Canada Remembers Nijjar, Upholds Extradition

On 18 Jun, the Canadian Parliament observed a minute of silence to commemorate Hardeep Singh Nijjar's one-year death anniversary. In June 2023, Nijjar was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey. As of now, Canadian police have arrested four alleged killers (SDW Vol 2 Issue 20, Story 2). India immediately reminded Canada of the Air India Kanishka Flight 182 bombing before it landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on 23 Jun 1985, killing all 329 people on board. India’s invocation of this tragedy again casts a close to four-decade aspersion that pro-Khalistan groups caused the bombing, and insinuates that Nijjar’s pro-Khalistan activism ought to have disqualified him from being honored as a Canadian citizen. Despite the Canadian govt. spending CAD130M on investigation and prosecution over almost twenty years, much remains hidden in govt. and intelligence files in Canada, India, and perhaps other countries. The need is to come clean on the tragedy. The aspersion becomes dire when all Sikhs are seen as Khalistanis, and all Khalistanis are deemed terrorists. Though Sikhs are in solidarity with the Kanishka bombing victims, at the ceremony marking the 39^th anniversary in Canada, the victim families turned away pro-Khalistan groups from the event. Meanwhile, on 21 Jun, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision to put Bhagat Singh Brar and Parvkar Singh Dulai on the country’s no-fly list, after they weren’t allowed to get on planes in Vancouver in 2018. At Canada’s Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland press conference, a journalist asked her, ‘When Nijjar was alive, he was on the no-fly list and his mortgages were frozen. But now, after his death, why did the Parliament observe a moment of silence for Nijjar?’ She answered, ‘Because the Canadian PM wanted to convey that in the eyes of the Canadian government, all citizens are equal and murder on Canadian soil is just not allowed.’

On 18 Jun, Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann announced the transfer of 10K policemen in the state. After chairing a meeting attended by Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police, Mann said the transfers were made after he realized drug peddlers had a nexus with police. ‘There is a nexus at the munshi level (record keeper). The Station Head Officers have been posted at the same police station for 10-20 years. That is why I ordered en masse transfers.’ Mann added, the Panjab police has prepared a database identifying 9K drug peddlers and 750 hotspots where narcotics are sold. With such a large number of transfers – the Panjab police strength is 93K personnel – the reputation of the police is now at stake. On 20 Jun, in an interview with The Tribune for the show Decode Punjab, DGP Yadav, spoke on drug smuggling, and said they had evidence about the involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). ‘Since 2019, as many as 906 drones have been sent from across the border. This year too, the Panjab Police in coordination with the Border Security Force shot down 101 of 247 drones so far.’ On transfers he emphasized, ‘Nobody in this reshuffle is involved in drug-related cases. There is no taint on anyone.’ After AAP could win only three out of thirteen seats in the recent Panjab elections, the transfers seem to be prompted by the need to demonstrate the govt. is serious about ending the drug menace.

With the heat wave in Northern India and paddy season in Panjab, power consumption has gone up by 43% compared to the same period in 2023. While the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has met a demand of 15,775 MW in June 2024, the maximum demand was 11,309 MW in June 2023. Data collected from the PSPCL shows that power worth $215M is stolen every year by consumers. At least 23 govt. departments have defaulted over bill payments and together owe $432M. The finance department has pointed out that free power up to 300 units cost the state $2.4B and free bus passes for women cost $83M. If immediate measures are not taken, the state may find it difficult to pay salaries and power subsidy bills. The free power scheme has an effect on the groundwater table. Panjab has 1.4M tube wells. Over an eight-hour daily run, a tubewell pumps out 3M liters of water per week. 14 lakh tubewells pump out 4,385B liters of water in a week. This water is needed mostly for paddy cultivation. The answer is obvious: diversification. But since the 1980s, that has not been addressed. The other solutions are canal waters and increasing the farmers’ income and removing power subsidies. According to an expert, an average farmer earns $311 per month. If increased to $479 through better price for their produce, the govt. can remove the subsidy. That big and medium farmers, not small and marginal, enjoy most of the subsidy is also a matter of concern (SDW Vol 2 Issue 2, Story 3). 

