Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Born	(1977-10-11)11 October 1977 Harsinghpur, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Died	18 June 2023(2023-06-18) (aged 45) Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Cause of death	Multiple gunshots
Citizenship	Indian (until 2007) Canadian (from 2007)
Organization	Khalistan Tiger Force
Movement	Khalistan

Hardeep Singh Nijjar (11 October 1977 – 18 June 2023) was an Indian-born Canadian militant, Sikh separatist leader involved with the Khalistan movement, and was the leader of pro-Khalistan militant group Khalistan Tiger Force.

While Nijjar was viewed as a Sikh-independence advocate by many Sikh organizations, the Indian government considered him a terrorist. In 2014, upon India's request, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against Nijjar. Nijjar was also designated as a terrorist under India's Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

In Canada, Nijjar gained prominence in 2019, when he took the leadership of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, and became an outspoken advocate of Sikh separatism. Nijjar also got associated with Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and spearheaded the Khalistan Referendum 2020 campaign for the creation of Khalistan. On 18 June 2023, Nijjar was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia. As of September 2023, Canadian authorities have not made any arrests in connection with Nijjar's murder.

On 18 September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canadian Intelligence agencies were "pursuing credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Nijjar. Subsequently, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly announced the expulsion of an Indian diplomat. Meanwhile, India's foreign ministry rejected the allegation, calling it "absurd and motivated". Further, the Indian government expelled a top Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move. The following day, Trudeau sought to ease tensions, telling reporters that Canada was "not looking to provoke or escalate". As of September 2023, Canada has not provided any evidence linking the Indian government to Nijjar's death.

Early life and migration to Canada

Nijjar was originally from a village in Jalandhar, Punjab, and migrated to Canada in the mid-1990s. According to The Tribune, Nijjar was arrested in India in 1995 amidst a crackdown on an armed insurgency in Punjab.

Nijjar arrived in Canada on 10 February 1997, using a fraudulent passport that identified him as "Ravi Sharma", and made a refugee claim. In a sworn affidavit, he indicated that his brother, father and uncle had all been arrested, and he himself had been tortured by police. His claim was rejected, as officials thought his documentation was partially fabricated; officials suspected that a letter, supposedly written by an Indian physician and attesting to his torture, was forged. The panel wrote that it did "not believe that the claimant was arrested by the police and that he was tortured by the police." Eleven days after his claim was denied, Nijjar married a woman who sponsored his immigration. Officials noted that the woman had arrived in Canada in 1997 married to another man, and rejected the claim as a marriage of convenience. In 2001, Nijjar appealed this ruling but lost. However, Nijjar ultimately was permitted entry into Canada. According to Marc Miller, the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Nijjar became a Canadian citizen on 25 May 2007.

Involvement in Khalistan movement

In Canada, Nijjar operated a plumbing business and was married with two sons. He lived in Surrey, British Columbia, where he was a leader of the local Sikh community. He became the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, a Sikh temple in Surrey, in 2018. Nijjar was re-affirmed as president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in 2022.

Nijjar was a leader of the Canadian branch of Sikhs for Justice. In 2012, he circulated petitions collecting signatures calling on the United Nations to recognize anti-Sikh violence in India in 1984 as a genocide. In the months before his death, he was organizing an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora, sponsored by Sikhs for Justice, in support of the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent Sikh state. The Khalistan movement is banned in India, but has some support within the Sikh diaspora. After his death, the World Sikh Organization of Canada said that Nijjar "often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan."

As a religious leader, Nijjar engaged in various community activities, holding special prayers for the Muslims slain in the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, and for the Canadian indigenous children buried in unmarked graves at Canadian residential schools. He also called for the release of G. N. Saibaba, a human rights activist imprisoned in India.

Nijjar had a dispute with Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Canadian Sikh who was acquitted over involvement in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182. Malik and a partner purchased a commercial printing press to use to print Sikh religious scripture, but later sued Nijjar in a civil lawsuit in British Columbia, alleging that Nijjar had failed to return the press that Malik had given him for safekeeping. After Malik was murdered in July 2022, several Indian news reports, quoting Indian intelligence officials, speculated that Nijjar was somehow linked to Malik's death. Nijjar denounced these claims, saying that he was friendly with Malik, that he sent his son to a school founded by Malik, and that he respected Malik's work within the Sikh community; Nijjar's lawyer said that Nijjar was "being vindictively targeted and accused of crimes solely based on dissenting political opinions."

Allegations of militant activity by India

Nijjar was the leader of pro-Khalistan militant group Khalistan Tiger Force. India issued two Interpol red notices against Nijjar in 2014 and 2016. The first accused him of being a "mastermind/active member" of Khalistan Tiger Force and said that suspects arrested in connection with the 2007 Shingaar cinema hall bomb blast had implicated him. Canadian authorities subsequently put him on a no-fly list but did not take any further action. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Canadian lawyer, activist, and associate of Nijjar's, said that Nijjar was acquitted of involvement in the conspiracy.

The Indian government alleged that Nijjar visited Pakistan in 2013-14, met there with militant leader Jagtar Singh Tara of Babbar Khalsa International, and was recruited by Pakistan's intelligence agency. The 2016 notice issued by Indian authorities accused Nijjar of being a "mastermind and key conspirator of many terrorist acts in India." In 2015, the Indian government asked Canadian authorities to surveil Nijjar, alleging that he was involved in a plot to transport ammunition by paraglider into India. Nijjar said that this claim was "absolutely preposterous" and "more like a bad Bollywood movie plot."

