Close X
    Friday, October 4, 2024
    ADVT 
    National

    Sikh activists mark anniversary of B.C. temple leader Nijjar's murder

    Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Jun, 2024 12:08 PM
    • Sikh activists mark anniversary of B.C. temple leader Nijjar's murder

    A Sikh activist marking the anniversary of the killing of British Columbia temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar says the past year has shown they are vindicated in their claims that India targeted separatists overseas.

    Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a New York-based activist who himself was targeted by India according to U.S. authorities, says Nijjar's murder a year ago was "not the kind of publicity" the Sikh independence movement was seeking.

    Pannun says Nijjar's death and subsequent revelations by Canadian and U.S. officials have "uncovered" India's plans to silence overseas dissidents with violence outside the law. 

    Nijjar, a key organizer for an overseas referendum on an independent Sikh state in India, was gunned down in the parking lot of the Surrey temple where he was president on June 18 last year.

    Sikh activist groups are marking the one-year anniversary of his death with a rally and a "citizens' court" outside Vancouver's Indian consulate, as well as a commemoration at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey where he was killed.

    Four Indian nationals — Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh — are accused of murder and conspiracy in Nijjar's killing last year which strained relations between Canada and India. 

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that credible intelligence linked Nijjar's death to Indian government involvement.

    Pannun says activists are pushing ahead with holding non-binding referendums in overseas Sikh communities on the question of creating an independent state known as Khalistan, with the next vote slated for Calgary on July 28.

    "Even though we have lost Shahid Nijjar as our main co-ordinator, we are continuing on with full resolve on the path of independence," Pannun says, using the Sikh term for martyrdom in reference to the Surrey temple leader.

    "If the cost of running or organizing a Khalistan referendum is a bullet, I'm ready to face that bullet," he says. 

    India has denied involvement in the killing and says it does not have a policy of assassinating people abroad.

    The four accused in the case are next scheduled to appear in court in Surrey on June 25.

    Prev Next

    MORE National ARTICLES

    RCMP say several injured after coach bus rolls over in Saskatchewan

    RCMP say several injured after coach bus rolls over in Saskatchewan
    Firefighters had to break windows to free people trapped in a coach bus that rolled Wednesday morning in southeast Saskatchewan. Dwayne Stone, the fire chief for the Town of Grenfell, said they were called out to the crash on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Wolseley just after 7 a.m. Roads were extremely slippery after the area was doused by rain then covered in snow. 

    RCMP say several injured after coach bus rolls over in Saskatchewan

    Legislation to reduce housing starts delays

    Legislation to reduce housing starts delays
    Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says new legislation introduced today will reduce housing construction delays, delivering more homes for residents sooner.  He says that if Bill 44 is passed, local governments would need to shift their planning process to an "upfront framework." 

    Legislation to reduce housing starts delays

    Judge tells Ibrahim Ali jury to disregard testimony of Crown witness who died

    Judge tells Ibrahim Ali jury to disregard testimony of Crown witness who died
    Dr. Tracy Pickett, a specialist in emergency and clinical forensic medicine who was called as an expert witness by the Crown, had not finished testifying in B.C. Supreme Court when she was found dead on Sept. 28. She had testified about injuries suffered by the 13-year-old girl Ali is accused of killing.  

    Judge tells Ibrahim Ali jury to disregard testimony of Crown witness who died

    Judge says man who hit and killed two fellow UBC students should serve 3 years

    Judge says man who hit and killed two fellow UBC students should serve 3 years
    Provincial court Judge Glenn Lee told the court in Richmond, B.C., that Tim Goerner will still be young when his sentence is done and he can then spread a message to people about the dangers of drinking and driving. The court heard he had been drinking at a party before the high-speed crash that killed Emily Selwood and Evan Smith as they walked down a sidewalk on the university campus in the early morning hours of Sept. 26, 2021.

    Judge says man who hit and killed two fellow UBC students should serve 3 years

    Sex offender Randall Hopley removed his ankle bracelet to avoid court date: police

    Sex offender Randall Hopley removed his ankle bracelet to avoid court date: police
    Hopley, 58, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant and has a history of convictions for assault, property offences and sexual crimes that include three offences against children. He was declared a long-term offender and handed a six-year prison term for the 2011 abduction of a three-year-old boy from his home in Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia.  

    Sex offender Randall Hopley removed his ankle bracelet to avoid court date: police

    Feds unlock public properties to build homes, say 29,200 units to be built by 2029

    Feds unlock public properties to build homes, say 29,200 units to be built by 2029
    The latest announcement, which also comes as Liberals face a major dip in the polls, puts the government on track to build about 29,200 homes on public lands by 2029. Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also said on Tuesday the Canada Lands Corp. is setting a new target to include at least 20 per cent affordable housing across its projects.  

    Feds unlock public properties to build homes, say 29,200 units to be built by 2029

    PrevNext