The latest release of information from Canadian authorities regarding the assassination of Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar has revealed diplomatic communications are part of the “credible evidence” which point to India’s involvement.

The news was broken by CBC News this afternoon (21.09.23), stating:

“The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals (communications) intelligence in a months-long investigation of a Sikh activist’s death that has inflamed relations with India, sources tell CBC News. That intelligence includes communications involving Indian officials themselves, including Indian diplomats present in Canada, say Canadian government sources. The intelligence did not come solely from Canada. Some was provided by an unnamed ally in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.“

The new information also relayed that Canadian officials found no denials of India’s involvement during direct engagement between both nations’ intelligence services, although cooperation with Canada for clarity was not forthcoming from India.

The diplomatic communications cited are also said to confirm the assassination of Nijjar was sanctioned higher-up the Indian government’s chain of command. Whether this goes all the way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is unclear. This would not be Modi’s first alleged involvement in murder, with the former Chief Minister of Gujarat long linked to facilitating the anti-Muslim massacres in the state in 2002, leading to him receiving a ban from entering various Western countries until he became Prime Minister in 2015.

The new information comes after two Indian diplomats were expelled from Canada on Monday, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the news of India’s involvement in the assassination of Nijjar.

Diplomat Parag Jain of the Indian Consulate in Ottawa, and Amar Jit Singh, the Consul at the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, were the two expelled diplomats linked with the interference, although a third (Pavan Kumar Rai, pictured) was also forced to leave Canada.

Singh was carrying out undeclared intelligence activities according to The Bureau, including “recruiting sources and agents to infiltrate, monitor and co-opt Sikh diaspora communities“, as well as “interfering and influencing voting in favour of those that were assessed as pro-India candidates“. Singh and Jain were also allegedly “facilitating visas for Indo-Canadian politicians and their friends,” while manipulating “India’s ‘black list’ of people banned from travelling to India“.

The news has once again sent shockwaves around the world regarding India’s targeting of diaspora Sikhs. However, Sikhs have openly stated diplomats were involved in Nijjar’s assassination, evident from the much-talked-about posters released by Sikhs For Justice after the murder. Whilst many political commentators and anti-Sikh media figures used the posters to suggest Sikhs For Justice – the group behind the Khalistan Referendum campaign – were agitating in Canada, the latest news vindicates their efforts to hold Indian officials accountable for the crime, although neither Parag Jain nor Amar Jit Singh were specifically mentioned.

The actions of Indian diplomats and consulate staff have long been cited as questionable by various Sikh groups. In 2020, Indian officials of the Hamburg (Germany) consulate were find attempting to covertly gather data on local Sikhs- Indian government caught spying on Sikhs in Germany | SikhPA. In March of this year, India’s High Commission staff in London were found to be throwing ink at Sikh protesters demonstrating outside of the building.

Meanwhile, US sources have claimed President Joe Biden raised Nijjar’s murder directly with Modi at the recent G20 summit. Biden’s questioning of Modi was part of an interrogation on the Indian PM by members of Five Eyes.

Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing network comprised of the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The network comes from an initial intelligence agreement set in 1941 between the UK and USA, with the current form including all five nations cemented in 1955.

Speaking on the new information, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“Once again, this news will shock much of the world but not panthic (Sikh path/community focused) groups, who have for decades said India’s interference on Sikh diaspora communities is coordinated at an official level.

“Questions will now be asked of India’s diplomats across the world. Given incidents in Australia and the UK, there will likely be particular scrutiny there, and Sikhs will be anticipating swift action for clarity or perhaps even justice.”

Media inquiries- media@sikhpa.com.

In a groundbreaking moment in Sikh history, Canadian authorities have come out to confirm what Sikhs have been saying for months; that the Indian State was behind the assassination of Shaheed (Martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.

In news first broken by the Globe and Mail, the Canadian nation security authorities confirmed there is evidence proving India were behind the assassination of Nijjar, shot dead in Surrey (BC), although details of how this has come to be confirmed cannot be revealed for security reasons.

Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar was at the time the President of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Surrey (BC) where he was murdered. Nijjar was also a globally respected leading figure of the Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) movement. For over a decade he had faced threats from India due to his open advocation for Khalistan, which was the same reason he became a hugely popular figure within global Sikh circles, leading to his election as the President at one of the world’s busiest Gurdwaras outside of India.

Read more about the incident and community reaction- Gurdwara assassination leads to pressure for Canadian investigation on Indian interference | SikhPA.

Cementing the news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP head Jagmeet Singh all spoke on the news in parliament today.

In immediate fallout from the situation, an Indian diplomat has been expelled from Canada relating to the assassination. The diplomat was a senior of India’s infamous RAW intelligence wing, known amongst many Sikh groups for facilitating the murder and torture of countless Sikh activists.

