The shocking accusation made this week by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India may be 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 of India. There are approximately 800,000 Sikhs in Canada, or approximately 2% of the population. The United States is home to approximately 500,000 Sikhs. While some Sikhs say there is broad support within the diaspora for an independent Sikh state in the subcontinent called Khalistan, others say no such consensus exists.
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 participated in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, Canadian citizen shot dead outside Guru Nanak Sikh. Gurdwara in Surrey on June 18.
The information is based on Canadian intelligence as well as intelligence from a major ally, according to a Canadian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The information is based in part on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada.
Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader from British Columbia, was designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for his alleged links to the Khalistan Tiger Force, a group campaigning for Khalistan independence in India’s Punjab region. The active insurgency ended decades ago, but Prime Minister 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 issue of Khalistan, or Sikh sovereignty, “is not a fringe concept or idea in the community,” said Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, the nation’s largest organization. defense of Sikhs in this country.
“When you look at Sikh history, it has always been about sovereignty and self-determination,” he said. “Sikh voices calling for an independent state where they could freely practice their faith are growing louder. There is strong support for Khalistan among the diaspora because we have the right to freedom of expression and the right to organize here, whereas that is not the case in India.”
India banned the Khalistan movement. Groups associated with it are listed as terrorist organizations under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and are considered a serious security threat by the government. In the United States and Canada, Khalistani activism is not illegal and is protected by free speech laws.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, has also been listed as a terrorist by the Indian government. The organization was banned by India in 2019.
Pannun was one of the main organizers of the Khalistan referendum, inviting Sikhs around the world to vote on whether Punjab should become an independent nation based on religion. Organizers of the non-binding referendum hope to present the results to the UN General Assembly in about two years.
“Sikh sovereignty means having an independent, autonomous state where you have complete control over state resources,” Pannun said, adding that Sikhs in India are still forced to live according to Hindu laws governing marriage, l inheritance and adoption. Pannun faces sedition and numerous other charges in India and has been criticized for saying that “Indo-Hindus who work against the interests of Canada” should return to India.
Pannun says he has worked closely with Nijjar for many years and calls him “one of Khalistan’s dedicated activists”.
“He knew his life was in danger,” he said. “We spoke 18 hours before his assassination. But he never backed down. »
Not all agree that Khalistani activism is on the rise in the diaspora. Amandeep Sandhu, a journalist based in India and author of “Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines,” believes that this movement remains marginal. Even though 200,000 people have turned out to vote in the referendums held so far, the number is small compared to the 30 million Sikhs living in India and around the world, he said.
Although Sikhs who migrated to North America, Australia and the United Kingdom may carry intergenerational trauma and memories of a “brutal Indian state”, they did not engage in the struggle for Khalistan because “They are busy building their lives,” Sandhu said. .
“Life is hard for migrants,” he said. “How much money and resources do you have for Khalistan, a state that remains undefined?
Neither the Sikh community in India nor the diaspora is monolithic, he said. In India, Sikhs are also among the most patriotic. They make up about 2% of India’s population but form 8% of the national army, and Sikh soldiers are among the most decorated in the country, Sandhu said.
Rajvinder Singh, a shop owner in New Delhi, said he believed “the ideology of Khalistan has no place in the minds of Sikhs.”
“I don’t support Khalistan,” he said. “If some foreigners believe it, what can we do about it? It’s a matter of diplomatic discussions. The two countries should strive to become better trading partners and not fight over these issues.
In the diaspora, it’s hard to tell how many actually support state separatism, said Anneeth Kaur Hundle, an associate professor of anthropology and specialist in Sikh studies at the University of California, Irvine.
Hundle said that aside from the Khalistan issue, much of recent diaspora activism has focused on greater recognition of Sikh suffering linked to the events of 1984, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the army at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest of Sikh shrines, to unearth several key figures in the growing Khalistani militant movement. Months later, after Gandhi’s assassination by his Sikh bodyguards, thousands of Sikhs were killed in northern India as violence spread beyond Amritsar.
“Even if community members disagree on what self-reliance is or looks like, all Sikhs want to engage in the activism of their choice without being attacked or killed for it,” she declared. “Trudeau, with this statement, came to the defense of all diaspora activists. »
Since Monday, relations between India and Canada plunged to their lowest level in years when India stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and asked Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff.
Some say these events are impacting the rest of the Indian diaspora and straining relations with Hindus, who slightly outnumber Sikhs in Canada.
Samir Kalra, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said that “the resurgence of Khalistani extremism in the diaspora has had a significant impact on Indian-Americans of all backgrounds and has led to much fear and insecurity in the country.” within the community.” He cited “a worrying trend” of incidents including vandalism at Hindu temples and statues of Mahatma Gandhi in Canada and the United States.
“Indian men, women and children were bullied and harassed during India Day festivals in both countries, as well as at a Diwali festival in Canada last year” , Kalra said. He said Indian Americans were also harassed outside the Indian consulate in San Francisco, where “Khalistani extremists frequently showed up and attempted to break in and burn down the consulate building.” .
Cynthia Mahmood, a professor of anthropology at Central College of Iowa and an expert on the Khalistani movement, has spoken to activists and written about the concept of violence and nonviolence in Sikhism. She believes this is different from Western ideas.
“In Sikhism, the issue is about the struggle for justice,” she said. “Sometimes you have to resort to violence, and sometimes non-violence, to defend yourself and obtain justice. The Western polarity between war and peace does not quite apply to the Sikh context.”
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AP journalists Piyush Nagpal in New Delhi and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
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