Canada: Modi Attends G7 Summit; Jagmeet Faced Threats

On 16 Jun, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Canada's Kananaskis to attend the G7 Summit. Though India is not a member of the G7, this is the sixth consecutive time Modi is attending the summit. It is also his first visit to Canada in a decade. During Modi’s visit, the governments of Canada and India are set to establish a new structure to share information about cross-border crimes, their latest step toward rebuilding ties nearly two years after Canada accused India of orchestrating the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. The new information-sharing arrangement, which includes law enforcement agencies from both countries, will allow them to swap intelligence on transnational crime and syndicates, terrorism and extremist activities, according to officials who asked not to be identified because the discussions are still private. For Canada, this also includes an emphasis on investigating extra-judicial killings. Upon Modi's arrival, Sikhs in Alberta staged an 'ambush' protest, shouting slogans. Anti-Modi rallies also took place in Calgary. Meanwhile, in late 2023, a suspected Indian govt agent had former New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh under close surveillance. This had prompted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to place the leader in police protection. This protection has now been withdrawn. Jagmeet’s brother Gurratan Singh said, ‘It’s unacceptable…security must be provided to those who are facing ‘duty to warn’ threats from foreign governments.’ The 'duty to warn' notification, a practice used by Canadian police to alert someone when it believes there to be a credible threat endangering them, has emerged due to Modi's visit. Political observers are seeing NDP’s loss in the recent Canadian election from 24 to 8 seats as a partial indication of waning Sikh influence in Canadian politics. In other news, under Project Pelican, Peel police have seized 479 kilograms of cocaine valued at USD 47.9M. Police have arrested nine individuals, including several of Panjabi origin. The drugs were smuggled from Mexico through US commercial trucking routes into Ontario, taking advantage of cross-border logistics (earlier coverage).

Panjab’s senior Indian National Congress (INC) leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has written to Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi to declare Amritsar as a 'war free zone.' The request comes in the wake of the recent escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan in which each country misinformed that the other country had Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) on their target. Randhawa said, Amritsar is 'not merely a geographical location—it is the spiritual heartbeat of the Sikh faith and a lighthouse of love and peace for humanity.' INC Member of Parliament from Patiala Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi and the North American Punjabi Association have also written to Modi to re-open the Kartarpur Corridor closed on 7 May. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Panjab general secretary Jagmohan Singh Raju has written to Modi, urging him to release Bandi Singh (Sikh political prisoners) on humanitarian grounds. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami has also appealed to the union government to release the Bandi Singhs on the occasion of the upcoming 350^th martyrdom day of the ninth Sikh sovereign Guru Tegh Bahadur. Meanwhile, the Indian govt has barred Sikh pilgrims from traveling to Pakistan to participate in the annual martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh sovereign. Pakistan indicated it was willing to grant visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims, but India refused to allow them to visit the country. Upon the restriction, Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board in collaboration with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee organized a symbolic reception at Lahore on 15 Jun to express solidarity with the Sikh community and promote interfaith harmony. In other news, to ensure transparency and proper record-keeping of Guru Granth Sahib, the SGPC has introduced a modern printing system in which every saroop (tome) will have a Sewa Pehchan Ank (service identification number) printed on it. Dhami said, 'this will help in maintaining accurate records thus enabling traceability, accountability and safeguarding the sanctity of every printed scripture of Sri Guru Granth Sahib' (earlier coverage).

A Sikh professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF), Dr. Rupa Marya filed a lawsuit 7 Jun, alleging the university violated her freedom of speech by suspending her for online comments on war in Gaza. Dr. Marya’s social media posts included expressing 'solidarity with the hospitals and healthcare workers that Israel was attacking in Gaza.' In a September 2024 post, Dr. Marya wrote that her students were concerned that a first-year student from Israel may have served in the Israel Defense Forces. She asked if that meant he had participated in the genocide of Palestinians and asked her colleagues what to do about it. UCSF called Dr. Marya a 'possible imminent danger' and had placed her on leave. According to court documents, Marya received ‘rape and death threats’ as well as ‘repeated harassment’ because of her posts. Meanwhile, amid the open conflict between Israel and Iran, the families of Husanpreet Singh, Amritpal Singh, and Jaspal Singh—who were kidnapped in Iran while attempting to migrate to Australia—are anxiously waiting for the men to come home. India has initiated the evacuation of its citizens from Iran. The first batch of 100 Indian citizens is expected to cross into Armenia on 17 Jun. Tehran responded to New Delhi's request to provide safe passage for the evacuation of at least 10K students stranded in Iran, as Israel continued bombing major cities. Iran has said that since it has shut its airspace, students can use its land borders to cross into Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan. The Indian Embassy in Tehran said it is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging students in Iran to ensure their safety. On 14 Jun, India distanced itself from a statement issued by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) condemning recent Israeli strikes on Iran. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said, 'India did not participate in the discussions on the above-mentioned SCO statement.' The MEA reaffirmed India's independent stance on the Israel-Iran tensions calling for calm and dialogue (earlier coverage).

