Close X
Friday, September 20, 2024
ADVT 
National

Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Sep, 2024 02:24 PM
  • Activist sues India in U.S. court over alleged plot that killed B.C. Sikh leader

A Sikh independence activist is suing India for its alleged role in what's described in court documents as two co-ordinated attacks, including one that resulted in the death of a temple leader in British Columbia.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, with the group Sikhs for Justice, says the civil lawsuit in the U.S. district court for southern New York is aimed at holding the Indian government accountable for alleged involvement in the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., last year and a plot on Pannun soon after.

The allegations have not been proven in court, and the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has not responded to a request for comment.

Nijjar was gunned down outside of a Sikh gurdwara where he was president on June 18, 2023, and four Indian nationals have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the killing.

U.S. authorities then announced last November that Indian national Nikhil Gupta was charged after an alleged murder-for-hire plot against Pannun in New York was foiled.

In the latest lawsuit filed by Pannun, the New York-based lawyer says gunmen in B.C. shot Nijjar 34 times "at point blank range before fleeing," and a video of Nijjar's "bloody body" was sent to Gupta "as a message to move forward" with the murder plot against Pannun.

"They were successful in killing Mr. Nijjar," says Matthew Borden, Pannun's lawyer, in a video call. "And the same thing would have happened to Mr. Pannun but for the fact that the person that Mr. Gupta tried to hire was an undercover U.S. agent."

The court documents also says Gupta instructed the undercover agents to "put everyone down" if Pannun was not alone at the time of the planned attack.

Gupta has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Pannun and Nijjar are prominent figures in the overseas Sikh independence movement seeking a separate state within India called Khalistan.

The movement has organized a number of non-binding referendums in overseas Sikh communities, including those in Metro Vancouver, calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland in India.

The Nijjar killing set off a diplomatic row between Canada and India after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament in 2023 that credible intelligence linked the murder to India's government.

India, which considers many involved in the Khalistani movement terrorists, extremists and militant separatists, has denied involvement in the Nijjar and Pannun cases.

India says it has set up a high-level inquiry into the Pannun case after being notified by U.S. authorities.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United States over the weekend for a Leaders' Summit between the U.S., India, Japan and Australia.

Pannun says the goal of a civil lawsuit against India on top the current criminal case against Gupta is meant to send a message from overseas Sikh activist groups.

"This is about rule of law, in which no individual and no government — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government — is above the law," Pannun says. "Holding Modi's government … accountable before the U.S. court will establish the principle of rule of law."

MORE National ARTICLES

Increase for towing fees in September

Increase for towing fees in September
Fees for towing and storing impounded vehicles are set to go up starting in September. The province says it's bumping up the fees to increase the consequences for people who drive dangerously. 

Increase for towing fees in September

Senior assaulted with a baton

Senior assaulted with a baton
Police in North Vancouver are searching for a suspect after a road rage incident where a senior was assaulted with a baton. R-C-M-P say on August 12th at about 4 p-m, a man driving a black Tesla Model 3 was allegedly tailgating another vehicle and speeding.

Senior assaulted with a baton

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner
The British Columbia Coroners Service says at least 192 people died in July in the province due to unregulated drug toxicity, down 15 per cent from the same month last year. The service says in a release that 1,365 people have died of drug toxicity this year up to the end of July, a rate of death that is also down.

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner

B.C. revamps building code to allow single stairwells in buildings up to six storeys

B.C. revamps building code to allow single stairwells in buildings up to six storeys
British Columbia is moving to allow buildings up to six storeys to have one exit stairwell instead of two in the government's latest effort to boost housing supply. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says in a statement that updating the provincial building code to remove the requirement for a second egress or exit stairwell per floor will facilitate more options for residents who need larger layouts.

B.C. revamps building code to allow single stairwells in buildings up to six storeys

Taskforce ready for 'emergency enhancement' of salmon stocks after B.C. landslide

Taskforce ready for 'emergency enhancement' of salmon stocks after B.C. landslide
A salmon task force that is examining the impact of the massive Chilcotin River landslide in British Columbia says it's prepared for the "emergency enhancement" of fish stocks after the disaster. A statement from the Fisheries Department, which is part of the task force alongside First Nations and the B.C. government, says monitoring has confirmed that sockeye salmon have begun to enter the river.

Taskforce ready for 'emergency enhancement' of salmon stocks after B.C. landslide

140 into 93 won't fit: The math facing B.C. Conservatives as BC United folds campaign

140 into 93 won't fit: The math facing B.C. Conservatives as BC United folds campaign
The suspension of the Official Opposition BC United's election campaign, consolidating its pool of potential candidates with the B.C. Conservative Party, means that dozens from either camp will lose party endorsement. Here's the math on the challenge of putting together a unified slate of candidates under the B.C. Conservative banner ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election.

140 into 93 won't fit: The math facing B.C. Conservatives as BC United folds campaign