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.

MORE National ARTICLES

Vancouver magic mushroom stores raided by police are reopening

Vancouver magic mushroom stores raided by police are reopening
One of three magic mushroom stores that were raided by Vancouver police this week has already reopened, and the owner says his other two are restocking and will be back in business on Friday. The Vancouver Police Department says it executed search warrants at the stores on Wednesday in an investigation into the sale of illegal psychedelic drugs, with officers seizing "a variety of controlled substances."

Vancouver magic mushroom stores raided by police are reopening

34 year old charged with numerous firearms charges: Surrey RCMP

34 year old charged with numerous firearms charges: Surrey RCMP
R-C-M-P in Surrey say a 34-year-old man has been charged with multiple offences after an investigation that began with a traffic stop last week. The Mounties say two men were arrested after an officer from New Westminster stopped a vehicle that had been driving erratically just after 2 a-m last Thursday.

34 year old charged with numerous firearms charges: Surrey RCMP

Pedestrian struck in Vancouver in serious collision, VPD seeking witnesses

Pedestrian struck in Vancouver in serious collision, VPD seeking witnesses
Vancouver police are looking for witnesses to a serious collision on the city's west side that sent a pedestrian to hospital with life-altering injuries. Police say a 57-year-old woman was at the crosswalk of Arbutus Street and West 33rd Avenue Tuesday afternoon when she was struck by a red Mini Cooper.   

Pedestrian struck in Vancouver in serious collision, VPD seeking witnesses

Calgary man found not criminally responsible for five stabbing deaths faces review

Calgary man found not criminally responsible for five stabbing deaths faces review
A lawyer for an Alberta man found not criminally responsible for killing five young people at a Calgary house party is asking the province's review board to release him on an absolute discharge. A hearing has heard that Matthew de Grood had several two-week unescorted passes from an Edmonton group home over the last year to visit his parents in Calgary.

Calgary man found not criminally responsible for five stabbing deaths faces review

Lifetime cost of Canada's F-35 fighter jets is $73.9B: parliamentary budget officer

Lifetime cost of Canada's F-35 fighter jets is $73.9B: parliamentary budget officer
Canada will pay an estimated $73.9 billion to buy, fly and maintain its new fleet of F-35 fighter jets, the parliamentary budget officer said Thursday. Yves Giroux said his independent analysis of the procurement project is "broadly in line" with the government's own estimates from January, which said the cost would be around $70 billion.

Lifetime cost of Canada's F-35 fighter jets is $73.9B: parliamentary budget officer

Appeal dismissal for 3 pot log smugglers

Appeal dismissal for 3 pot log smugglers
Three men accused of trying to smuggle more than 300 kilograms of pot into California in hollowed-out logs will not be allowed to appeal their case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Todd Ferguson, Daniel Joinson and Shane Fraser were arrested after the doctored logs were identified at a log home manufacturing company in California in 2006.

Appeal dismissal for 3 pot log smugglers