With the upcoming Ludhiana West by-poll, two civic organizations—Association for Democratic Reforms, Ludhiana chapter and Punjab Election Watch—have submitted a complaint to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 10 Jun demanding removal of Ludhiana’s District Election Officer 'for egregious dereliction of duty,' and called for the strict enforcement of the 'USD 46K expenditure limit' on candidates. The organizations have alleged rampant violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the ongoing campaigning by-poll scheduled on 19 Jun. The complaint, also addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer, Panjab, presented GPS-tagged, timestamped photographic evidence of illegal hoardings and campaign materials in violation of ECI guidelines. It further says, 'These materials are not only unauthorized and environmentally harmful but also likely to push candidate spending well beyond the legal threshold.' In these elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has received over 20 notices from the District Election Commission for repeated breaches of the MCC but AAP has not responded. The campaign for a simple Member of Legislative Assembly has drawn disproportionate attention because the ruling AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora is already a member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament, RS). The speculation is that if Arora wins and vacates his position, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal will become a RS member. AAP lost the Delhi Assembly elections in February 2025. While campaigning, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta called Panjab CM a ‘mask’ and said AAP’s Delhi rejects are running show in Panjab. BJP’s union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, 'States that cooperate with the union govt’s policies are witnessing robust development. Sadly, Panjab is not among them.’ Puri also raised concerns on Panjab’s law and order situation, and termed the state govt’s ‘War on Drugs’ as a ‘hoax.’ Meanwhile, BJP Panjab incharge Vijay Rupani was travelling in the Air India flight from Ahmedabad, Gujarat which crashed immediately after take off on 12 Jun. 241 passengers including Rupani died. Another 29 people are confirmed dead on ground when the airplane crashed into nearby Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College (earlier coverage).

With temperatures soaring above 115°F (46°C), Panjab is in the grip of a heatwave. Meteorologists attribute the current heatwave to delayed western disturbances and shifting jet streams. The delay of western disturbances, which usually bring pre-monsoon showers in early June, are now forecast to arrive in the third week of June, a delay of 7-10 days. On 12 Jun, power consumption in the state set a new record at 16,711 MW, surpassing the previous all-time peak demand of 16,192 MW recorded on 11 Jun. The steep surge has placed strain on Punjab State Power Corporation Limited as the state grapples with soaring temperatures and a massive power demand by the agriculture sector. Panjab's drawing limit from the northern grid stands at 10,400 MW while Panjab's maximum domestic generation capacity is estimated to be around 6,500 MW under optimal conditions. Since paddy replantation is on, the state is prioritizing the rural sector leaving urban Panjab with 12-18 hour power cuts. However, farmers are reluctant to adopt early-maturing paddy varieties such as PR-126. ‘If we sow PR-126, it will be ready by September, but there won’t be any procurement in the mandis at that time,’ said a farmer from Laddi village in Sangrur. ‘Last year, our crops went unsold and got damaged. This will happen again,’ he added. Despite a state-imposed ban on long-duration paddy varieties, farmers have continued sowing the water-guzzling, long-duration PUSA-44 variety. On the govt allowing early paddy transplantation, an expert from Punjab Agricultural University—who did not want to be named—said, 'Panjab has 1.53M tubewells. There are three cycles in which 510K tubewells will run at a time in the next 20 days leading to extraction of 8.80 million-acre feet (MAF) of water. The usable storage capacity of the Bhakra Dam, when it is filled up to 1,680 ft, is 4.87 MAF of water. Hence, it will be twice the capacity of the Bhakra Dam.' This is how Panjab loses about 10 MAF of groundwater every year (earlier coverage).

