MONTREAL, Canada – India’s High Commissioner to Canada has denied any allegations of involvement in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in the country in 2023, saying the Canadian government’s accusations were “politically motivated.” “There is,” he criticized.
In an interview with Canadian network CTV News on Sunday, Sanjay Kumar Verma was asked if he had anything to do with the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Nothing. No evidence of political motivation has been presented,” he replied.
This interview took place just days after Canadian police announced they had discovered evidence: Indian government officials were involved in “serious criminal activity in Canada,” including involvement in “murder and acts of violence.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government announced on Monday the expulsion of six Indian diplomats and consulate officials, including Verma, who were identified as “persons of interest” in the Niger murder.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot and killed in June 2023 outside a Sikh temple in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia, where he was president.
He was a leading proponent of the movement known as the Khalistan movement, a Sikh movement seeking a sovereign state in India’s Punjab region, which India considers a threat to national security.
His killing sent shockwaves across Canada and sent relations between New Delhi and Ottawa to an all-time low since the Canadian government announced last September that it was investigating whether Indian government officials were involved.
India rejected the claims as a “ridiculous imposition” and called on Canada to provide evidence to support its claims.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Monday presented direct evidence to Indian government officials, asking for their cooperation in “stopping this violence and asking our law enforcement agencies to work together to address these issues.” It was announced that.
In an interview with CTV News on Sunday, Verma, India’s high commissioner to Canada, reiterated that no evidence had been presented.
Verma said India is “committed not to carry out extrajudicial killings in any territory”.
He also said he has never directed or forced individuals to gather information about pro-Khalistan activists in Canada. “As India’s high commissioner, I have never done anything like that,” he told CTV News.
“You want to know what pro-Khalistani elements in Canada are doing? Yes, that’s right. That’s my national interest. That’s my concern about Canada trying to tear apart Indian territory.
“I’m sorry if Canadian politicians are so novice that they don’t want me to know what my enemies are doing here, but they don’t know what international relations are. ” Verma said, stressing that the purpose was to gather information. “Everything is so obvious.”
“We read the newspapers and we read their statements,” he added.
But members of Canada’s Sikh community, the world’s largest Sikh diaspora numbering about 770,000 people, said they have been facing threats for decades. They accused the Indian government of trying to silence them.
“For 40 years, our community has been working to expose foreign interference from India,” Moniedar Singh, an employee of Nijjar, British Columbia, told Al Jazeera last year.
Sikh supporters in the United States have also faced threats, and last week the US Department of Justice indicted Indian government officials for their role in an attempted murder of a prominent Sikh separatist supporter in New York.
US authorities have charged Vikash Yadav with “murder-for-hire and money laundering” for his alleged role in the Gurpatwant Singh Panun assassination plot.
Panun, a US citizen, is a legal advisor to the group Sikhs for Justice and a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement.
“The defendant (Yadav), an Indian government official, allegedly conspired with criminal associates to assassinate Americans on U.S. soil for exercising their First Amendment rights,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. ” he said.
Sikhs for Justice said the U.S. indictment demonstrates the U.S. government’s “commitment to protect the life, liberty, and freedom of expression of Americans at home and abroad.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Yadav is no longer employed by the government.