Jasveer Singh of The Sikh Press Association said of the news:

“The Sikh Press Association welcome Canada’s acknowledgment of what countless Sikh groups already knew regarding Shaheed (Martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar. We hope this leads to stronger investigations into other types of Indian interference in Canada and there is also an examination into how the assassination was allowed to happen under authorities’ watch.”

Media inquiries- media@sikhpa.com.

This weekend (17.09.2023) the Sikh Federation (UK) celebrated its twenty-year anniversary with a conference at Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Smethwick. The conference took place at the end of a three-day convention in which over 15,000 Sikhs took part.

The Sikh Federation (UK) is an org which campaigns and lobbies for the interests of the British Sikh community in UK politics and public legislation. The key message coming from British Sikhs at this year’s conference; “Our vote will not be allowed to be taken for granted.”

Speakers discussed key and current events concerning the Sikh community in UK politics, expressing outrage at the growing animosity in the UK government and media towards the Khalistan movement, likening the name “Khalistani” to “terrorist”. There have been several examples of this happening this past year such as the unfounded remarks in the Bloom Report and the defaming claims made on GB News. This evident disregard for the Sikh community has also been shown by the government’s lack of concern for Jagtar Singh (Jaggi) Johal and Rishi Sunak’s choice not to fight for his release when visiting India for the G20.

The current Conservative government has disappointed the Sikh community in the past five years. The actions of senior politicians such as Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak have negatively targeted Sikhs and damaged the Conservative Party’s reputation within the Sikh community.

Therefore, in anticipation of the next general election, the Sikh Federation (UK) has made it clear that the party will only gain the community’s support if Sikhs are listened to. In a statement, Bhai Amrik Singh, Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), stated: “We must have a Labour government prepared to publicly lead condemnation of the Indian government’s systematic discrimination and promotion of violence towards religious and other minorities in India.”

The Sikh Federation (UK) has developed a strategy for a Labour government and Conservative opposition in preparation. They will release a Sikh Manifesto at least three months before the next general election which will outline what is expected from the newly elected government.

The Sikh Federation (UK) is encouraging the 250+ Sikh Gurdwaras across the UK to put strict measures in place to make sure that the Sikh vote is not taken for granted. In the run-up to the next election, only those politicians who have provided specific public commitments to the Sikh community should be provided with a platform in Gurdwaras.

“We will encourage Gurdwaras to completely change the dynamics in terms of politicians only being given a platform if they make specific commitments to the community.”

The Labour leadership has already made commitments to the Sikh community about recognising and addressing anti-Sikh hate crimes, the release and return of Jagtar Singh (Jaggi) Johal, and an independent public inquiry into the UK involvement in the events of June 1984. However, the Sikh community require a Labour government to additionally deliver a statutory Code of Practice on the Sikh articles of faith, officially recognise the 1984 Sikh Genocide and, working with other governments, take this forward on the global stage.

The number of Sikh MPs in a Labour government is expected to increase from two to nine. Sikh candidates have been selected in existing Labour seats in Derby, Huddersfield, Ilford, and Southampton and seats in seats Labour is expected to win in Bolton, Loughborough, and Wolverhampton.

It was evident that prospective candidates and current MPs, both Sikh and non-Sikh, were invited but not in attendance.

Media inquiries- Har-Rai@SikhPA.com.

Countless Sikhs await an upcoming judicial decision on Professor Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, but who is the respected activist who has been imprisoned for 28-years?

Sikhs across the globe are anxiously awaiting an Indian High Court decision expected to be made within weeks regarding the status of respected Sikh political prisoner Professor Devinderpal Singh Bhullar.

Countless Sikhs and human rights supporters have followed the case for decades, with it being viewed as one of the more standout examples representative of the typical plight of Sikh activists in Punjab.

So who is Professor Devinderpal Singh Bhullar?

Professor Bhullar became a popular panthic (Sikh path/community focused) figure in the early 90s, when he was was a chemical engineering professor at Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana.

At the time the Sikh Genocide was at its peak, with thousands of mainly young Sikh men going “missing”, usually after being reported as arrested. Tens of thousands of these men, along with countless women and children too, were murder victims of Indian police carrying out “fake encounter” massacres across Punjab, where officers would either claim to have released someone who then “disappeared”, or fabricate a story where they were forced to kill those they interacted with. Panthic historians of the time estimate anywhere from 50,000-200,000+ Sikhs were killed from 1984-1995 only. As noted by human rights org Ensaaf, killings continued up to at least 2012. Officers guilty of these open-secret massacres are still being prosecuted to this day, although many feel only a handful of those guilty are being held accountable, and only after they have already had decades of freedom after their crimes.

Upon several of his college students going “missing”, Professor Bhullar began speaking out about the atrocities and advocating for justice, leading to him becoming a target for the Indian State. With his speaking out, soon attention turned directly towards the popular panthic academic.

