Nijjar’s Killing: Coordinated Attack

Nijjar’s killing was recorded by the British Columbia Gurdwara security cameras. The Washington Post has accessed the video and said the operation was a coordinated attack. At least six men and two vehicles were involved. The assailants fired about 50 bullets. Thirty-four hit Nijjar. The assailants were supposedly in a 'Sikh get-up,' with hoodies pulled over small turbans on their heads and masks over their 'bearded faces.' Meanwhile on 26 Sep, at the United Nations General Assembly, India’s foreign minister Jaishankar insinuated Canada has vested interests in the revelations by saying, ‘political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism, and violence.’ On 27 Sep in Jaishankar’s meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken encouraged India to cooperate with the Canadian probe on Nijjar's killing. In Washington, on 29 Sep, Jaishankar was asked about the concerns of the Sikh community amid the Khalistan issue. He said that the issue does not represent the views of the entire community. He emphasized that the Modi government has paid a lot of attention to the issues of the Sikh community, and that the extremist elements are just a small minority.

After the death in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a high-profile Canadian Sikh activist, outside a Gurdwara in British Columbia, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited several Sikh activists in California this summer with an alarming message: their lives were also at risk. The warnings have taken on a new urgency after Canada’s revelation that it has credible intelligence pointing to Indian government involvement in the assassination. The killing has also put a spotlight on Sikh activism in the United Kingdom. The BBC has republished Jagtar Singh Johal's story. It says the human rights group Reprieve says it has compelling evidence that Johal's arrest in India followed a tip-off from British security agencies. British Sikhs have long talked about feeling under undue pressure, as the Indian government has openly demanded that UK authorities do more to stamp out extremism within the community.

On 27 Sep night, Delhi police found pro-Khalistani graffiti on walls under the Kashmiri Gate flyover. Slogans such as Delhi Banega Khalistan - Delhi will become Khalistan - and Khalistan Zindabad SFJ were found sprayed in black on the walls. This comes a month after similar pro-Khalistan slogans were sprayed on the walls of more than five metro stations in the national capital about a week before the G-20 meeting. Similar slogans were also found on the walls of a government school in Nangloi, Delhi. Delhi Police registered a case under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code. According to reports, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu had promised to pay the accused individuals approximately $7,000 (over half a million ₹ Indian rupees) to write pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans on public places in New Delhi. The curious aspect of both instances of graffiti spraying is that none of them have been captured on CCTV cameras. When given the importance of locations as public transport hubs, cameras should be everywhere.

In March 2023, when the Panjab police and central forces were on a manhunt for Amritpal Singh, administration cut off the state’s Internet, imposed Section 144, conducted Cordon and Search Operations. Young Panjabi singer Shubhneet Singh posted a map of India drawn by Amandeep Singh. Panjab is in black and Jammu and Kashmir is grayed out. The caption said Pray for Panjab. Recently, after relations between India and Canada soured, electronics company boAt canceled their sponsorship for the singer’s upcoming Canada tour. Panjab Congress leader Amarinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the move and said, ‘We don't need to give any proof of nationalism.' Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, 'Shubh is a proud son of India and Panjab.’ Fellow singers AP Dhillon and Gary Sandhu also spoke in favor of Shubh. In late 2022, after the Farmers' Protest, singers like Kanwar Grewal and Ranjit Bawa faced raids by India's agencies. However, the response given in Shubh’s defense is still on lines of nationalism when his original message was a prayer – free speech.

On 28 Sep morning, the Panjab police arrested Congress leader and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 2015 case registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Of late Khaira was critical of the AAP government over their silence on Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing and the resulting Canada-India row and earlier Deep Sidhu's death. Upon arrest, Khaira released a statement calling the action Panjab Chief Minister’s volte face because earlier he supported Khaira. While AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal says AAP is acting against drugs and is firmly with the INDIA alliance, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar is calling out AAP’s hypocrisy and Congress’ inability to protect Khaira. The police action against Khaira has triggered a bitter squabble in Panjab where the ruling AAP and Congress are already disagreeing on a seat-sharing agreement for next year's Lok Sabha election.

