'Vaisakhi' Celebrated Worldwide & Sikh Men Shot Dead in Italy

April

2026

Sikhs in various parts of the world celebrated Khalsa Sajna Diwas (Khalsa Foundation Day) and Vaisakhi, a harvest festival that coincides with the enthronement of Guru Khalsa Panth—the Sikh collective. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa on 18 Apr where he joined Sikhs in community service as part of Sikh Heritage Month 2026. He noted that Canada is home to the second-largest Sikh population in the world. In the UK, large crowds filled Trafalgar Square, London with the mayor Sadiq Khan praising the Sikh community's contribution to London. At a reception hosted at 10 Downing Street, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer marked Vaisakhi with a call for unity and action against anti-Sikh hatred while Sikhs raised the call for UK’s apology on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. Starmer said, 'Sikh history is inseparable from Britain’s history.' On 19 Apr, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited the Guru Nanak Sikh Sangat Gurdwara in Otahuhu, Auckland, where he held a special meeting with Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj, Jathedar (leader) of Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne). In Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi joined the Sikh community for Vaisakhi celebration at Gurdwara Sahib Guru Nanak, Shah Alam. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi extended its warm congratulations and best wishes to the people of India, especially to their brothers and sisters in the Sikh community. Meanwhile, the pilgrims who had gone to celebrate Vaisakhi in Pakistan have returned. Alongside, on 17 Apr, two Sikhs—Rajinder Singh and Gurmit Singh, both aged 48 years—were shot dead by a gunman in Covo, Bergamo, Italy as they came out of Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur Ji. Eyewitnesses said the shooter and accomplices were Indian. The local police are considering the crime an inter-community rivalry though Sikh Federation UK says one of those shot was on Indian National Investigation Agency’s hit list. Earlier, on 9 Feb, Harpal Singh, president of Novellara Gurdwara in Italy was murdered leading to the arrest of two Pakistanis (earlier coverage).