Explainer | Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?
- The Sikh independence advocate, who was gunned down near Vancouver 2 months ago, has been called a rights activist by some, a terrorist by others
- PM Trudeau says the government is investigating ‘credible allegations’ that Indian government agents were linked to his death, which New Delhi says is absurd
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh independence advocate whose killing two months ago is at the centre of a widening breach between India and Canada, was called a human-rights activist by Sikh organisations and a terrorist by India’s government.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that his government was investigating “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were linked to the slaying on June 18 when Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
India has denied any role in the killing, calling the allegations absurd.
A separatist or a plumber?
Nijjar was a prominent member of a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, and at the time of his death was organising an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora with the organisation Sikhs For Justice.
He also owned a plumbing business and served as president of a Sikh temple or gurdwara in suburban Vancouver. In a 2016 interview with the Vancouver Sun he responded dismissively to reports in Indian media that he was suspected of leading a terrorist cell.
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Canadian PM says authorities investigating ‘credible’ links to India on Sikh leader’s murder
“This is garbage – all the allegations. I am living here 20 years, right? Look at my record. There is nothing. I am a hard worker. I own my own business in the plumbing,” Nijjar told the newspaper.
