Canada accuses Amit Shah of orchestrating attacks on Sikh separatists

Washington/New Delhi: The Canadian government on Tuesday alleged that Interior Minister Amit Shah was behind plots to attack Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. The Indian government did not immediately respond but has dismissed Canada’s previous allegations as unfounded and denied any involvement.

The Washington Post newspaper first reported that Canadian officials alleged Shah was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada. Canada’s Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that he told the US newspaper that Shah was behind the plots.

“The journalist called me and asked if it was (Shah) that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee without providing further details or evidence. The High Commission of India in Ottawa and India’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has asked questions to the Ministry of External Affairs. Canada told India about Shah’s alleged role in the plots around October 2023, a government source told Reuters in New Delhi on Wednesday. But New Delhi believes the information is very weak and weak and does not expect it to cause any problems for Shah or the government, the source and another government source said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

India has called Sikh separatists ‘terrorists’ and threats to its security. Sikh separatists demand that an independent homeland known as Khalistan be carved out of India. Tens of thousands of people were killed in an uprising in India in the 1980s and 1990s.

That period included the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, which left thousands dead following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards after she ordered security forces to storm the holiest Sikh temple to flush out Sikh separatists to rinse.

Canada expelled Indian diplomats in mid-October, linking them to the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India also ordered the expulsion of Canadian diplomats.

The Canadian case is not the only example of India’s alleged attacks on Sikh separatists on foreign soil.

Washington has charged a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, with directing a foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-Canadian citizen and Indian critic, in New York City.

The FBI warned of such retaliation against a US resident. The Center has said little publicly since announcing in November 2023 that it would formally investigate the US allegations.

The accusations have tested Washington and Ottawa’s relations with India, which the West often sees as a counterbalance to China.