The man who replaced Hardeep Singh Nigar as leader of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in Canada says he rejected the Canadian government’s offer of protection that would have required him to “disappear” from his life.
Inderjit Singh Gosal of Brampton, Ontario, is one of the prime targets for assassination by the same forces who actually shot his predecessor in the parking lot of Guru Nanak’s Sikh gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Gosal says he has no plans to keep a low profile, and will be in the country’s capital to attend an SFJ-organised referendum on Punjab’s independence from India next month – an event sure to anger the Modi government.
Canada has already publicly accused Indian government agents of ordering the killing. Court documents filed by US prosecutors in federal district court also this week He linked her directly to an Indian external intelligence agency agent.
CBC News spoke with Gosal, who is out on bail After his arrest last month on dozens of firearms-related charges, including reckless use and unlawful possession of a prohibited handgun.
The active threats against Gosal raise questions about the Karney government’s decision to move towards normalizing relations with India.
An unprecedented warning
India’s alleged activities were enough for the RCMP Go public on October 14, 2024, warning of an “exceptional situation” revealed by “multiple ongoing investigations into the involvement of Government of India agents in serious criminal activity in Canada.”
They said they took this unusual step “because of the significant threat to public safety in our country.”
Since the diplomatic spat between India and Canada, which led to the expulsion of diplomats on both sides, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have continued to warn of direct threats to individuals from Canada’s Sikh community.
No one is more vulnerable than Toronto-born Inderjit Singh Gosal, who was targeted in an attack Shooting from the car On the job site last year.
‘I’d rather take India’s bullet’
Gosal says that starting in August, warnings from the RCMP began to increase in frequency and urgency.
“Between August 20 and September 10, the RCMP visited me maybe eight to 10 times. It became very serious after September 8 when they visited me and said, ‘There are hitmen in town, there are shooters in town.’”
He said the RCMP told him the only way to protect him was to put him in witness protection and take him to a safe house.
“I respectfully declined, because I would rather take India’s bullet than stop campaigning for the Khalistan referendum.”
CBC News asked Gosal about the firearms charges against him.
“Since the matter is before the courts, I can’t really make a statement about that,” he added. “But what I want to focus on is what happened before these charges, the eight to 10 visits by the RCMP who told me that the hit men were here and that they were ready to get me.”
CBC News asked the RCMP for comment on the protection provided to Gosal and has not yet received a response.
Not ready to disappear
The leader of the worldwide Sikh referendum movement is Canadian-American citizen Gurpatwant Singh Bannun. Last year, he was the victim of an alleged assassination plot in New York City, where he lives. On November 3, Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta is scheduled to stand trial in New York on murder-for-hire conspiracy charges in connection with that plot.
This week the US Attorney is in on the case trot out He revealed that his office will seek to produce video and eavesdropping evidence that allegedly links Bannon’s failed plot and the killing of Carpenter in Surrey, British Columbia, in 2023, and also links them directly to the government of India.
Hardeep Singh Nigar was a pro-Khalistan activist and head of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. His day job was as a plumber. For many years, the Indian government labeled him a terrorist, something Al-Najjar repeatedly denied. So, who was Al-Najjar, and why did India think he posed such a danger?
Bannon says offering witness protection was never a real option for his Canadian deputy, Gosal.
“Ask him to leave his life of 33 years, and disappear from the face of Canada, because we cannot protect you?” Bannon said. “He is not a witness in a cartel war. He is not a witness in a case in which the opposite gang is going to kill him, whether in prison or out of it. This is an individual running a peaceful and democratic referendum campaign.”
Bannon said Gosal had to choose between a form of protection he could not accept, or being left defenseless, and that the gun charges should be viewed in that context.
An upcoming event will surely anger India
Gosal was at Parliament House on Thursday to protest as members of the Khalistani movement called on Canada to halt rapprochement with India until there is evidence that India is prepared to undo what it sees as a campaign of violence, intimidation and assassination in Canada.
He added that the influx of Indian diplomats under the current circumstances will only increase the already high risks he faces.
But Gosal said he would not remain out of sight. He pledged to return to Ottawa to participate in the final part of the Sikh referendum on November 23. Bannon said he also hopes to be in Ottawa that day, and is considering the decision in light of related security issues.
India has in the past reacted angrily to votes conducted by Sikhs for Justice, which were held in several cities with diaspora Sikh communities from London, Rome and Geneva to Surrey and San Francisco, sometimes attracting tens of thousands of voters.
Bannon said Terrorism list Subordinate Bishnoi gangwho allegedly supplied the hit squad used to assassinate Al-Najjar, is a distraction from the larger issue of who directed the killing.
Bishnua “mere foot soldiers”
New Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik He presented his credentials last month, ending a period in which the two countries reduced their diplomatic presence to junior officials.
Canadian officials, including Foreign Minister Anita Anand and National Security Advisor Nathalie Drouin, are in talks with their Indian counterparts about the large-scale campaign of violence. Denounced by RCMP last year. Anand, who travels to India on Sunday, said CBC Rosemary Barton Live Canada will take a “gradual approach” to restore relations.
“We will have a conversation when I am in India about the next steps in diplomatic relations,” she told host Rosemary Barton.
Anand He said Indian officials were cooperating More with Canadian law enforcement.
“(India) has realized that, and the same on our part, by sharing information, we will have safer streets in Canada,” Drouin said two weeks ago. He added: “I think we have found a way, as I said, to address mutual concerns and for leaders to be able to talk about the trade relationship.”
Bannon says escalating threats to his deputy in Brampton, and the continued issuance of “duty to warn” letters by the RCMP, undermine these claims.
“We want Anita Anand to take the US Department of Justice evidence to India, which has always denied any involvement, and ask questions and seek a response,” he said.
“How can normalization be possible with a regime that actively pursues assassination plots? Prime Minister Karney’s normalization with India will fail.”
Gosal told CBC News that Canada was very keen to move beyond the diplomatic row.
“We want Foreign Minister Anita Anand to confront India, not cooperate with it,” he said.
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