A Khalistani activist in Canada said that he was warned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that he may be killed within weeks. Indrajeet Singh Gosal said that the RCMP told him that there was intelligence indicating that India is continuing to target Canadians during a time when the countries are trying to improve their trade ties.
He stated that he was formally cautioned in a duty-to-warn notice by national security officers last month. Gosal also said that the investigators returned last Monday to tell him that suspected hitmen, “are here and they’re ready to take me out,” while speaking to the Global News Canada.
Police offered him witness protection, but Gosal had refused it because it would interfere with his activism. Gosal declined to tell the media what the RCMP told him about the source of the suspected plot, but said that the Government of India was involved.
“It all stems from them, it all stems from the Indian government,” he added. “They call the shots.”
The 36-year-old, who is a resident of Brampton, Ontario, is an active part of the Khalistani movement in Canada. He rose to leadership after its previous leader, Harjeep Singh Nijjar, was killed in 2023.
On Thursday, Sikhs for Justice, a US-based Khalistani group, announced a siege on the Indian consulate in Vancouver. The group said in a statement, "Two years ago—18 September 2023—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that the Indian agents' role was under investigation in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Two years on, Indian Consulates continue to run a spy network and surveillance targeting Khalistan Referendum campaigners,"
Gosal had requested the Canadian government and Prime Minister Mark Carney to help. “We know this goes to the top of the chain of the Indian government, and we’re asking the Canadian government, our prime minister, Mark Carney, to take the necessary steps,” he said.
The Canadian leader has been making diplomatic moves to ease the sour relations with India, and both countries recently appointed new high commissioners to each other's countries. The previous high commissioners from both countries were expelled after Canada accused indian agents of the murder of Haredeep Singh Nijjar. During Trudeau's term, New Delhi rejected allegations that the country was involved in carrying out operations targeting Canadian nationals on its soil. India also accused Canada of sheltering sikh separatists and khalistani extremist groups.
Many pro-Khalistan leaders said that India continues to target them despite Carney’s moves.
Balpreet Singh, of the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, claimed the community was facing a growing number of duties to warn, and that new notices were being issued, and that old notices were being renewed. “This is a clear sign that India is still pursuing targets in Canada for assassination,” he said.
According to the report in the Global News, one of the first duties to notice was given to Nijjar was in 2022. The following year, he was killed.
Sikh activists now fear that Carney's attempt to thaw relations with New Delhi is bringing Candaa back to the same level of threat it faced during Nijjar’s killing.
Moninder Singh, national spokesperson for the Sikh Federation Canada, said that he received his first police warnings in 2022. “Then what were the last two years for, and what has tangibly happened to say that Sikhs in Canada, and all Canadians, are safe from India’s violent campaign in Canada?” he said
