Sikh leaders in Canada have called on the government to do more to prevent potential threats against their community, after Ottawa announced a probe of possible links between India and the killing of a prominent Sikh leader in the country’s westernmost province.
Speaking to reporters, World Sikh Organization of Canada board member Mukhbir Singh said the revelations may have shocked many Canadians. “But it was not a surprise to the Sikh community,” he added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that Canada was investigating “credible allegations of a potential link” between Indian government agents and the June 18 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
Mukhbir Singh said that India has long targeted Sikhs in Canada with “espionage [and] disinformation”.
He added that his organisation was aware of other current threats against Canadian Sikhs, some of whom have been told to “make changes to their pattern of living” to assure their safety. He did not provide further details on the source of these threats.
Speaking alongside Singh, Stephen Brown, head of NCCM, called the killing of Nijjar “an unprecedented attack against Canadian sovereignty”.
Meanwhile, the Sikh community in Geneva, Switzerland, also protested against the atrocities of the Narendra Modi government in India on Tuesday.
The protest was organized in front of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) headquarters, in which the Modi regime’s aggressive policies against religious minorities were highlighted. The protestors also demanded the release of political prisoners in India.
The protesters chanted anti-Modi slogans and appealed for help from the international community to stop the Indian government’s brutalities against minorities in the country.—KMS
