KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have escalated diplomatic standoff with India once again after he claimed his government was probing "credible allegations" that New Delhi may have had a prominent role in the killing of a secessionist leader.
During an emergency session of the parliament, Trudeau said his government is "actively pursuing" evidence of a link between India and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and a known Khalistani leader.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," said Trudeau in a statement to the House of Commons.
"The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Trudeau said.
The Canadian PM added that his government had already taken up the matter with India.
"Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week at the G20 I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms," Trudeau said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly informed reporters that Ottawa had expelled the Indian head of intelligence in Canada but gave no further details.
Is Trudeau parroting Khalistan agenda?
Trudeau's statements seemingly parrot the line taken by Khalistani extremists who have been claiming that India was responsible for the killing of Hardeep Nijjar, one of the prominent secessionist faces who operated from Canada.
Last month, Khalistani radicals vandalised the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, located in Surrey, British Columbia and pasted a poster that read, “Canada investigates India’s role in June 18th assassination,” referring to Nijjar.
Notably, the 45-year-old Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief was shot dead on June 18 by two unidentified men in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada.
The Khalistani separatists want balkanisation of the Indian state of Punjab and have been conducting terror operations for years to pressure the government into accepting the demand but to no avail.
Ottawa may have antagonised New Delhi yet again
Canada openly calling out India is not expected to go down well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration. In recent times, New Delhi has distanced itself from Ottawa and specifically Trudeau, after the latter's refusal to act on separatist forces operating from the Canadian territory.
During the recent G20 Summit held in New Delhi, Trudeau was given a cold shoulder by the host nation. It was only during the final day of the summit that PM Modi held a bilateral with Trudeau. Even then, PM Modi conveyed in harsh words that the menace of separatism blooming in the Canadian mainland was hurting the Indian interests.
According to experts, it is rather perplexing that Trudeau has made the claims in front of the parliament when his government has failed to nip the rise of extremism in the country.
Multiple Hindu temples have been vandalised by Khalistani forces since the beginning of the year in Canada. Officers of the Indian High Commission have been openly targeted by the radicals and yet Trudeau's administration has done nothing to win the trust of New Delhi.
A local Congress leader was shot dead at his residence in Punjab’s Moga district on Monday. According to police, some unknown assailants barged into the house of the local leader, identified as Baljinder Singh Balli, and opened fire.
The incident was captured on CCTV installed outside Balli's residence in Dala village.
Balli was the Congress block president in Ajitwal.
Hours later, a Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, Arsh Dalla, took responsibility for the murder in a detailed Facebook post.
In his post, Dalla alleged that Baljinder Singh Balli had ruined his future and forced him into the gangster culture. He also mentioned that the Congress leader was behind his mother's police custody, which motivated him to seek revenge.
Arsh Dalla is a listed terrorist and wanted by the National Investigative Agency (NIA). He has been operating from Canada for the last three to four years and has been involved in many terrorist killings in Punjab.
Baljinder Singh Balli, who was getting his haircut done at his house, got a call from an unknown person who allegedly requested him to sign some documents. Assuming it to be a routine matter, Balli left his house to meet the caller. This is when two bike-borne assailants fired upon Balli before fleeing the scene.
The CCTV shows assailants fleeing the scene immediately after the attack, leaving Singh critically injured. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
Local authorities were alerted to the incident, and the police have launched an investigation.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for the Sikh for Justice (SFJ), stated on Saturday that the killings of Indian soldiers in occupied Kashmir are not due to the acts of terrorism but from the conflict with indigenous Kashmiri freedom fighters.
In a video statement, the SFJ representative said that the freedom fighters were native to Kashmir and possessed the right to freedom, akin to the right of the people in Punjab, including Sikhs who had the right to reclaim their homeland from what they viewed as unlawful Indian occupation.
Pannun issued a stern caution to India, emphasising that if a peaceful resolution was not sought in Punjab, this might escalate into armed conflict.
Furthermore, he highlighted the delicate situation in Kashmir, where the Indian army was accused of instilling fear by pressuring innocent Kashmiris and targeting freedom fighters.
Today, he stated, the conflict was currently limited to Kashmir, but he anticipated that it might extend to Punjab in the future as part of an effort to free Punjab from Indian control.
Just a poster remains of the false ‘enigma’ that Khalistani supporter Amritpal Singh had built in his village near Amritsar before his arrest this April. His ‘radicalisation’ infrastructure stands dismantled and Singh along with his aides is now locked far away in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail.
Surprisingly, residents of Jallupur Khera village now say that Khalistan was a “bogey” created by Singh and no such sentiment is there on the ground. “Khalistan is no issue, I don’t feel so…there is nothing on the ground, some people like Amritpal created it. How can Khalistan be made? This is India and it will remain so,” two village elders, Satpal Singh and Harman Singh, told News18 in Amritpal’s village on Thursday.
