Canada Warns Radio India’s Gill of Threats; HSS Exhibit Controversy

Canadian authorities have issued formal warnings to Maninder Singh Gill, managing director of Radio India and a known critic of the Khalistan movement, cautioning that his life is in danger due to his public opposition to Khalistani elements in Canada. Gill stated that he received the first ‘duty to warn’ notice from Surrey’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachment in April 2023 and another similar warning in April 2024, both indicating his life may be at risk but withholding specific details. In the past, Gill was found guilty and charged by the RCMP for shooting Harjit Singh Atwal at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in 2010. Amid this, a CBC article noted a surge of misleading content about Canada’s Sikh and Hindu communities spread online, allegedly amplified by suspicious social media accounts and pro-Modi Indian news outlets. Meanwhile, Lucknow Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (LGPC) condemned the ongoing tensions between Sikh and Hindu groups in Canada. Acting president and general secretary of the LGPC, Harpal Singh Jaggi alleged that foreign agents were fueling communal tensions after violence erupted between pro-Khalistan and Hindutva groups in November in Brampton, Ontario (SDW Vol, 2 Issue 45, Story 2). Sikhs are a minority in Uttar Pradesh and the statement stems from concerns around antagonising the dominant Hindu majority in the region. Meanwhile, a recent exhibit presented by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) at the Museum of Surrey, British Columbia, drew criticism from the World Sikh Organization for what it deems to be anti-Sikh content. The display allegedly portrayed Sikhi as a branch of Hinduism and referred to Guru Granth Sahib as a ‘Hindu manuscript.’ The exhibit has since been removed.