Shiromani Akali Dal Member of Parliament called Raghav Chadha ‘Arvind Kejriwal’s blue-eyed boy.’ After the Aam Aadmi Panjab won Panjab elections in March 2022, Chadha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from the state and appointed advisor to Panjab Chief Minister – a move widely seen as reminiscent of the British-era Regents to Indian Princely States so Delhi-based AAP can control the governance in Panjab. Recently Chadha married Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra at Udaipur. The opulent wedding involved hundreds of security men and bullet-proof land cruisers from Panjab CM’s security detail. BJP leader Varendra Sachdeva, asked if Chadha shows an annual income of ₹0.24 million in his election affidavit, how could he book the Maharaja Suite - which costs ₹1 million per night - for his wedding? While Panjab leaders are splurging on such private events, the debt of financially stressed Panjab has risen by ₹500 billion during the one-and-a-half-year AAP regime. The Governor has sought details of utilization of this huge amount from the state government.

It is a matter of disenchantment of Sikhs residing in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee that they are proposing the formation of a UP Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (UPSGPC) to address their religious concerns and manage gurdwaras in the two states. These Sikhs are dissatisfied with the SGPC and Akal Takht secretariat's handling of complaints against local Sikh organizations violating religious conduct. Unlike Rashtriya Sikh Sangat which is an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Sikh Sangathan (BSS) seems to be a new body established in 2020. These developments have placed the Sikhs who live outside Panjab, even in other Indian states, in a double-bind – while SGPC does not cater to their needs, the earlier Haryana secession model from SGPC too does not seem to be satisfactory because of its uneasy relationship with the state BJP government. Such changes also have implications on the Gurdwaras in the Sikh Diaspora who largely follow the SGPC and Akal Takht edicts but are already in a quandary because of the Indian state’s interference in the Sikh institutions.

Dr M.S. Swaminathan, known as the father of India’s Green Revolution - which took place in Panjab, the Bread Basket of the nation, at 98 died on 28 Sep in Chennai. The Green Revolution, necessary in the late 1960s, has a mixed legacy. While it fed the nation, a lack of innovation over decades caused it to devastate Panjab. In 2004, in the wake of farmer suicides, the then Congress government, created the National Commission for Farmers headed by Dr Swaminathan. He presented the report in 2007. However, the Congress government did not implement it. Later the BJP government promised to implement it when it came to power in 2014, but they went back on their promise. In 2020, the BJP government introduced the draconian Farm Bills which the farmers of Panjab and north India opposed for over a year losing 730 lives. While the government repealed the laws, one of the pending demands was to legalize the Minimum Support Price (MSP) proposed by the Commission. Last week farmers in north Panjab blocked trains for three days to press on the demand for MSP, and financial package for recent floods.

Controversy has erupted over the marriage of two girls in Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib, Bathinda. On 18 Sep, Manisha and Dimple’s marriage was organized by the Granthi (officiant) at the Gurdwara Sahib and blessed by their parents. Now, the Gurdwara Committee has lodged a complaint with the police to take action against the Granthi (officiant) who performed the ceremony. It must be noticed, according to the Indian Penal Code, homosexuality is decriminalized but marriages are not yet allowed. In 2020, the Akal Takht had expressed its ire on a similar marriage in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib in the United States. Current Akal Takht Jathedar has said, 'same-sex marriage was unnatural and contrary to Sikh ethics'. The Shiromani Akali Dal has taken it upon itself to oppose the marriage in the name of ‘saving the religion’. The Granthi who conducted the marriage has apologized. It is strange that a community that prides itself on its sovereignty outside of nation-states, runs to the police and the Indian courts when faced with a crisis. Independent research by Sikh organizations has been providing the context on same-sex and inter-faith marriages.

Recently, the Gurdwara at Surrey allowed Lien Gangte, president of the Canada chapter of the North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA) to speak on atrocities on minorities in Manipur. NAMTA represents the Kuki and Zomi tribes from Manipur and Mizoram, and the northern parts of Myanmar's Chin state. This meeting has the Indian intelligence authorities concerned about collaboration between pro-Khalistan elements and the hill tribes. The concern seems misplaced. The Manipur conflict is tribal, not religious or secessionist. Gangte spoke about treatment of minorities, not secession from India which is the Khalistani goal. As a background, it is important to note that in Manipur, the Meiteis and Nagas have earlier conducted separatist movements against India, not the Kukis or Zomis. The Kuki and Zomi created their armies for protection of their tribes, not against the nation state. The recent meeting between some Sikhs and NAMTA was about solidarity with the tribes in Manipur, not separatism.