TORONTO: Muslim advocates in Canada have expressed concern and anger at allegations that India may have been involved in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader, emphasizing that Muslim and Sikh Canadians have long supported each other.
Last week, a diplomatic dispute escalated between New Delhi and Ottawa after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was probing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The row has led many Muslim activists in Canada to demand more protections for minorities, with some urging a tougher stance against New Delhi, which has been accused of discriminating against Muslims under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, Al Jazeera reported.
Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader who had demanded an independent Sikh state in India, was killed outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) advocacy group’s head Stephen Brown said that it was widely known that there were agents of the Indian government that were operating in Canada and targeting the diaspora community’s members.
Canadian Muslims Want Action
He said that Canadian Muslims want the Trudeau government to take steps to guarantee their safety.
India and Canada expelled envoys from each other’s respective countries amid the dispute, and New Delhi suspended visa services in Canada due to purported threats against its consular staff.
India had accused Nijjar of being “involved in terrorism” – an allegation rejected by his supporters and associates, who say such claims are part of a drive aimed at vilifying Sikhs advocating for an independent state Khalistan, in India’s northern Punjab region.
The separatist struggle turned violent in the 1980s after then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a raid on a Sikh temple to root out leaders of the Khalistan movement. Gandhi was killed in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards, sparking anti-Sikh riots and deadly attacks.