On 10 Jun, the first file that Indian PM Narendra Modi signed was to issue the seventeenth installment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi (Farmer Honorarium) quadrimester payment of $24. On 19 Jun, the Indian govt. announced a hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for fourteen kharif (summer) crops. Both these steps were projected as if the farmers are the PM’s major concern. But a look into details does not bear that. The Samman Nidhi is too small an amount. It cannot even buy a family ration for four months. The total MSP allocation is $24B, not an additional $120B as projected by naysayers. The real increment from the previous year is $4B. Lest it be seen as favor to farmers, the produce the govt. procures is towards their duty to fulfill Article 21 of the Indian Constitution – Protection of Life and Personal Liberty. The Indian Human Rights Commission defines food as a Fundamental Right. The BJP election manifesto promises free ration to 800M people for the next five years. The farmers’ demand is for a legal guarantee on MSP, which the govt. is unwilling to provide. On 21 Jun, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) says, ‘MSP hike declared by the BJP government for 14 crops is only 5-7% above last year. It is a complete mockery of the promise of granting MSP at C2+50 per cent.’ The BJP govt.’s third term begins with daggers drawn with farmers (SDW Vol 2 Issue 8, Story 5).

On 18 Jun, the Panjab govt. extended the detention of newly-elected Member of Parliament (MP) from Khadoor Sahib and chief of Waris Panjab De, Amritpal Singh and nine others under the National Security Act (NSA) at Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam by another year until 22 Apr 2025. Singh and three associates’ detention was set to expire on 24 Jul, while for six other associates, it was to end on 18 Jun. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal condemned the extension of Amritpal Singh’s detention, stating on X: ‘I and my party strongly oppose the extension of the NSA against Bhai Amritpal Singh, as this is a violation of the Constitution and of human rights. This decision of Bhagwant Mann (Chief Minister of Punjab) has fully exposed his anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab face and shown how he dances to Delhi’s tunes. Our differences of ideology with Bhai Amritpal Singh apart, we will oppose repression and injustice against him or against anyone else, and we don’t care what political cost we have to pay for this. These are the principles which the Great Guru Sahiban has taught us.’ Advocate RS Bains has pointed out that though the order was issued 18 Jun, it was signed on 3 Jun and does not even acknowledge that the person is now an elected candidate. The law the NSA implemented in 1980 provides for no more than a twelve-month detention. However, it was amended in May 1984 for Panjab, allowing a twenty-four month detention. As the elected MPs take oath to Parliament on 24-25 Jun, the Supreme Court has asked when another elected member from Baramulla, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, alias Engineer Rashid, jailed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, can take his oath (SDW Vol 2 Issue 24, Story 5).  

The Jalandhar West state assembly by poll is coming up on 10 Jul. The poll was necessitated when AAP candidate Sheetal Angural resigned the seat and joined BJP before the general election. Later, Angural changed his mind, but the AAP speaker of assembly had already accepted his resignation (SDW Vol 2 Issue 24, Story 6). Now, Angural is being fielded by the BJP. AAP is fielding Mohinder Bhagat who was earlier in BJP and has contested twice from the same seat. He was chairman of the medium industries development board of Panjab from 2007-11. He was also the BJP’s Panjab vice-president from 1998-2001 and 2017-20. INC has chosen to field a party loyalist and former Senior Deputy Mayor Surinder Kaur. She has been five-time councilor from Jallowal Abadi area of Jalandhar West assembly seat. SAD has not contested the seat in over two decades because it was in alliance with BJP. BJP used to field candidates on this seat. SAD has chosen two-time municipal councilor Surjit Kaur as its candidate for her panthic credentials. Caste of the candidate plays a big role in elections and so is the case here in this constituency. AAP candidate Sheetal Angural comes from a Ravidassia community, which migrated from Sialkot and follow Guru Ravidas. Originally, the community worked with leather and now is into sports goods manufacturing. BJP candidate Mohinder Bhagat comes from Megh community, who are now better known as Bhagat community and are followers of Bhagat Kabir. The community comes from Sialkot and practiced weaving and now is into sports goods manufacturing. Surinder Kaur comes from the local Ravidasia/Ad-dharmi community and her husband, late Ram Asra Chaudhary, ran his own tannery. 

On 17 Jun, Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old farm worker, was left on the street after losing his right arm while working at a farm near Latina, southeast of Rome. Singh was hooked by the plastic wrapping machine, towed by a tractor, which severed his right arm and crushed his lower limbs. Singh was then loaded into a van and abandoned near his home, while his severed arm was left in a vegetable collection box. He died 19 Jun at the San Camillo hospital in Rome. An investigation into farm owner Antonello Lovato – who allegedly left the injured Singh outside his home after the incident – has now been opened over potential charges of manslaughter and failure to assist a person in danger, said lead prosecutor Giuseppe De Falco. Singh did not have a regular contract or residence permit and had been working at the same company for two years. On 21 Jun, Trade unions met with the Italian Labor Minister Marina Elvira Calderone and Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida to discuss changes needed to prevent such events from happening again. What happened to Singh is ‘much more than an injury: it is an inhuman act of barbarism in which those who abandoned him demonstrated that they had no regard for the value of human life,’ Calderone said in an interview, calling for exemplary punishments against exploitation at work. Trade unions have organized a fundraiser to raise funds for Singh’s family, with some condemning Italy’s gang mastering system, which involves the illegal recruitment and exploitation of agricultural workers (SDW Vol 2 Issue 25, Story 4).

