The RCMP has warned a prominent Sikh activist that his life is in danger, fuelling concerns that India is continuing to target Canadians while Ottawa seeks improved trade ties with the South Asian power.
Inderjeet Singh Gosal told Global News in an interview on Thursday that RCMP national security officers had formally cautioned him last month that he may be killed within weeks.
He said the investigators returned on Monday and told him there was new intelligence indicating that the suspected hitmen “are here and they’re ready to take me out,” Gosal said.
Police have offered Gosal the equivalent of witness protection, he said, but the 36-year-old Brampton, Ont., resident refused on the grounds it would interfere with his activism.
Gosal is the Canadian organizer of a protest campaign for independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab state. He took on the role after its previous leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was gunned down in 2023.
Canada has accused India of orchestrating Nijjar’s assassination in Surrey, B.C., as well as plots against others whose involvement in the separatist movement has angered New Delhi.
Gosal declined to disclose what the RCMP told him about the source of the suspected plot against him, but said it allegedly originated from the government of India.
“It all stems from them, it all stems from the Indian government,” he added. “They call the shots.”
“We know this goes to the top of chain of the Indian government, and we’re asking the Canadian government, our prime minister, Mark Carney, to take the necessary steps.”
The police warning, known as a duty-to-warn notice, is the latest issued to Canadian Sikhs, and comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed a new high commissioner to New Delhi.
But three Sikh national leaders said that despite Carney’s diplomatic moves, India has not stopped targeting them.
“Members of the Sikh community are facing a growing number of duties-to-warn, with new notices being issued and previously-issued ones being renewed,” said Balpreet Singh of the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
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“This is a clear sign that India is still pursuing targets in Canada for assassination.”
The RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service declined to comment on whether the Indian government was continuing to go after its opponents in Canada.
Nor would they respond to questions about whether Indian officials had renewed their interactions with the gang they have been accused of working with to conduct operations in this country.
A CSIS spokesperson said she could not discuss details of investigations on India. “In order to ensure the integrity of our operations we cannot comment further on this subject,” she said.
“CSIS has previously noted that Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, had engaged in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians,” she added.
“CSIS continues to observe and assess India’s activities in Canada, and where they may be harmful to Canadian interests, and will advise government or take action accordingly.”
Police began warning Sikh activists about threats to their lives in 2022. Nijjar was among the first to be notified. The following year, he was leaving the temple where he served as president when he was shot dead.
At the time, Nijjar was organizing a symbolic referendum on Khalistan, the name of the independent homeland its supporters are seeking. After Gosal took over the effort, shots were fired at his house.
The RCMP disclosed last October that it had linked agents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to violence against Indo-Canadians, mostly members of the Khalistan movement.
Indian diplomats and consular officials had collected information on targets and passed it to the Research and Analysis Wing intelligence branch in New Delhi, which then tasked organized crime members operating in Canada, the RCMP said.
The Canadian government said it had linked the operation to Modi’s right-hand man, Amit Shah. India has denied involvement and complained that Canada has not done enough to apprehend those it considers “terrorists.”
Aside from Nijjar, India allegedly hired a crime figure to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who heads New York-based Sikhs For Justice, which is also involved in the Khalistan referendum.
Despite the RCMP’s allegations about India’s clandestine activities, and New Delhi’s refusal to cooperate or accept responsibility, Carney has tried to mend ties with Modi.
He invited the Indian prime minister to the G7 summit in Alberta in June, and last month filled the diplomatic post left vacant when the two countries expelled each others’ envoys.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the appointment was part of a “step-by-step approach to deepening diplomatic engagement and advancing bilateral cooperation with India.”
But Sikh-Canadian groups are concerned that, in his push to expand trade outside a newly hostile America, Carney has failed to hold India to account for its foreign interference and transnational repression.
Moninder Singh, national spokesperson for the Sikh Federation Canada, said RCMP national security officers visited him only six months ago with a new duty-to-warn notice about a threat to his life.
He received the first of several police warnings in 2022 and fears the attempt to normalize relations with India has brought Canada back to the same level of threat it faced at the time of Nijjar’s killing.
“Then what was 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.
Balpreet Singh said India must make a “firm commitment” to ending its intelligence operations and cooperate with Canadian investigators.
He also urged the federal government to immediately add the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which India has allegedly used to conduct its attacks, to Canada’s list of terrorist entities.
Adequate police protection must also be provided to those living under threat, he said. “The duty to warn system needs to be reevaluated so that individuals are not left on their own.”
In recent weeks, Gosal has been campaigning in advance of a Khalistan referendum event scheduled for Nov. 23 in Ottawa. Gosal was arrested last November following a clash between Sikhs and Hindus in Brampton.
He said that in addition to offering him protection, police had asked him to keep a low profile but he refuses to be silenced.
“This campaign requires me to be out so I can get the community to come to vote,” he said. “So me sitting out, you know, staying low is not an option.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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