Canadian: government said that the plans to kill Sikh separatists in Canada were orchestrated by Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian government has denied any involvement and has called Canada’s previous allegations baseless.
First reported by the Washington Post, Canadian officials alleged that Shah was responsible for a campaign of violence and intimidation against Sikh separatists in Canada.
Tuesday, David Morrison, the deputy minister of Canadian foreign affairs, told a parliamentary panel that he told a US newspaper that Shah was behind the plots.
The journalist contacted me by phone to inquire whether it was Shah. Morrison told the committee, “I confirmed it was that person,” without providing any additional information or evidence. The Indian foreign ministry and the Indian high commission in Ottawa did not immediately respond.
India has referred to Sikh separatists as “terrorists” and security threats. Sikh separatists request an autonomous country known as Khalistan to be cut out of India. During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Indians were killed by an insurgency.
During that time, there were anti-Sikh riots in 1984, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people after the Sikh bodyguards of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi killed her after she ordered security forces to storm the most sacred Sikh temple to flush out Sikh separatists.
Indian diplomats were expelled from Canada in the middle of October for being linked to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023. Canadian diplomats were also expelled by India.
The alleged targeting of Sikh separatists by India on foreign soil is not limited to the Canadian case.
Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer, has been charged by Washington with directing a foiled attempt to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and a critic of India in New York City.