The local gurdwara where Singh used to give his sermons, and a structure nearby where he ran a so-called de-addiction centre, lie deserted. Villagers said the police raided that structure to recover arms and claimed that Singh radicalised youths here and gave them arms training, rather than weaning them off drugs.
Not many in the village, however, want to talk about Singh anymore, saying he is a ‘finished force’ and those close to his family admit there is little chance of him stepping out of jail for many years given the strong charges put on him. Singh had absconded in March after the police tried to arrest him and he finally surrendered in Rode village of Punjab after 35 days.
At his family home too, there is a pall of gloom with his parents getting few chances to meet him in jail. Some youths in the village, however, say Singh did a good job on drug eradication and his private militia enforced a drug-use ban in the area. “He was a man who got misguided…there were no thefts in the area when he was here as there was no drug abuse. Now, again, you can find drug addicts everywhere around the village and neighbouring areas,” they said.
People in Jallupur Khera, in fact, say the bigger issue is jobs and unemployment. “There are no jobs here…the children of all of us are abroad in Canada. The Punjab government should work on that as, if jobs come, the youth will not be misguided towards drugs or Khalistani talk,” Satpal and Harnam said. It is, however, safe to say that the Amritpal factor is finished.
Confirming ₹7,80,000 in cash and a Toyota Innova car as “proceeds of terrorism”, the NIA special court, Panchkula, has forfeited the seized property of four aides of Pakistan-based proscribed “listed Khalistani terrorist” Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda.
The NIA special court has now ordered confirmation of the seizures and forfeited the said property under Section 26 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, to the state on the grounds that the same constituted “proceeds of terrorism”.
The court of Rajeev Goyal, special judge under NIA Haryana at Panchkula, on September 8 had allowed an application moved by the NIA for the forfeiture of the property, including ₹7,80,000 in cash and a Toyota Innova car, which was used by the accused for transporting arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics across India.
“The NIA is proceeding with regard to the above property as per provisions of the UAPA and accordingly, while observing that the property in question constitutes ‘proceeds of terrorism’, the orders of seizure are hereby confirmed and the cash amount as well as Toyota Innova car are hereby forfeited to state,” said the court order of September 8, while allowing NIA’s application.
The court order also pointed out that notice was issued to accused persons, but they chose not to file any reply, which means that they have nothing to say concerning the confirmation of the seizure and forfeiture of cash amount and the car.
This is the first time the NIA had proactively sought the properties of terrorists to be ‘forfeited to the state’ under section 26 of UAPA after being attached as proceeds of terrorism.
Forfeiture of properties is a major new tool in NIA’s strategy to dismantle the terrorist ecosystem in the country. The NIA has adopted this strategy to squeeze the financial resources of the terrorist outfits as well as their operatives and associates. The agency has already attached several terrorist-linked properties and the process of their forfeiture is under way in various courts.
Ammunition seized in May 2022
The Haryana Police had on May 5, 2022, seized three IEDs, one pistol with two magazines, 31 rounds of ammunition and ₹1.30 lakh in cash from the four accused, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, Amandeep Singh alias Deepa, Parminder Singh alias Pinder and Bhupinder Singh. They were going to deliver the consignment to Adilabad, Telangana, in the Innova car, in which a specially designed cavity had been created to hide the arms and cash.
A case was registered at police station Madhubhan, Haryana. On May 24, 2022, the NIA took over the investigations in the case.
Investigations by NIA revealed that the four men had received multiple consignments of arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics, which were sent via drones from Pakistan by wanted terrorist Rinda. The supplies were delivered at pre-determined locations near the Indo-Pak border. Further investigations showed that Gopi had earned a lot of money by smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics.
Extensive investigations led to the seizure of the Innova car and ₹7,80,000 by the NIA on March 30, 2023.
Pro-Khalistan outfit, Sikhs For Justice, has threatened to shut down the Indian High Commission in Ottawa claiming alleged disrespect of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau in India. Trudeau was reportedly rebuked by PM Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, who also raised concerns about the free-run to radicals in Canada. SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun released an audio threatening to host another referendum in Surrey, British Columbia on October 29.
Low turnout marked the unofficial Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in the Canadian town of Surrey, forcing the event organiser to call for a revote on October 29, reports Yudhvir Rana.
In a two-minute, 30-second video posted on Monday, outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) legal counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun made a hate speech against Indian leaders and claimed that "lakhs of Sikhs participated in the referendum".
The clip comes in the backdrop of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement at the G20 Summit in New Delhi that the "actions of a few do not represent the entire community or Canada".
A vast majority of local Sikhs in Surrey dubbed the referendum a "sham exercise that doesn't reflect the community's sentiments".
Jaspal Singh Atwal of Surrey said, "The referendum was an abject failure, a listless exercise. Being dedicated to Canadian history's worst mass murderer - Talwinder Singh Parmar, mastermind of the Kanishka bombing of Toronto-Delhi Air India Flight 182 in 1985 that killed 329 people - and to another terrorist, Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed outside the venue gurdwara in the recent past, the event failed to engage the local Sikh population."
