A month after Carney's India trip, B.C. police warn another Sikh activist of threat to his life

OTTAWA — One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India to renew diplomatic ties, Canadian police warned yet another Sikh and pro-Khalistan activist of a threat to his life.

In an interview, Sikh Canadian Narinder Singh Randhawa told National Post he was informed on April 11 by Surrey police of an “immediate threat” to his life.

Randhawa is a longtime activist for the establishment of an independent Khalistan within India and a fierce critic of the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has worked to organize two Khalistan referendums in recent years.

In the interview and a statement, Randhawa said police said during the “duty to warn” notification that they could not tell him who was behind the threat. But he believes it comes from agents of the government of India who are opposed to his activism.

“That I am facing a threat to my life due to my active participation in pro-Khalistan activism, protests in front of the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, and for seeking prosecution of Indian officials, including the then Indian diplomats, for their role in the assassination of Shaheed Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” he said in a statement distributed by Sikhs For Justice.

Randhawa told National Post that despite the threat to his life, he would not stop his pro-Khalistan activities nor his regular protests in front of the Indian consulate in B.C. He noted that police have been following him around lately when he travels during the day.

“I’m feeling good. I will continue my campaign. So, India tried to threaten me to stop my voice, so I will continue to do my protests,” he told National Post. This is the first time he has been warned by police of threats to his life.

National Post obtained a recording of one of Randhawa’s calls with police to confirm he received the duty to warn advisory. In a statement, Surrey Police Sergeant Tige Pollock declined to comment, stating that “Duty to Warns are private information.”

Randhawa also said he frequently receives death threats on social media due to his activism.

Randhawa said he was a close friend of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian-Sikh pro-Khalistan activist who was assassinated in front of his B.C. gurdwara in 2023.

Months after Nijjar’s murder, then prime minister Justin Trudeau announced in Parliament that the government had credible intelligence linking Indian government agents to the assassination.

Since then, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has repeatedly warned that India is one of the main proponents of transnational repression and foreign interference on Canadian soil.

The duty to warn to Randhawa comes just weeks after Carney travelled to India to reset diplomatic and trade ties with Modi’s government.

Weeks before Carney’s trip, Global News reported that another pro-Khalistan activist Moninder Singh, head of the Sikh Federation of Canada, received a similar warning from police of a credible threat to his life.

During the trip to India, Carney’s cabinet was forced to slowly backpedal controversial comments from a senior government official days before the meeting telling reporters that the government did not believe the Indian government was still linked to violent crimes in Canada.

“I would not use those words,” Carney eventually told reporters while arguing that Canada and India have made “progress” in their trade and security relationship.

At the same time, CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam told National Post that its assessment that India was among the top committers of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada had not changed.

The Indian government has staunchly denied any involvement in transnational repression towards Canadians. It also has designated many pro-Khalistan activists as “terrorists” and called on the Canadian government to either charge them or extradite them to India, which Canada has refused to do.

During Carney’s trip to India, the country’s high commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik insisted that his government had never been involved violent activity against Canadian Sikhs.

“It never happened,” he told reporters from India. “It’s a problem Canada has to resolve itself.”

The Indian high commission in Ottawa did not reply to a request for comment on the threat to Randhawa by deadline on Thursday.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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