KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
05-Apr-2023
The president of Friends of Canada and India Foundation in Surrey, Canada, Maninder Gill complained that he was continuously getting death threats from Khalistani radicals after he organised a reception last month in honour of India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa. He wrote a letter to the interim Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), stating that he is being warned that he could face a similar fate as Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was shot dead in Surrey. Gill, who is also a media person, was the principal organiser of the event at a convention centre in Surrey on March 19. However, due to the presence of nearly 200 protesters, some of whom were wielding swords, in front of the venue, the High Commissioner was forced to cancel his attendance.
04-Apr-2023
A Hindu temple named BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Windsor town in Ontario, Canada, was vandalized and desecrated with spray-painted anti-India and anti-Modi graffiti on April 4 night.
02-Apr-2023
A senior Indian official has stated that India has raised the issue of multiple instances of defacement targeting statues of Mahatma Gandhi with the Canadian government. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa conveyed their apprehension to Global Affairs Canada, the Foreign Ministry of Canada.
31-Mar-2023
As per reports, a meeting that took place near Toronto during the summer of 2022 is indicating a growing connection between Pakistan, fugitive Amritpal Singh’s outfit Waris Punjab De (WPD), and prominent Khalistani figures based in Canada. In May 2022, Pakistan's Consul General in Toronto held a meeting with a group that included Daljit Singh Kalsi, who is believed to be associated with Amritpal Singh and is currently being held under the National Security Act after being apprehended in Gurugram.
30-Mar-2023
During an interview on March 30, Herb Dhaliwal, Canada's first cabinet minister of Indian origin, stated that the majority of Sikhs in Canada do not support the idea of Khalistan. When asked about the recent attention given to pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh in the Canadian media, Dhaliwal responded that the demand for Khalistan comes from a small and insignificant group with their own agenda. He further commented that instead of Khalistan, there is a significant demand for those responsible for the 1984 riots to be held accountable. Dhaliwal said he had raised this issue with former Prime Ministers IK Gujral, Manmohan Singh, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and emphasized that the wounds from the riots still haven't healed and people are seeking answers.
24-Mar-2023
An Indian-Canadian TV reporter, Pardeep Bains, reportedly received death threats from Khalistan supporters after some of his guests criticized Amritpal Singh during a television show. Bains claimed that the threats included pictures of his family's home in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab and the location of his studio in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada. Some of the threats were made via WhatsApp calls, with the numbers appearing to originate from Pakistan and Malaysia. In February 2023, Bains also received a threatening letter which he claimed was from the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).
23-Mar-2023
In response to a question from Indo-Canadian MP Iqwinder S Gaheer in the House of Commons on March 23, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, stated that “We are aware of the evolving situation in Punjab and we are following it very closely. We look forward to a return to a more stable situation. And you can always count on the Government of Canada to make sure that we will continue to address the concerns of many members of the community.”
23-Mar-2023
Pro-Khalistan supporters on March 23 vandalized a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Hamilton's City Hall in Ontario, Canada. They defaced the statue with paint and anti-India graffiti, including derogatory remarks about Gandhi and an assault on Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. Additionally, they attached a Khalistan flag to the statue's walking stick.
21-Mar-2023
An Indian-origin journalist, Sameer Kaushal on March 21 posted a video on Twitter in which he alleged that he had been harassed and physically assaulted by a group of pro-Khalistani protesters while he was reporting on the Indian High Commissioner's visit in Surrey, Canada. In his tweet, Kaushal wrote, “I was in #SurreyBC to cover the @HCI_Ottawa Indian High Commissioner’s visit, where a pro-Khalistani group treated the Canadian media like this. Ask your Punjabi-speaking friends or colleagues what derogatory and embarrassing words they are using here.” He also claimed that instead of intervening to stop the offenders, the Surrey RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) repeatedly asked him to leave the area for his own safety, as they were unable to offer him the same level of protection as a taxpayer.
19-Mar-2023
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, received backlash on Twitter for expressing concern about the Punjab police's extensive crackdown in the state and subsequent suspension of the internet to arrest Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh. Singh appealed to Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau to intervene in the situation through his tweets. However, some social media users criticized him for openly supporting a terrorist.
