable and must be condemned by Canada’s allies. 

The WSO and the Sikh community in Canada demand the full prosecution of all individuals involved in Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder, including the Indian diplomats implicated in this case. 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.

Sikhs will not be daunted or intimidated by the criminal activities of the Government of India. Sikhs will continue to fearlessly advocate for Khalistan and against Indian human rights abuses, as they have the right to do.”

The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of Canadian Sikhs, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights of all individuals.