Facing an acute shortage of funds, Panjab Finance Department has asked at least a dozen state government departments to deposit funds available with them into the state treasury. According to an official—who did not want to be named—the govt wants to manage borrowings. The orders issued by Principal Secretary Finance Krishan Kumar says, 'In reference to the discussions held during the meeting on 5 Jun, it is requested the funds be deposited in state treasury under the govt public accounts, major head of the Panjab State Development Fund.' In May, the Panjab govt had sought approval for borrowing USD 4.1B for the first nine months of the ongoing financial year (April-December), but the union govt had allowed USD only 2.5B. Another official said, 'This is to make best use of the funds available. The Finance Department is making efforts so that the govt can come out of the cycle of overdraft which it has practiced since 2012-13.' Meanwhile, on 10 Jun, Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal unveiled 12 new initiatives designed to revolutionize industrial growth in the state under the banner Punjab Udyog Kranti (Industrial Revolution). Under the new system, the state has implemented a deemed approval system which has a time limit of 45 days. If no decision is taken by the designated authority within the notified timeline, the Fast-track Punjab portal will automatically generate an approval the next day, which holds the same legal validity as a regular clearance. Panjab has also launched Easy Registry and Record of Land Rights websites. Mann said, ‘Every year, nearly 4M people visit their land revenue officer to obtain land record copies. Now, there is no need to visit them, stand in queues, or pay bribes for getting land records. People can simply enter their details and get a copy of the records for free. This will be digitally signed and have a QR code that anyone can scan to verify the land record.’

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) has sidestepped from seeking a hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops. Now, Joginder Singh Ugrahan-led BKU Ekta Ugrahan is seeking reduction in input cost, such as fall in prices of diesel, agro-chemical, pesticides, seeds, and the other key inputs for agriculture. According to Ugrahan, beyond a point, the increase in MSP cannot be sought as it will lead to increase in prices of foodgrain, placing it out of the reach of poor and marginal classes. According to farmer unions other than the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), the fall in prices of inputs for agriculture is next to impossible as the union government has no direct control over fuel, agro chemicals and pesticides, because corporations control these inputs. Meanwhile, India's rice stocks in govt warehouses rose 18% from 2024 to a record high. State reserves of rice, including unmilled paddy, totalled a record 59.5M MT on 1 Jun, far exceeding the govt's target of 13.5M MT. Wheat stocks stood at 36.9M MT, well above the govt's target of 27.6M MT. Despite a bumper wheat harvest, India has formally notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it will not lift restrictions on wheat exports, citing food security concerns. In a submission to the WTO’s Committee on Agriculture on 11 Jun, India said its temporary ban on wheat exports, first imposed in May 2022, remains in place due to ongoing volatility in global wheat prices and the need to ensure domestic availability. On the other hand, apple, corn, and soybean are emerging as sticking points of competing interests in the trade talks between India and US, possibly delaying a scaled-down version of the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by 8 Jul, before US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs kick in. A senior Indian official said, 'The US is pushing hard for market access for agricultural products. But India has to protect the interests of a much larger population, it is more of a livelihood issue than a commercial issue for us' (earlier coverage).

The Panjab Government has approved 6,285 acres of land acquisition to develop nine new sectors and complete the pending development in five already developed sectors in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (SAS Nagar). This will be the first acquisition under the Aam Aadmi Party regime’s new flagship Land Pooling Scheme. However, Kuljit Singh Bedi, deputy mayor of SAS Nagar municipal corporation, has asked Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), for full disclosure of the revenue collected through property sales and its subsequent utilization. 'They have collected huge sums but failed to reinvest in the city that generated the wealth,’ he said. Bedi has questioned how much property GMADA sold in SAS Nagar from 2020-21 to 2024-25, how much revenue was generated from those sales, and how much of that was spent on local development? Meanwhile, farmers with smaller land holdings near SAS Nagar, where acquisition of land for Eco City-III in New Chandigarh is underway, fear the policy heavily favors large landowners and private builders. Gurbakash Singh, a local farmer owning one acre of land, said, 'Under the earlier policy, GMADA offered a 200 sq m residential plot for every 500 sq m of acquired land. In the new policy, this has been slashed to 150 sq m. This means our land is being devalued. Meanwhile, farmers with over an acre still get benefits similar to those in the earlier scheme.' Jagroop Singh, a farmer from Hassanpur village near Ludhiana asked, 'Is this a government or a property dealer? They claimed we will be provided 1K sq m of developed residential land and 200 sq m of commercial land for every acre of land they would acquire. But when? What will a farmer do until then? How will we find buyers for such plots?' Farmer Gurpreet Singh Pamal from Pamal village, said, 'Ludhiana’s land is fertile and prosperous. Why not develop areas like Mansa or Bathinda where the land is barren and needs investment? (earlier coverage)'

