Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) waves to supporters next to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah after filing nomination papers to re-run for a parliamentary seat in Varanasi on May 14, 2024.
Niharika Kulkarni | AFP | Getty Images
The Canadian government claimed on Tuesday that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was targeting Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. The mastermind behind the conspiracy.
The Indian government has dismissed Canada’s previous accusations as baseless and denied any involvement.
The Washington Post first reported that Canadian officials claimed Shah was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation against Sikh separatists in Canada.
Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told a congressional panel on Tuesday that he told U.S. newspapers that the Shah was behind the plots.
“Reporters called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee, without providing further details or evidence. There was no immediate comment from the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
India calls Sikh separatists “terrorists” and threatens their security. Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland called Khalistan to be carved out of India. Insurgencies in India in the 1980s and 1990s killed tens of thousands of people.
The period included anti-Sikh riots in 1984, when then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered security forces to raid the holiest Sikh temples and drive out Sikh separatists, followed by the assassination of thousands by her Sikh bodyguards people.
Canada expelled Indian diplomats in mid-October, linking them to the 2023 murder 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 allegedly targeting Sikh separatists on foreign soil.
Washington has charged former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav with allegedly masterminding a plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and a critic of India in New York City.
The FBI warns against such retaliation against U.S. residents. India has said little publicly since announcing in November 2023 that it would formally investigate the US allegations.
The accusations test Washington and Ottawa’s relationship with India, which the West often sees as a counterweight to China.
