Political leadership in Canada is silent on the “K” word, yet Indian diplomats are given security

The Modi government has warned Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany that if extremists from Khalistan target India in their nations, it will have an impact on their bilateral relations.Although the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) is worried about the rising radicalization among Sikh separatists and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has provided security escort to Indian diplomats, the country’s political leadership is still engaged in vote-bank politics and has not publicly condemned the threats and violence of Khalistan extremists.Even the Conservative leader of the opposition or the Prime Minister have yet to denounce the extremists who are openly targeting Indian diplomats by name and photo, barring vague and tepid statements from the Canadian Foreign and Defence Ministers.

Although there are 2.4 million Indians in Canada overall, the 700,000-strong Sikh population, which is primarily concentrated in Greater Toronto, Greater Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary, serves as a voting bloc while the Indian diaspora as a whole remains divided. Extremists from Khalistan are so feared that neither the moderate Sikh community in Canada nor the Indian diaspora speak out against them.The RCMP and CSIS are in close communication with the Indian High Commission and Consulates in Canada and have provided escort and two officers to key diplomats in Toronto and Vancouver in response to calls for protest rallies in those cities.

The SFJ chairman G S Pannu, a dual citizen of Canada and the US, is leading a group of Sikh extremists who intend to march to the Indian embassies in Toronto and Vancouver on July 8 in protest of the execution of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver on June 19. On July 16 in the Greater Toronto Area, and in September in the Greater Vancouver Area, the SFJ also intends to organise referendums.Pannu, who was involved in the inter-gang killings of Nijjar in Vancouver and Avtar Singh Khanda in the UK, is currently off the radar but is anticipated to reemerge before the demonstration on July 8.