More than two months after releasing photos of 45 people who were allegedly involved in the violence at the Indian High Commission in London during a protest on March 19, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has identified 15 of them, and is preparing to send their details to the immigration department to issue Look Out Circular (LOC) against them.
In a related development, the NIA has also identified four Khalistan supporters, who allegedly targeted the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on July 2. Another NIA team is set to visit Canada next month, as part of its investigation into the Khalistani attack on the Indian High Commission there.
While the NIA has identified 15 people, the next challenge would be to persuade the UK government to take steps against them, as there is no law similar to India’s UAPA (under which the NIA had registered an FIR in the case) in the UK that allows for action against protesters.
In April, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had directed the NIA to file a fresh case in connection with the London protests after preliminary investigation pointed to a terror link involving Pakistan’s ISI. The ministry had also directed Delhi Police, which had registered an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, to hand over the probe to the NIA.
In May, an NIA team visited the UK and collected evidence. On return to India, they released five videos of the incident, asking the general public to help identify the suspects who tried to vandalise the High Commission. The agency received more than 500 calls in response, sources said.
A source in the MHA told The Indian Express that the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) also helped the NIA probe team to identify the suspects. “With the help of crowdsourcing of information and other agencies, the NIA has identified 15 attackers and after identifying them, they are in process to issue a LOC against them soon,” an official said.
In the FIR, complainant Kiran Kumar Vasant Bhosale, assistant personnel and welfare officer at the High Commission, mentioned names of three persons – Avtar Singh alias Khanda, Gurcharan Singh and Jasvir Singh. “Khanda died in Birmingham in June and the NIA is in touch with the concerned department to get his death certificate for their case file,” an official said.
During its investigation, the NIA questioned Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and nine of his associates in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail in connection with the UK incident after it was found that they were in touch with Khanda, who instigated the protesters by shouting anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans.
On August 1, raids were conducted at multiple places by the NIA in Punjab and Haryana after identifying some of the attackers. The raids led to seizure of digital data containing information related to the suspects, an NIA official said.
Meanwhile, in connection with the protest at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, an NIA team visited the US last month where they recorded the statements of security personnel along with senior officials of the Indian Consulate. They also collected evidence such as CCTV footage and shattered glass windows. “We are scanning the CCTV footage and trying to identify more attackers. We are also seeking help from the Bureau of Civil Aviation,” said an official.
Secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on Sunday hastily-arranged the Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia.
This development comes the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed India’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada” to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.
The voting took place at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey, the same gurdwara which was headed by SFJ’s principal figure in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was gunned down by unidentified assailants on June 18 in its parking lot.
SFJ has pinned the blame on India for Nijjar’s assassination though the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which is investigating the case, has neither arrested anyone in this connection nor attributed any motive behind the murder.
The venue for the referendum was originally to be held at the Tamanawis Secondary School.
However, a week before its scheduled date, it was cancelled by the Surrey District School Board “due to a violation of our rental agreement.”
The reason cited was that the poster carried images of the school along with a picture of an AK-47 gun as well as a kirpan.
“Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organisers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media,” the release noted.
While India has repeatedly raised the matter with the Canadian government, irked by Ottawa allowing the country’s territory to be used for separatist activity, action is unlikely to be taken in this regard.
Trudeau had said this while addressing media persons in New Delhi, where he was attending the G20 leaders’ summit and met Modi on the margins of the global event for a pull-aside bilateral.
“Diaspora Canadians make up a huge proportion of our country, and they should be able to express themselves and make their choices without interference from any of the many countries that we know are involved in interference challenges,” he said.
With a red alert having been sounded in the state for ensuring a peaceful conduct of the ongoing G-20 Summit in Delhi, the Punjab Police have beefed-up security across the state.
As directed by director general of police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, police teams have also conducted flag marches at all the sensitive areas in all 28 police districts from 9am to 11am simultaneously, followed by, cordon and search operations (CASOs) at all the railway stations and bus stands from 2pm to 7pm.
Special DGP, law and order, Arpit Shukla said that police teams led by gazetted-rank officers conducted flag marches in the sensitive and vulnerable areas of their respective districts. As many as 139 flag marches were conducted covering 228 sensitive/vulnerable areas in all the 228 police districts.
He said that the exercise was aimed at boosting the confidence of the general public, besides preparing police personnel to tackle any untoward situation.
The special DGP said that the CPs/SSPs were also directed to conduct a special cordon and search operation under the supervision of SP-rank officer at and around all the bus stands and railway stations across the state. “We had strictly instructed all the police personnel to deal with every person in a friendly and polite manner while frisking them during the course of this operation,” he added.
He said that around 255 police teams, involving over 1500 police personnel, were deputed across the state to look for suspicious persons at different railway stations and bus stands. Over 3,660 people were checked during the operation conducted at 159 bus stands and 131 railway stations in the state, he said, while adding that police teams have also apprehended some suspicious persons for questioning.