On 12 Jun, Shiv Sena Panjab workers were protesting in Muktsar to demand the arrest of those involved in an attack on their district president Ravi Kumar on 29 May. The protests led Shiv Sena state president Rajesh Garg turned violent when a Sikh youth Gurwinder Singh who was driving a car approached the protesters requesting passage to go to a hospital. The protesters dragged Gurwinder out of the vehicle, tore his clothes and beat him. Akal Takht (Eternal Throne, AT) acting Jathedar (leader) Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj said in an earlier incident a Sikh elder Jagtar Singh was beaten up by a person under the influence of intoxicants at Rampura Phul. The police have arrested six persons in the Muktsar incident but Garg is on the run. On the same day, social media influencer Kamal Kaur's body was found inside a parked car near Adesh Medical University in Bathinda. Kaur’s real name was Kanchan Kumari. Her reels had attracted controversy. In 2024, Kumari had received death threats from gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla. Gill is currently in Canada’s custody. Panjab police have arrested Jaspreet Singh from Moga and Nimratjit Singh from Patti, Tarn Taran. Another Sikh, Amritpal Singh Mehron publicly claimed responsibility for Kumari’s killing. Mehron justified the act by accusing Kumari of defaming Sikh traditions and misusing the name ‘Kaur’ to spread obscene content. After the crime, Amritpal fled to the United Arab Emirates. Jaspreet, Nimarjit, and Amritpal are all in the Nihang (traditional Sikh warriors) attire and claim to have committed the crime to rid Sikh society of vulgarity. However, the head of the Nihang Singhs' apex organization, Shiromani Panth Akali Buddha Dal Panhwan Takht, Baba Balbir Singh, said that the Khalsa never attacks the unarmed, especially women. Similarly Sikh intellectuals and artists have condemned such vigilantism in the name of religion. Yet, the fact that anyone can assume the Sikh identity on social media and make vulgar content or harass women as seen during Farmers Protest 1.0 (2020-21), remains a matter of concern (earlier coverage).

The early 20^th century Ghadar movement remains one of the most remarkable yet underexplored chapters of India’s struggle for independence. Spanning continents and languages, from San Francisco to Singapore, Vancouver to Panjab, it was an audacious attempt by early Indian migrants to ignite a global anti-colonial uprising. And yet, despite its scale and sacrifice, it has largely faded from public memory—overshadowed by later events, miscast as a Panjabi affair, or confined to commemorative clichés. In this context, a new book The Ghadar Movement: A Forgotten Struggle by Rana Preet Gill is an engaging effort to bring the movement back into national conversation. In his review, Harish Jain says Gill's narrative begins with the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and races through India’s revolutionary ferment across regions and decades. From Sohan Singh Bhakna and Kartar Singh Sarabha to lesser-known names like Darisi Chenchiah, she tracks a range of actors and regions who gave the Ghadar its truly pan-South Asian character. Gill’s writing is crisp and accessible, with short chapters that read like newspaper columns—snappy, self-contained, and often illuminating. She covers wide ground, connecting Bengal to Panjab, Andhra to Maharashtra, without falling into regional pigeonholes. This breadth is a significant achievement for a subject so often misrepresented. Another coffee-table book on the life of one of modern India’s most illustrious bankers, Sardar Dr. Inderjit Singh, takes note of some of the foundational aspects of banking as an industry, but it will be remembered above all for the transformation of this vital industry into a service, or sewa, which can be said to be the credo of the Sikh faith. The protagonist helmed the Punjab & Sind Bank for more than two decades. The coffee table book is a tribute to the many aspects of this most unusual personality who has also been looked upon as the ‘banker saint’. Written by his youngest son, Sardar Tejbir Singh, the book is a son’s homage at one level, at another it takes the reader into realms to which his father truly belonged.