IGNORED- Indian anti-Sikh claims on Surrey shooting dismissed in Canada

Canadian authorities and media this week ignored claims stemming from India that a recent Surrey (British Columbia) shooting was the handiwork of a “Khalistani terrorist”.

Within hours of a shooting at approximately 1.30am on 10th July targeting Kap’s Cafe, located in Surrey’s Newton neighborhood on 120th Street, Indian nationalist X (Twitter) users were sharing a video of the criminal act, claiming it was part of a Khalistani (free Sikh homeland) terror campaign targeting the owner of the newly opened cafe, Punjabi celebrity Kapil Sharma.

The social media posts by Indian nationalists came before any Canadian media or authorities had released a statement on the incident and were nearly immediately picked up on by Indian media. The posts by Indian nationalist media figures claimed the existence of a yet to be seen confession from a so-called “Khalistani terrorist” named Harjit Singh Laddi, based in Germany. The outlandish Indian media claims report the existence of a confession which says the shooting was setup because Sharma had made disrespectful comments about the attire of Nihang Sikhs, a more-military focused faction of the faith.

To date, The Sikh Press Association has not been able to ascertain the existence of any confession from any individual nor Khalistan group to this shooting. No Indian media reports provide any links nor images nor video footage of any confession from the individual said to be associated to Khalistan. An alleged video circulating said to be of Harjit Singh Laddi “confessing” includes zero references to Khalistan. Sikh PA will not be sharing any such unverified content. No official statement on the incident has been released by any Indian police/investigative unit, let alone confirmation of the culprit.

Also to be noted, no link exists to suggest someone called Harjit Singh Laddi is any type of figure within the Khalistani community, such as appearances at any events or within any content from official groups. References to Laddi only begin to appear within India media and statements by authorities in 2024, with only sparse reference to Khalistan links.

Whilst Indian media ran with the unverified claims in both suspicious and brazen fashion, comparatively both of Canada’s two biggest media outlets – Global News and CBC News – did not reference the Khalistan allegations. Other Canadian media outlets did mention the Indian media allegations, although without sensationalizing the as of yet completely baseless allegations.

Speaking on the Indian media attempt to warp the Canadian media narrative, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“It is great to see the majority of Canadian media outlets show they are not to be swayed by completely baseless claims from India which go against every basic protocol of Canadian law. In India, proscribing guilt before any legal process is normal, but it should not be in the West, where there is due process with such situations.

“Furthermore, the allegations from India make no sense at all. Kapil Sharma has never been mentioned by any Khalistan nor Nihang group as a disrespectful or provocative person. On the contrary, Sharma has notably been the target if an Indian nationalist hate campaign for his support for Sikh activists.”

Sharma, an Amritsar (Punjab) born Bollywood comedian who has previously displayed support for Sikh activists, joins a growing list of Punjabi celebrities targeted in similar attacks in BC, with previously the infamous Lawrence Bishnoi gang taking responsibility for such attacks. Hindu Punjabis showing support for Sikh activism is common at a grassroots level in amongst the communities, due to direct observation of State subjugation and oppression.

The attacks linked to the Bishnoi gang – which speculatively includes this recent shooting towards Kapil Sharma – all are near identical in their execution and manner of release (brazen videos). This reputation around the Bishnoi gang has led to calls for the network to be labelled a terrorist entity, something which may be difficult given some beliefs that the Bishnoi label is merely a proxy for India’s government own criminal network workings.

The fact that the extortion seems to near exclusively target Punjabis was also highlighted by advocacy group World Sikh Org of Canada, who also stated “it is now abundantly clear that these gangs have ties to the Government of India.”

Various Sikh X users also pointed out the suspicious fact that Indian nationalist posters seemed to have the news – including video footage – before any Canadian media or authorities.

Sikhs For Justice, the group behind the global Khalistan Referendum campaign, released a statement on the accusations, calling the Indian narrative “disinformation…part of India’s hybrid warfare” to “delegitimize the Khalistan Referendum”.

An emerging pattern of Hindu businessmen connected within Sikh communities being targeted has made headlines across the world in recent weeks. Just last week in Punjab, noted businessman and fashion designer Sanjay Verma was gunned down, whilst extortion attempts against Surrey Hindu community figure Satish Kumar continue. Kumar was the target of a recent hate campaign run by Indian propagandist Kushal Mehra, a Modi government export into Canada with a reputation of stoking communal divisions.

The baseless allegations regarding non-existent “Khalistani terrorism” in Canada are also part of a wider pattern. In 2023 Indian media lied about “grenades” being launch at an Indian embassy in Canada by Khalistan protesters. In 2022 another false anonymous claim made Ottawa police believe Sikh men were going to blow up their own #SikhGenocide remembrance event, which they had their families – including children – attending. The ludicrous claim saw police needlessly detain and interrogate the Sikh organizers of the event.

The suspicious manner of the news first breaking via Indian nationalist X users also resembles the now notorious murder of Sukhdool Singh Gill in Winnipeg. Just hours after Indian media proclaimed Gill a wanted Khalistani terrorist, Gill was slain in his apartment, only for Punjab Police to later tell CBC News he was not a terrorist but just a criminal. Read more on this ultra-suspect case here-
Punjabi Canadian appears on Indian “terror” hit list, murdered hours later, Indian media report it first- what’s going on? | SikhPA

Although police have since been active in Surrey, no official update on the case has yet come out.