AMRITSAR: On the eve of the G7 summit under the leadership of Canada, Dal Khalsa has shot off a letter to Canadian PM Mr. Mark Carney to express its deep concern over Canada’s renewed engagement with Indian regime responsible for extrajudicial & extraterritorial killings.
The Sikh political body with its hardline views have pinned hope that the Canadian government will take all necessary steps and actions to allay the fears and apprehensions that there has been a drastic shift in the Liberal government's policy in favour of trade ties with India over the rights and lives of Sikh Canadians and Sikhs worldwide.
In a letter emailed to Canada’s PM, Dal Khalsa’s Secretary for Political Affairs Kanwar Pal Singh said G7 must not be reduced to a venue for political whitewashing. It should be a platform where Canada communicates that those who engage in extrajudicial murders, repression, and interference will be held to account—no matter how relevant they may be strategically or economically.
Dal Khalsa correspondence to Mark Carney, urged him to affirm openly that any cooperation with India will not come at the cost of the safety, dignity or rights of Sikh Canadians and that Indian leadership must be held accountable for its role in Nijjar’s killing and ongoing interference, including surveillance and intimidation of Canadian Sikh leaders—among them, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
We want Canada to assure Sikhs firmly that Canadian soil would not be a hunting ground for Indian intelligence agencies.
The contents of the letter was released to media by party’s working president Paramjit Singh Mand from party head office in Amritsar.
Reports that Canada is considering a renewed intelligence sharing apparatus with the very regime accused of orchestrating the assassination of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil was very disconcerting. The grievous nature of this extra-judicial killing has shocked not only Sikhs in Canada but exposed Indian government spreading its tentacles on foreign shores also.
If the Canadian vision of bilateral ties with India is peace and progress, then New Delhi-sponsored and executed killings must result in exemplary punishment of all the perpetrators involved in the conspiracy and the crime.
When you pursue matters with Indian PM, the rights of the Sikh people to exercise their freedom of speech and advocacy for an independent Khalistan should not be repressed based on India’s disinformation and false narrative, says Dal Khalsa.
“From our vantage point, this moment is not merely about diplomatic engagement—it is also about moral clarity, justice and human rights protection”.
Referring to Government of India’s repeatedly request to many Western governments to criminalise Sikh political expression, Dal Khalsa leader said this was a part of a larger agenda to silence international advocacy for Sikh rights including self-determination.
India’s misuse of anti-terror laws such as the NSA (National Security Act), UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), rampant custodial torture, and its systematic demonisation of Sikh political thought are well-documented. Hence, Canada must not allow these domestic abuses to shape foreign policy narratives, reads the letter.
As a word of caution, Dal Khalsa letter pinpointed that Canada’s silence or complicity in India’s crimes would be a stain on its own democratic, multicultural and pluralistic values.