India’s envoy to Canada rejects involvement in Sikh activist’s killing

Montreal, Canada – India’s high commissioner to Canada has rejected allegations of involvement in the 2023 killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in the country, slamming the Canadian government as being “politically motivated” in its accusations.

In an interview with Canadian network CTV News on Sunday, Sanjay Kumar Verma was asked whether he had anything to do with the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

“Nothing at all, no evidence presented, politically motivated,” he replied.

The interview comes just days after Canadian police said they had uncovered evidence that Indian government agents were involved “in serious criminal activity in Canada”, including links “to homicides and violent acts”.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government announced on Monday that it was expelling six Indian diplomats and consular officials – including Verma – after they were identified as “persons of interest” in the killing of Nijjar.

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.

He had been a leading advocate in what is known as the Khalistan movement, a Sikh campaign for a sovereign state in India’s Punjab region, which India views as a threat to its national security.

His killing sent shock waves across Canada and ties between New Delhi and Ottawa hit new lows after the Canadian government said in September of last year that it was investigating whether Indian government agents were involved.

India has rejected the allegations, describing them as “preposterous imputations” and calling on Canada to show evidence to back up its claims.

On Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it directly presented evidence 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.

Verma said India is “committed not to do extrajudicial killings on any territory”.

He also said he had never directed or coerced individuals into gathering information on pro-Khalistan activists in Canada. “I, as high commissioner of India, have never done anything of that kind,” he told CTV News.

“Do we want to know what pro-Khalistani elements in Canada are doing? Yes, we do. That’s my national interest. That’s my whole concern with Canada, which is trying to tear up 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,” he added.

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.

Sikhs for Justice said the US indictment demonstrated Washington’s “commitment … to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the US Citizen at home and abroad”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Yadav was no longer employed by the government.