Commentary: The fraught history of India and the Khalistan movement

Campaigners FROM KHALISTAN WERE KILLED

The death of Nijjar marks the second intentional killing of Khalistan leaders outside of India.

Head of the Khalistan Commando Force Paramjit Singh Panjwar was killed in May in Lahore, Pakistan, by two identified attackers. Avtar Singh Khanda of the Khalistan Liberation Force, based in the UK, was accused of intoxication to death in June.

Nijjar served as both the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force and an active member of Sikhs for Justice, a team based in the United States that is working to establish an independent state of Sikhism. Sikhs for Justice have been holding elections in support of Khalistan since 2022 in Canada and other countries.

According to Punjabi intelligence officers, Nijjar had assumed control of the Khalistan Tiger Force as the” operational head” and was assembling teams to launch attacks, The Times of India reported in 2016.

Additionally, it asserted that Nijjar often traveled to Pakistan and interacted with Pakistani intelligence. Additionally, there have been claims that Nijjar was preparing an invasion in Punjab by operating a tent close to Mission, British Columbia.

That document, according to Mission Mayor Randy Hawes, is unreliable. When asked if that claim had any merit, Canada’s public health minister, Ralph Goodale, declined to respond at the time.

Nijjar noted in an open letter to Trudeau that the accusations made against him were” technically false and falsified.” ” I believe that I have become the target of an Indian government media campaign to label my human rights campaign as” terrorism activities” because of my campaign for Sikh rights ,” he continued.

The most recent event in the ongoing dispute between India and Canada regarding the Khalistan activity is the Nijjar episode. The American government asserts that India’s independence, territorial integrity, and security are in jeopardy because Canada hasn’t outlawed organizations like the Khalistan Tiger Force and Sikhs for Justice.

Canada has so far steadfastly refused to halt the elections. In the meantime, India’s latest Indian populist government is still intolerant of any dissenting opinions, particularly those from minority groups.

At the University of Victoria, Reeta Tremblay teaches social science. The Conversation was where this remark second appeared.