Trudeau said last week Canada was pursuing “credible allegations” that Indian government agents may be linked to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a high Sikh population.
India swiftly denied any role in the killing and described the allegations as “absurd”. The accusations have sparked tensions between the two countries, with each nation expelling diplomats, and New Delhi suspending visas for Canadians.
Jatinder Singh Grewal, a director for Sikh for Justice in Canada, told Reuters on Sunday that his organisation will lead the demonstrations outside the Indian embassies and consulates in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver to increase public awareness about Nijjar’s killing.
Grewal declared, “We are requesting Canada to expel the Indian ambassador.
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The embassy representation of India in Ottawa and Toronto was not immediately available for comment.
The Toronto Police Department said that it was aware of the Monday protests that were scheduled to take place, but it would not go into specifics about the security measures that would be taken or how they may handle any potentially violent circumstances that might emerge.
A quarter-century ago, Nijjar, a plumber, emigrated to Canada from the north Indian state of Punjab. He has backed the idea of creating Khalistan, an independent Sikh country, out of Punjab. Nijjar was labeled a “terrorist” by India in July 2020.
The inquiry into the killing of the leader of the Sikh separatist movement has lasted months, and the Canadian government has gathered both human and signals intelligence.
According to the paper, the intelligence included conversations from Indian officials who were present in Canada. It also stated that some of the material came from an unnamed Five Eyes alliance ally.
The largest Sikh population outside of their home state of Punjab, Canada is home to roughly 770,000 Sikhs, and India has taken offense at several of the country’s protests.
Only 2% of India’s 1.4 billion people are Sikhs, yet they dominate Punjab, a state of 30 million people where their faith originated 500 years ago.
