‘Khalistanis In Canada Intimidate Sikhs, Threaten To Target Daughters’: Indian Envoy Sanjay Verma – News18

Last Updated:October 24, 2024, 19:00 IST

Top Indian diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma spoke about the genesis of the Khalistani movement in Canada, the support it has got from local politicians for electoral gains, and criminal activities carried out by these elements

Top Indian diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma on Thursday said those who identified as “hard-line Khalistanis” in Canada resorted to intimidating other Sikhs by issuing threats against their families. He, however, said there are only about 10,000 in number, and supporters amount to perhaps 1 lakh in a Sikh population of about 8 lakh.

Verma spoke about the genesis of the Khalistani movement in Canada, the support it has been getting from local politicians for electoral gains, and the kind of criminal activities carried out in order to increase support.

“In the name of Khalistan, they do human trafficking, drug trafficking, gun-running and all. They earn a lot of money through that and also through gurudwaras and they use part of that money for all nefarious jobs,” he told PTI in a video interview.

He added: “These Khalistanis intimidate other Sikhs by threatening to target daughters and families. Just a handful, about 10,000 people, of Sikhs in Canada are hard-line Khalistanis and have made Khalistan a business.”

Verma, the Indian high commissioner to Canada, was quickly recalled by New Delhi when that country named him and five other diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in the killing of ‘designated terrorist’ and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. This was an unexpected downturn in otherwise strong and healthy relations between the two countries in the past.

He said Khalistani terrorists and extremists had found refuge in Canada due to the country’s lenient legal system. “We gave the names of Goldie Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi to Canada, but suddenly Brar’s name disappeared from their wanted list,” he added.

Talking about the Nijjar killing row, the Indian envoy stressed that India has never done anything covert in Canada. “Nijjar was a terrorist for us, but anything extrajudicial is wrong in democracy. The truth must come out,” he said.

He, however, praised Canada for being a “beautiful place” with “good people” but rued that the country was “very welcoming but for Khalistani terrorists and their backers”. “Khalistani supporters in Canada are very small in number but they shout the loudest and gain political patronage,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)