What is Professor Bhullar in prison for?

In 1990, the Punjab Police attempted to connect Professor Bhullar to the assassination of Senior Superintendent Sumedh Saini’s vehicle. No evidence was found to link Bhullar to the case. At the time in Punjab and some would say still to this day, it was common for police to simply find anyone to convict for a major incident to both satisfy public nationalist outcry and also simultaneously eliminate perceived troublemakers like Bhullar, who called out their crimes.

 Due to their failure to implicate Professor Bhullar in the crime, the police abducted and killed his father, uncle and friend, and abducted and tortured his mother and cousin.

In 1993 when the Police were looking for him in connection to the bombing of Politician Maninderjeet Bitta’s government convoy, Professor Bhullar sought political asylum in Canada. On his way he was detained in Germany where the German government rejected his asylum application and instead imprisoned him, before deporting him to Delhi in 1995. Human rights groups cited the deportation was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights to appeal the deportation. Shortly after Professor Bhullar was sent away, the High German Court overruled his asylum application rejection.

Upon landing in Delhi in 1995, Bhullar was detained without access to a lawyer and tortured, both violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Bhullar was imprisoned without trial for five years until 2001, and then convicted and sentenced to death. Sikh orgs highlighted several issues which rendered his trial and sentencing as unfair.  

An unfair trial

Bhullar’s arrest and conviction are all part of the TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) Act, used from 1985-1995, which gave police extraordinary powers for arrest and detention. The UN condemned it as “disturbing and completely unacceptable” as it assumed that a person was guilty until proven innocent. It allowed for wide powers to arrest and detain without trial whilst having minimum legal safeguards for fair trial, which is evident in how the case of Professor Bhullar was dealt with.

The direct successor of this act, the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) which is currently active, has been condemned by human rights lawyers and activists in Punjab for the same reasons but is still in use.

The prosecution of Professor Bhullar was a result of an unfair trial. His conviction was based solely on a forced confession. Professor Bhullar was tortured and forced to sign blank papers which a typed confession was later written upon. Confessions are not accepted in court unless they are handwritten or in an audio/visual form, but an exception was made, illegally, in the case of Professor Bhullar.

Despite having five years of Professor Bhullar’s illegal imprisonment to investigate the case, the prosecution was unable to produce any corroborative evidence that implicated him. They produced 133 eyewitnesses, none of whom were able to identify Bhullar as guilty of any offence.

The presiding Judge, Justice M.B. Shah, of the three Judge panel found Bhullar not guilty, stating that “Without there being corroborative evidence… This would not be a fit case for convicting the appellant solely on the basis of so-called confessional statement…”. The other two judges voted for the death sentence, making it the first time in Indian history that the death sentence was given on a split decision.

The fight for release

The Sikh community, both in Punjab and internationally, has been fighting against Professor Bhullar’s imprisonment for decades. However, due to the political nature of his imprisonment, the grassroots consensus on Professor Bhullar’s innocence and on the human rights abuses being committed against him has not yet resulted in his release.

The President of India rejected Professor Bhullar’s clemency petition in May 2011, eight years after the request was filed. During this time, while his mercy plea was being delayed for political reasons, there were worldwide candlelight vigils in 2006 to raise attention to his plight.

In 2013, there was international backlash after a court review upheld Professor Bhullar’s death sentence and his execution seemed imminent. Sikhs across the world called for the Indian government to remove Professor Bhullar from death row immediately and retry his case in proceedings that comply with international fair trial standards. A petition in the UK was signed by 118,000 and the case of Professor Bhullar as well as India’s use of the death penalty was discussed in Parliament.

This resulted in The Supreme Court of India commuting Professor Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment in 2014, the only improvement in his situation to date. This was both on the grounds of an unexplained and inordinate delay of eight years in deciding his mercy petition and because of the mental health of Professor Bhullar.

Professor Bhullar has been receiving treatment for his mental health (schizophrenia) in hospitals during his imprisonment starting some time in the 2000s. This treatment has not been very effective. In 2015 he was transferred from Tihar to Amritsar Jail and was last noted as undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College, Amritsar.

In 2016 Professor Bhullar was released on parole for 21 days and was able to spend time with his family. Whilst some could view this as progress, it was noted by many political commentators as a play for Sikh votes by the in-power Congress Party at the time.

So, what now?

With Sikh groups lobbying for Bhullar’s release among many other political prisoners – including modern example British born Jagtar Singh Johal – , focus has not shifted from his situation for countless human rights supporters.

In 2021, respected human rights Punjab based lawyer Jaspal Singh Manjhpur revealed all legal barriers for Professor Bhullar’s release were now removed and he could be free upon the say-so of Delhi (where Bhullar is imprisoned) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party.

