Sikh group says Modi responsible for killing of Khalistani leader in Canada

LONDON: Leading pro-Khalistan secessionist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) has said that the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), acting under the instructions of Narendra Modi, assassinated Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

In a video statement, SFJ General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun condemned the killing of SFJ's Canada leader and leading Sikh campaigner Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed on Sunday night.

The federal police said 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar was found with gunshot wounds in his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on Sunday night.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun squarely held RAW, Prime Minister Modi and his close associates Amit Shah and Ajit Doval "responsible for the assassination of Shaheed Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the incharge of Khalistan Referendum in Canada".

The Khalistani leader "avowed to avenge Nijjar's death by bringing down and dismantling Indian system".

SFJ General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said: "While SFJ has been using ballots for the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation, India has set the cycle of violence into motion by resorting to the use of bullets. While Indian bullets cannot stop the Khalistan Referendum which will balkanize India and liberate Punjab, Modi, Shah and Doval should be prepared for facing the justice under the international law for ordering the killing of pro-Khalistan Sikhs."

Canadian Police have said that Nijjar was the Gurdwara's president who advocated for the creation of Khalistan. He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism offences and conspiracy to commit murder, which he denied. Indian authorities have denied any involvement and said the assassinated Sikh leader was running "Khalistan Tiger Force".

The police said they were releasing his identity "in hopes of advancing their investigation."

"We understand there is a lot of speculation regarding the motive of this homicide, but we are dedicated to learning the facts and letting the evidence lead our investigation," said Timothy Pierotti of the police's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Nijjar had been warned by Canada's spy agency about threats against him, according to the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, which said that he was "assassinated in a targeted shooting".

It pointed to the killings or suspicious deaths of other prominent Khalistan activists: Avtar Singh Khanda, who passed away last week in Britain, and Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who was killed last month in Lahore.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar's name had been included in the wanted list handed over by the then-Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the latter's visit to India in 2018.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar had played a leading role in organising the Khalistan referendum in Brampton, Ontario, last year in September when more than 100,000 Sikhs gathered to vote in support of Khalistan. The gathering was so huge it made headlines all over the world as queues of Sikhs went along to the highway from the voting centre.