Close X
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
ADVT 
National

Sikh groups calls for Indian consulates to be shut down in Vancouver, Toronto

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Oct, 2024 04:52 PM
  • Sikh groups calls for Indian consulates to be shut down in Vancouver, Toronto

Representatives of a British Columbia Sikh temple whose president was shot dead last year, as well as the Sikh independence group he was involved in, say their communities won't feel safe until India's consulates in Vancouver and Toronto are shut down.

That's after the Canadian government expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, and the RCMP announced on Monday it had evidence of their alleged involvement in crimes including homicide and extortion targeting the so-called Khalistan independence movement.

The Canadian government has previously said credible intelligence links India's government to the killing in June last year of activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, leader of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., where community members have held a news conference.

Gurkeerat Singh, a spokesman for the gurdwara, says "the safety and the security of Sikhs will still be in question" unless India's consulates are shut down.

India has denied the police allegations that its diplomats coercively collected information on South Asian Canadians, then passed that information on to criminals who took violent action.

Jatinder Singh Grewal, a member of the advocacy group Sikhs for Justice, says Canada previously expelled an Indian diplomat in September last year and since then the RCMP has indicated the threat to Sikhs in Canada has increased.

"We have a strong belief that the threat will still not subside. It will increase, because India is taking the right to self-determination of Punjab very seriously and wishes to quell it," he told Tuesday's press conference, which he joined via video link.

"These houses of terror, they need to be shut down," he said of the consulates.

Grewal referred to the expulsion last year of Pavan Kumar Rai, a diplomatic agent who headed an Indian intelligence agency based in Ottawa.

On Monday, the government announced it was expelling six more diplomats, including Sanjay Kumar Verma, because of the criminal accusations. The RCMP said Monday there were six Indian diplomats they sought to question about the violent activities in Canada, and those six are the ones Canada expelled.

India responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats.

In September 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian intelligence services were investigating a potential link between India's government and Nijjar's killing. Four Indian nationals have since been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Grewal said the people who allegedly pulled the trigger are "merely tools," and the real issue was who collected information on Sikhs in Canada and allegedly shared that information with criminals to threaten and harm Sikh community members.

"The RCMP laid it out quite clearly, that Indian diplomats in Canada are actively monitoring, looking at the behaviour, patterns and activities of pro-Khalistani Sikhs, and then sharing that information with individuals back in India," he said.

RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said Monday that investigations revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada had allegedly leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, including collecting information for the government of India, either directly or through proxies.

The RCMP told The Canadian Press it was investigating three homicides across the country over the last two years with possible links to India, but the Mounties would not clarify whether those include Nijjar's killing.

Grewal said shutting down India's consulates in Toronto and Vancouver would remove the shield afforded by diplomatic positions.

"We can't allow this to continue because it endangers Canadian safety and Canadian sovereignty," he said.

MORE National ARTICLES

Liberals buck global trend by 'doubling down' on foreign aid, as sector urges G7 push

Liberals buck global trend by 'doubling down' on foreign aid, as sector urges G7 push
Foreign aid groups are hailing the federal Liberal government's return to a policy of increasing humanitarian and development spending each year, while asking for a plan to push allies to reverse a global decline in aid. 

Liberals buck global trend by 'doubling down' on foreign aid, as sector urges G7 push

B.C. government earmarks $300M to help TransLink buy more buses, reduce overcrowding

B.C. government earmarks $300M to help TransLink buy more buses, reduce overcrowding
Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says the additional buses will reduce overcrowding and wait times throughout the region. A statement from the province says the money will go toward purchasing buses to increase future services, while TransLink will put remaining funds from $479 million the province provided last year toward immediate improvements.

B.C. government earmarks $300M to help TransLink buy more buses, reduce overcrowding

Cyclist dies in Vancouver collision

Cyclist dies in Vancouver collision
Police say a cyclist is dead after a collision with a Dodge Ram pickup truck in East Vancouver. It happened just before 2 P-M yesterday near the intersection of Clark Drive and East 11th Avenue.  

Cyclist dies in Vancouver collision

School bus crash near Mission

School bus crash near Mission
Police say the driver of a pickup truck was airlifted to hospital after a head-on crash with a school bus outside Mission, BC, yesterday. RCMP say the truck was travelling west when it reportedly entered the opposite land and collided with the bus.

School bus crash near Mission

B.C. police seize guns, 14 kilograms of fentanyl in Lower Mainland trafficking probe

B.C. police seize guns, 14 kilograms of fentanyl in Lower Mainland trafficking probe
Mounties in B.C.'s Lower Mainland say a months-long trafficking investigation spanned multiple cities and led to the seizure of significant quantities of illicit drugs, along with guns and $500,000 in cash. A statement from Chilliwack RCMP says police searched locations including an apartment in downtown Chilliwack, a home in Vancouver's Collingwood area, two residences in Langley's Willowbrook neighbourhood as well as three in Surrey.

B.C. police seize guns, 14 kilograms of fentanyl in Lower Mainland trafficking probe

10 years in U.S. prison for Canadian man who stole millions with fake psychic fraud

10 years in U.S. prison for Canadian man who stole millions with fake psychic fraud
A former Montreal resident has been sentenced to 10 years in a United States federal prison for a multi-decade fraud that manipulated more than one million Americans into sending money to fake psychics.  The U.S. Justice Department says Patrice Runner, 57, stole more than $175 million from 1.3 million people in the U.S. between 1994 and 2014.

10 years in U.S. prison for Canadian man who stole millions with fake psychic fraud