India’s high commissioner to Canada has denied involvement in the 2023 killing of a key Sikh separatist leader in Canada, accusing the Canadian government of being “politically motivated” in its charges.
Sanjay Kumar Verma was asked in an interview with Canadian network CTV News on Sunday if he had anything to do with Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s assassination.
“Nothing at all, no evidence presented, politically motivated,” he informed me.
The interview comes only days after Canadian police revealed evidence that Indian government officials were “involved in serious criminal activity in Canada,” including links to “homicides and violent acts.”
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government ordered the expulsion of six Indian diplomats and consular personnel, including India’s High Commissioner Verma, after they were identified as “persons of interest” in the killing of Nijjar.
Nijjar had been a key figure in the Khalistan movement, a Sikh campaign for an independent state in India’s Punjab area that India regards as a danger to national security.
His death caused shockwaves across Canada, and relations between New Delhi and Ottawa reached new lows after the Canadian government said in September of last year that it was looking into whether Indian government operatives were involved.
India has dismissed the allegations, calling them “preposterous imputations” and asking Canada to provide evidence to back up its assertions.
No Evidence Offered by Trudeau
On Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated that it personally handed information to Indian government officials, “urging their cooperation in stemming the violence and requesting our law enforcement agencies work together to address these issues”.
During Sunday’s interview with CTV News, Verma – the Indian high commissioner to Canada – repeatedly said he has not been presented with any evidence from Justin Trudeau.
According to Verma, India is “committed not to do extrajudicial killings on any territory”.
He also stated that he had never led or pressured anyone into obtaining information on pro-Khalistan activists in Canada. “I, as high commissioner of India, have never done anything of that kind,” he said with CTV News.
“Do we want to know what pro-Khalistan elements in Canada are doing? Yes, we do. That is in my national interest. That is my main issue with Canada, which is attempting to devastate Indian territory.
“If the Canadian politicians are so novice that they want me not to know what my enemies are doing here, I’m sorry – then they don’t know what international relations is all about,” said Verma, stressing that the information gathering was “all overt”.
“We read the newspapers, we read their statements,” according to him.
Canada’s Sikh Population
But members of the Sikh community in Canada – the largest Sikh diaspora in the world, numbering around 770,000 people – have said they faced threats for decades. They have accused the Indian government of trying to silence them.
“For 40 years, our community has been working to bring foreign interference from India to light,” Moninder Singh, an associate of Nijjar’s in British Columbia, told Al Jazeera last year.
Sikh advocates in the United States have also faced threats, and last week, the US Department of Justice charged an Indian government official it said was involved in a failed plot to kill a prominent advocate for Sikh separatism in New York.
US authorities filed “murder-for-hire and money laundering charges” against Vikash Yadav for his alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Pannun, a US citizen, is the legal adviser for the group Sikhs for Justice and a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement.
“The defendant [Yadav], an Indian government employee, allegedly conspired with a criminal associate and attempted to assassinate a US citizen on American soil for exercising their First Amendment rights,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
According to Sikhs for Justice, the US indictment demonstrates Washington’s commitment to protecting the lives, liberty, and freedom of expression of US citizens both domestically and internationally.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Yadav was no longer employed by the government.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was fatally shot in June 2023 outside a Sikh temple where he served as president in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia.
Related News:
India Accuses Trudeau of Harboring Pro-Khalistan Criminals in Canada
India Accuses Trudeau of Harboring Pro-Khalistan Criminals in Canada
