Canadian PM accuses Indian gvmt' of carrying out killing of Sikh leader

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the government of India of being behind a fatal shooting involving a citizen of the Sikh faith on Canadian soil.

According to CBC, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June 2023.

Nijjar, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, had been branded by the Indian government as a "terrorist" for supporting the idea of creating an independent Khalistani state for the Sikh people and accused him of leading a militant separatist group.

Trudeau said, Canada's national security apparatus has reason to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out his killing.

"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar", Trudeau said on September 18.

"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves", he continued.