In early 2022 protests were held in Amritsar against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for “adopting dilly-dallying tactics” in signing Professor Bhullar’s premature release order before it could be forwarded onwards for final approval.

The legal hurdles for releasing Professor Bhullar and other Sikh prisoners are sparse but, as is the case with political imprisonment, this does not ensure a speedy release. Professor Bhullar has formally been imprisoned for 28 years now, and a person is entitled to apply for release after completing 20 years of their sentence.

On the 14^th of December 2022 the NCT (National Capital Territory) Delhi had a meeting regarding the premature release of Professor Bhullar, and as of the 12^th of April 2023 the NCT Delhi and the central government had been unable to come to an outcome. When the matter was up for hearing on the 4^th of July, no one from the NCT appeared in Delhi High Court to give an update about the status of the matter and Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi issued them a new notice seeking a reply by the 16^th of August.

Now, after much delay, on the 18^th of October Delhi High Court is set to make their final decision on the premature release of Professor Bhullar, following decades of wrongful imprisonment.

For further insight into Professor Bhullar, check out this breakdown from National Sikh Youth Federation.

UK Conservative Party Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has received criticisms from both the Indian media and also Sikh groups for a statement about tackling “violence” of “pro-Khalistan extremism” in the UK, made today (08.09.23).

The statement on Khalistan (free Sikh homeland movement) was made to Indian media outlets whilst Sunak was attending the annual G20 world leader summit, this year in Delhi (India) chaired by India’s PM Narendra Modi. The same interview also saw Sunak say he is “looking forward” to a comprehensive trade deal with India.

UK community advocacy group Sikh Federation UK called the statement on Khalistan “dangerous”, whilst nationalist Indian media outlet WION News (part of Zee TV) labelled it “a desperate PR move”.

Uniquely, many panthic (Sikh path/community focused) groups and Indian media both agree Sunak’s statement (which you can see here) was an attempt at “appeasement” towards the Indian State. However, pro-Khalistan groups will say this appeasement is based on affirming India’s claims that the Khalistan movement in the UK is extremist and violent, which there is no evidence of. Opposingly, Indian media like WION News claim the appeasement is based on the UK refusing to clamp down on Khalistan support in the UK, all of which Indian media tarnishes as “extremist” and “violent”, terms which Sunak echoed.

Speaking on the opposing views, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“Many UK Sikhs will be angered by Sunak’s comments today because there is no actual substance behind claims the Khalistan movement is violent or extremist. A completely legal and peaceful Khalistan referendum campaign was run across the UK through 2021. Pro-Khalistan events are held by various UK Sikh groups all the time, without issue.

“Yet, for Indian media and Modi’s government, any support for Khalistan is an issue. Famously, after protests last March saw London’s India High Commission flag briefly pulled down, India’s notorious media labelled the incident ‘terrorism’. This sensationalist take was criticised by the likes of Professor Andrew Macleod, but it highlights how different Indian thought is regarding what most Western democracies accept.

“The fact is, Sikhs in the UK and countries like Canada, Australia, the USA and others, use freedoms which do not exist in India to show support for Khalistan, a free Sikh homeland in India. The Indian State does not want Western countries to allow this. They want to see Indian type law imposed on Khalistan supporters. In India sedition is a crime and most Khalistan support falls into that. This is not the case in the West, and Indian nationalists – including the government – are frustrated by this. There is only so much Sunak’s government can do to criminalise Khalistan support, which is completely legal and peaceful across the UK and beyond.”

See the Sikh Federation UK’s statement on Sunak “demonising” Sikh’s comments below.

See the WION News clip accusing Sunak of being “desperate” below.

Perhaps revealingly, the criticisim of being “weak” and working to appease a foreign power known for mass human rights breaches has already been directed towards Sunak. The criticisms came from many including some within his own party last year regarding Sunak’s stances on China.

UK Sikhs have long highlighted why many believe the UK Government has an agenda to malign Khalistan supporters, at the behest of India, with trade deals in mind. Previously, Sikh groups have condemned baseless accusations from the likes of the West Midlands Police, Priti Patel, the Bloom Review, Prevent and even Boris Johnson which support Indian State propaganda against the Khalistan movement.

Currently, there is not a single person that has been charged with Khalistan related terrorism in the UK, putting accusations of “violence” into question. Summarising the issue, Sikh PA’s Jasveer Singh said:

“The Khalistan movement not only threatens the stability and power of India by working to detach the state of Punjab from within it, it also highlights India’s mass human rights breaches against Sikhs.

“By trying to frame Khalistanis as an extremist threat, India distracts from its human rights abuses, which help fuel freedom movements across the country. As their media reflects, the Indian State demands for Khalistan support to be condemned and now even targeted by Western governments. Sunak’s comments reflecting this anti-Sikh position today will be worrying for Sikhs across the globe.“

Media inquiries- media@sikhpa.com.