Security enhanced for Indian envoys in Canada after threats from Khalistan supporters

Federal security services in Canada have enhanced security at the residence of India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa after online threats linked to the pro-Khalistan ‘Kill India’ campaign to picket it.

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A senior Indian official described the latest threat posted online for August 15, as an “escalation”, compared to the earlier July 8 campaign for rallies at India’s missions in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

With the latest threat of a personal nature, a senior Indian official said separatist elements had “crossed a line.”

Even as India has formally conveyed its concerns ahead of the latest threat from the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ to ‘Besiege Indian Missions’, an official acknowledged that Canadian authorities, from the country’s foreign ministry Global Affairs Canada to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP, tasked with diplomatic security and local police forces, have been “very responsive” to the enhanced threat perception.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar had raised the continuing threat to Canada’s minister of foreign affairs Mélanie Joly when the met on the margins of Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial in Jakarta on July 14. He tweeted after the bilateral, “Underlined the importance of ensuring the security of our diplomats. And the need to firmly combat incitement to violence.” Joly responded that “Canada takes very seriously its obligations under the Vienna Convention on the safety of diplomats.”

SFJ’s threats have increased since its principal figure in British Columbia Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Singh Gurdwara Sahib he headed in Surrey on June 18. That led to the ‘Kill India’ posters targeting Indian officials by name including High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and the Consul Generals in Toronto and Vancouver.

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SFJ has blamed India for his “assassination”. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team or Investigation Team or IHIT, which is probing the killing, has not ascribed any motive while it seeks the murderers.

Nijjar was alleged to be the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force by Indian law enforcement and faced several terror-related charges, while being the principal SFJ figure in the Metro Vancouver region. None of the charges against him were tested in Canadian courts and SFJ has maintained it does not use violence.