19-Mar-2023
The Indian High Commissioner in Canada was forced to postpone an event in British Columbia when Khalistan supporters who protested Punjab police’s crackdown against Amritpal Singh blocked the venue's entrance on March 19. India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma was scheduled to attend a reception organised by the Friends of India & Canada Foundation in Surrey, British Columbia. Prior to the scheduled start time, around 200 protesters, some carrying swords, gathered in front of the Taj Park Convention Centre, preventing the event from proceeding. In response, Maninder Gill, the Foundation's president, expressed his disappointment, stating that "it is a shame if even the High Commissioner cannot be safeguarded in this country."
20-Feb-2023
Khalistan supporters on February 20 gathered outside the consulate in Vancouver, Canada, and raised Khalistan flags, demanding the release of Sikhs imprisoned in India.
15-Feb-2023
Canadian ministers criticized the vandalism of Shri Ram Mandir in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Mississauga that happened on February 14. This was the fourth such incident in eight months duration where pro-Khalistan graffiti was spray-painted the walls of the temple. Meanwhile, Canada’s defence minister Anita Anand on February 15 tweeted on this incident that, “Freedom of religion is a fundamental tenet of our democracy.” Earlier in the day, foreign minister Melanie Joly had also condemned the episode.
14-Feb-2023
The Consulate General of India at Toronto condemned the defacing of Ram Mandir (Temple) in Mississauga, Canada and requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action on perpetrators. Earlier, the Ram Mandir in Mississauga was vandalised and defaced with anti-India graffiti by unknown persons. Also, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a banned terrorist organisation with US bases, has taken responsibility for the attack.
06-Feb-2023
According to reports, three of the four-member Dhadhi Jatha (Ballad singers) have disappeared in Canada. They were in Canada on a six-month sponsored tour to perform Baisakhi performances at Gurudwaras. The group's leader and a well-known vocalist, Jaswinder Singh Shant stated that they might use fraudulent means to apply for asylum in Canada. Notably, photographs of the missing persons with Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) President and MP Siranjit Singh Mann have surfaced on social media.
31-Jan-2023
The Indian Embassy in Canada has conveyed its serious concerns over the defacing of a Hindu Gauri Shankar temple in Brampton, Greater Toronto, by suspected so-called Khalistani separatists and has separately asked the local law enforcement agencies to act against the perpetrators. The Indian concerns were conveyed in the form of note verbale to the Justin Trudeau government on January 31 in Canada.
31-Jan-2023
Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly condemned the defacing of the Hindu temple in Brampton. Melanie, in a tweet, said, “Everyone should be able to practice their faith in peace, free from violence and intimidation.” “I stand with Hindu communities in denouncing the vandalism at Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton,” she said, adding, “We have a collective responsibility to denounce hateful acts”, which have no place in Canada.
30-Jan-2023
A Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the Gauri Shankar Mandir, was desecrated as pro-Khalistan and anti-India graffiti was spray-painted on a wall in the early hours on January 30. According to reports, the vandalisation occurred deep in the night and was discovered by temple authorities on January 30 morning following which they informed the Peel Regional Police (PRP). This is the third such instance of a temple in the Toronto region being desecrated within the past nine months, while similar instances have also been reported from the United States, and more recently, in Australia.
23-Jan-2023
According to reports, scores of Indian students, especially from Punjab, have reportedly died of ‘heart attack’ (read drug overdose) in Canada in recent years, but the Indian High Commission in Canada has little data on such deaths. While there have been media reports of international students dying from drug overdose at an alarming rate in the North American country, they have failed to set the alarm bells ringing both in Canada and at home (India). Parents of the victims too are afraid to come clean about it because of the stigma attached to drug abuse. RTI activist Harmilap Grewal, who had sought the data related to such deaths from the Indian High Commission in Canada for the period 2017-22, said, “There are reports of such deaths of Punjab students in Canada. But these deaths are not reflected in the RTI reply by the Indian High Commission in Canada. Either the high commission is not keeping the data or it is trying to downplay the deaths.”
31-Dec-2022
The Canadian law enforcement on December 30 issued a danger to public safety alert over the alleged involvement of two Indo-Canadians in gang activity and the violence associated with it. Both individuals, identified by the Surrey unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as Karnvir Garcha (24) and Harkirat Jhutty (22) are residents of the town of Surrey in the province of British Columbia (BC). A statement from Surrey RCMP said the warning was being issued due to “a significant threat to the public posed by these individuals through their connection to criminal activity and high levels of violence, police believe that anyone connected to or in proximity to them may be putting themselves at risk”. The police warning comes during the culmination of a year that has witnessed a surge in violent gang activity, particularly in British Columbia, with several incidents involving Indo-Canadians.