Starting 1 Jul, Australia will tighten student visa rules to stop visa hopping. Temporary visa holders, such as those on temporary graduate visas, visitor visas, electronic travel authority visa, medical treatment visa, eVisitor visa, transit visa, diplomatic temporary visa, temporary work visa (international relations), and domestic worker (temporary) visa, will no longer be able to apply for a student visa while within Australia. Candidates will have to go out of Australia to apply for a student visa. According to the Australian govt. data, in 2022, 100,009 Indian students were enrolled in Australian institutions. According to a report from a few years back, about 40% of these students are from Panjab and there is a big number on other visas who also apply for student visas. These measures aim to ensure student visas are granted to those genuinely intending to study in Australia and contribute to the economy. From 21 Jun, Canada too has prohibited foreign nationals seeking a post-graduation work permit to apply at a port of entry which could be airport, land, or marine border. Border services officers have been instructed not to process post-graduation work permit applications made on entry to Canada. A candidate can apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) from inside Canada or from another country, as long as they are eligible. Meanwhile, after earlier suspending their hunger strike upon assurance by authorities, foreign students in Canada's Prince Edward Island (PEI) have mounted another hunger strike as they protest the looming expiration of their work permits. The protesters, including from Panjab, are demanding that the PEI govt. extend their work permits, offering them an eventual pathway to permanent residency (SDW Vol 2 Issue 23, Story 9).

On Jun 22, The Globe and Mail (G&M) published an in-depth article titled The Nijjar Enigma on Hardeep Singh Nijjar and his actions until his murder in June 2023. The article interspersed with pictures, sketches Nijjar’s past in India shaped by ‘Sikh grievances with Delhi,’ Nijjar’s fascination with Sikh fighters, his arrival in Canada and engagement with an armed approach towards Khalistan. The article delves into India’s allegations of terrorism on Nijjar – incidentally since 2007 when INC led govt. was in power – revealing a complex figure. The Canada-based World Sikh Organization (WSO) has responded to the G&M article, questioning the language and framing of the G&M article. It criticizes the portrayal of Gurdwara Bal Lila in Sri Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak as a site for ‘politically motivated Sikhs,’ asserting it is a significant religious site. It problematizes the article’s use of terms ‘moderate’ and ‘orthodox’ to describe Sikhs as ‘artificial and creating a false, oversimplified and damaging dichotomy that has led to significant stereotyping and real-life consequences for Sikhs in Canada.’... ‘Your use of the term equates ‘orthodox’ Sikhs with extremist activity and stigmatizes Sikhs who wear their articles of faith as radical or dangerous.’ …The same goes for calling Dasmesh Darbar, an orthodox Gurdwara… It asks if keeping long hair is orthodox, then Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the most ardent ‘advocate of Khalistan today, does not keep uncut hair or wear a turban. Would he then be considered a ‘moderate’?’ It says the G&M description of the Khalsa diminishes its importance and lacks context on the 2018 Public Safety Report, which was influenced by Indian interference. The exchange draws focus on the community’s ongoing struggle for accurate and fair representation of Sikhs in mainstream media. 

Last week, in a first for a Panjabi singer, Diljit (Daljit) Singh Dosanjh made his debut on US TV on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon called Dosanjh the ‘greatest Panjabi artist on the planet.’ Even before the show, the back-room humor got a lot of eyeballs. Dosanjh performed Panjabi songs in the traditional turle wali pagg, kurta and tehmat (traditional turban with a flare, tunic, and a long loincloth with folds in the front). In 2023, Dosanjh became the first Indian artist to perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. His Born to Shine Australia Tour in 2023 was a big success. In 2024, on his Dil-Luminati Tour he became the first Indian artist to perform at a sold-out stadium show at BC Place in Vancouver and Rogers Centre in Toronto or at Chicago. Those with similar levels of fame like AP Dhillon or the late Sidhu Moose Wala model their appearance on Western rappers and delve into darker themes of Panjabi culture — guns, violence and objectification of women. Dosanjh’s music, for the most part, rooted in Panjabiness, is about love, desire, a sense of yearning, and is reminiscent of traditional Panjabi folk songs. His music has appeal beyond Panjab and in promotional videos he appears humble and humorous. In films, though he has done comedies in Panjabi, in Bollywood he refused to play the ‘Sikh characters for comic relief’ stereotype imposed by the Hindi film industry for decades or cut his hair except for a recent biopic Chamkila where he wore a wig. The Indian Censor Board has stalled his movie Panjab 95 – a biopic on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in which he plays Khalra – for over 18 months now.