In a letter sent in 2016 to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nijjar called the Indian government's accusations "fabricated, baseless, fictitious and politically motivated" and part of a smear campaign seeking to discredit him. Nijjar wrote: "my Sikh nationalist activities are peaceful, democratic and protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" and that he "never believed in, supported or been involved in any violent activity." In a 2016 interview with the Vancouver Sun, Nijjar said that the Indian government's claims that he was a terrorist were "garbage." Pannun said that "Indian authorities often label Sikh activists as terrorists, who are simply trying to raise awareness in Canada about human rights violations being committed against Sikhs in the Punjab."

In 2018, the Indian government again accused Nijjar of "multiple targeted killings" in India, and in February 2018, Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, included Nijjar on a list of "most wanted persons" given to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau. In a statement, Nijjar said: "I am being targeted and framed in false criminal cases by Indian authorities for my relentless campaign against the genocidal violence against the Sikhs and continuous support for Referendum 2020 to liberate Punjab and create separate Sikh country Khalistan." The Hindustan Times reported that the Surrey unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) briefly detained Nijjar for questioning in April 2018, released him within 24 hours without laying any charges.

In 2020, India designated Nijjar a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, saying that he was "involved in exhorting seditionary and insurrectionary imputations and also attempting to create disharmony among different communities in India." The same year, amid protests by Indian farmers against new agriculture laws, the Indian government filed a criminal case against him, one of a number of cases that authorities filed against Sikh activists living both at home and abroad; the government initially attempted to discredit the farmers' protest by associating it with Sikh nationalism. In 2022, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused him of plotting to kill a Hindu priest in Punjab, and offered a reward of ₹1,000,000 (approximately CA$16,200) for any information that could help apprehend him.

Death and subsequent diplomatic dispute

The Guru Nanak Gurdwara, outside of which Nijjar was killed

In the early summer of 2022, Nijjar was alerted by Canadian Security Intelligence Service officials of a likely assassination plot against him. According to his son, Nijjar had been meeting with CSIS officers "once or twice a week" in the days before his killing, and had another meeting scheduled for two days after Nijjar was killed. CSIS officers warned Nijjar of threats to his life and advised him to stay at home.

On 18 June 2023, Nijjar was shot and killed in his pickup truck by two masked gunmen in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. He walked out of the gurdwara at around 8:30 p.m. and was gunned down approximately two minutes later. The gunmen (whom investigators described as "heavier set") fled the scene by foot into a waiting car (later identified as a silver 2008 Toyota Camry) that sped away. Investigators said the two gunmen and the getaway-car driver had laid in wait for at least an hour before the murder. Nijjar's death is being investigated by the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). Canadian authorities have not yet made any arrests.

Allegation of Indian responsibility

In September 2023, during the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit, Canada and India did not have a one-on-one meeting, but instead met on the sidelines. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Sikh protests in Canada, while Trudeau brought up the accusations of Indian government involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The talks between the two leaders were tense, affecting ongoing trade discussions.

On 18 September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Parliament, "Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India" and Nijjar's killing. Trudeau called upon the Indian government to cooperate with the investigation, and said: "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."

The Canadian government has not made public any evidence for Indian government involvement in the killing, citing the need to protect sensitive intelligence sources and methods. However, Canadian government sources with knowledge of the matter told CBC that human and signals intelligence provided evidence of the Indian government's responsibility, including messages between Indian officials and intelligence from an unnamed Five Eyes alliance member.

Fallout

Nijjar's death has caused a diplomatic crisis which led Canada–India relations to their lowest point. The investigation directly led to the suspension of talks on a Canada–India trade deal on 1 September.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly ordered the expulsion of Pavan Kumar Rai, a top Indian diplomat in Canada who headed the operations of the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency, in Canada. India denied the claims as absurd and expelled Olivier Sylvestre, the chief of the Canadian intelligence office in India, the next day. The Indian government also accused Canada of harbouring "extremists and terrorists" who "continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity".

India temporarily suspended the processing of visa applications for Canadian citizens on 21 September 2023 due to the "rift" between the countries; the Indian government blamed "security threats being faced by our High Commission and consulates in Canada" as the reason for the suspension. There is no restriction on citizens holding valid visas.

India issued a travel warning on 20 September 2023 to its citizens about Canada, urging them to "exercise utmost caution" when travelling to Canada due to "growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate-crimes"; Canadian minister of public safety Dominic LeBlanc dismissed India's travel advisory, saying: "People can read into that what they want. Canada is a safe country. What we're doing is ensuring there's an appropriate criminal investigation into these circumstances."

International reactions

Canada's key allies, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, all of which are members of the Five Eyes alliance, expressed their 'concern' and encouraged India to collaborate in the ongoing investigation. However, none of them took the explicit step of "condemning" India for its alleged involvement.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: "I firmly reject the idea that there is a wedge between the U.S. and Canada. We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account." Sullivan added that the U.S. would defend its basic principles "regardless of the country" and that the U.S. had been in touch with both India and Canada regarding the murder.