Sikh activist with “threat to life” warning targeted in day of Hindu anti-Sikh violence across Canada

Mob of 400 Indian nationalists surrounding a Gurdwara to intimidate and provoke underlines the ongoing threat of Hindu nationalist extremism in Canada, an issue puppeteered by Narendra Modi’s government.

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A Sikh activist who was the target of an assassination attempt earlier this year was aggressively confronted by Hindu nationalists during a protest outside a Brampton Mandir (Hindu temple), leading to a now viral skirmish, in one of several anti-Sikh incidents across Canada (03.12.24).

Inderjeet Singh Gosal, a sevadaar (selfless servant) of the Sikhs For Justice group running the Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) Referendum campaign was targeted whilst demonstrating with dozens of others outside an Indian Consulate event at Hindu Sabha Mandir (Gore Road, Brampton, Ontario). A Hindu nationalist group are seen on video approaching him before a skirmish breaks out, resulting in the Hindu nationalists fleeing into the Mandir carpark.

Watch a video of the incident, along with the Sikhs For Justice statement on it here.

Gosal’s home was the target of a shooting in February, whilst he has also previously been given a “duty to warn” notice by Canadian authorities for a “threat to life”, something which over a dozen Sikh activists have received in recent years, including Shaheed (Sikh martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar before he was assassinated last year in Surrey.

After Indian State propagandists released one-sided video footage of the skirmish which only showed the Hindu nationalist side running to hide into the Mandir, mass condemnation from Canadian political and media figures followed, including Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader running for Prime Minister. Peel Police have confirmed three arrests since.

Despite footage now showing a different story, Poilievre has not retracted his statement or addressed the incident again. However, evidence that the attack on Gosal was preplanned by Hindu counter-protesters must prompt retractions and apologies from those accusing Sikhs, as it clearly shows Hindu counter-protesters initiated the violence.

In a brazen display of anti-Sikh hate, Hindu extremists are caught on video on a stream shared by one of their own mob members discussing how to provoke violence by using “sticks” and “bricks” to attack the Sikhs. The same group were also seen leading chants promoting the Bishnoi Gang, the Indian nationalist global crime network which is behind anti-Sikh violence in Canada.

Watch a video of the preplanning to attack Sikhs here. It was also later revealed in footage released by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs For Justice that Sikh protesters were being pelted by stones from within the Mandir complex in Brampton, before the preplanned attack on Gosal took place. Watch the stone pelting here.

Later that day, as more Hindus gathered at the Mandir, a radical Hindutva (Hindu extremist) preacher attended and led mobs to chant “kill them” in reference to their critics, seemingly the Sikh protesters from earlier in the day.

See this on video here.

In a sign of the severity of the threat to Sikhs, later that evening a mob of over 400 Indian flag waving hooligans surrounded nearby Malton Gurdwara,

As local Sikhs began arriving, the mob quickly dispersed, but not before police were in attendance in the area.

Malton Gurdwara have since released a statement, calling for an investigation by Canadian authorities and more action regarding Sikh safety.

Meanwhile, the same protest in Surrey (BC), where local Indian Consulate staff also held an event at Surrey’s Lakshmi Naryan Mandir, saw Hindu counter-protesters mass arrested after breaking out into violence towards police, whilst once again another nationalist mob attempted to provoke a situation by surrounding the local Guru Nanak Gurdwara, where Shaheed Nijjar was killed.

Due to the presence of the Khalistan supporting protesters, agitated counter-protesters began aggressively haranguing police, before turning on them completely with threatening chants of “Surrey Police murderbad” (kill Surrey police) and accusations of them being “Khalistani”. At some point the Hindu protesters got physical with police, resulting in at least three arrests.

See video footage here.

A video later showed Surrey’s Guru Nanak Gurdwara sangat (congregation) also confirm that an Indian nationalist mob attempted to provoke a situation by surrounding the building that evening.

See a video of the statement here.

Despite all of this, at the Surrey protest the local Mandir leader was seen cordially meeting with the Khalistan protesters and eating food they were serving. This is despite the fact President Satish Kumar is linked with anti-Sikh rhetoric regarding a recent complaint about Sikh MPs visiting the Mandir. Read more here.

The day of Hindu violence towards Sikhs across Canada and toward Canadian authorities is certain to trigger even more effort to tackle India’s transnational repression in the country.

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

“The incidents on Sunday show there are clearly Indian mobs in Canada driven into a fervor to attack both Sikhs and even Canadian authorities, based on the Indian nationalist rhetoric all over their media and coming from their political commentators.

“Indians are being fed information en masse that Khalistanis hate them and Canadian authorities are against them and this was always going to provoke a serious situation at a community level. I think we are lucky things did not escalate, which is largely due to the sound-minded actions of Gurdwara committees and Sikh leaders across Canada.

“As is evident on camera, Sikh protesters have been clear they do not stand against the Hindu faith or Hindus, but only the Indian government which is persecuting Sikhs through its consulates in Canada. It is incredulous of these consulate staff to then think they can hold public events after recent revelations around their role in anti-Sikh transnational repression.

“Sikh leaders have made demands clear about how to resolve this. They are asking for India’s Consulates to be shutdown to start, and if that advice had been taken already, we would not have seen an awful day of anti-Sikh violence across Canada yesterday.”