Murders of Sikhs spotlight sect's long history in Canada

A high-profile execution proceedings implicit the 2022 shooting decease of Vancouver-based Ripudaman Singh Malik, which coincides with different crimes that Canadian instrumentality enforcement officials person linked to the authorities of Indian President Narendra Modi, has renewed involvement successful the largest Sikh diaspora extracurricular of India.

Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez — some of British Columbia and successful their mid-20s with lengthy transgression histories — precocious confessed to the declaration sidesplitting of Malik but remained soundless implicit who hired them to bash it, according to a connection released by British Columbia's Supreme Court connected Monday.

Malik, a premier fishy successful the 1985 bombing of an Air India formation from Montreal to Mumbai, had since been acquitted of the panic charges and remained a vocal advocator for an autarkic Khalistan, a projected separatist sovereign enclave for Sikh followers successful the Indian authorities of Punjab.

The proceedings implicit Malik's sidesplitting is unfolding alongside different proceedings implicit the June 2023 execution successful suburban Vancouver of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who'd been organizing a section referendum to make enactment for Khalistan's secession.

India powerfully denies the accusations and past week each state expelled six of the other's diplomats, including India's ambassador successful Ottawa.

The animosity betwixt India and section supporters of Khalistan tin beryllium traced backmost to the bombing of 2 Air India craft successful 1985. Organized successful the Vancouver area, the bombings progressive 2 Air India 747s — 1 exploding successful formation disconnected the seashore of Ireland, sidesplitting each 329 connected board, the different fatally wounding 2 baggage handlers astatine Narita International Airport adjacent Tokyo.

Those bombings — the deadliest acts of aviation coercion anterior to September 11, 2001 — are wide believed to person been carried retired by Canadian-based Sikhs successful retaliation for India's deadly 1984 storming of the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine successful the Sikh religion.

Canada is location to the world's largest diaspora of Sikh faithful extracurricular of India. An estimated 300,000 reside successful the state of Ontario, with astir arsenic galore successful British Columbia and conscionable implicit 100,000 successful neighboring Alberta.

Satwinder Bains, manager of the South Asian Studies Institute astatine the University of the Fraser Valley successful suburban Vancouver, said that, historically, immigrants from Punjab archetypal traveled done Canada successful 1897, erstwhile some were intimately linked with Britain.

There was an aboriginal surge of migration starting successful 1903 and past a overmuch larger question successful the 1970s.

Bains said these migrants, dissimilar galore different migrant groups, often came with wealth and their families inactive owned onshore backmost successful India. Many of these newcomers continued the household contented of farming and being agriculturalists by buying onshore successful Canada.

They kept successful interaction with relatives backmost location and wanted to person a accidental successful the authorities of not lone their caller homeland, but besides India.

"So, I would accidental it's precise unique," Bains, who is of the Sikh faith, told VOA. "Some immigrants, similar refugees that travel from Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia ... [aren't] progressive successful the authorities of that state successful the aforesaid way. And also, there's a spot of, you know, aged aggression successful us, from being invaded successful the North-West Frontier Province of India."

Bains besides points to precocious levels of governmental engagement successful the diaspora, which mislaid the close to ballot successful Canada from 1907 to 1947 on with different number groups of the time.

She said Sikh immigrants successful Canada person been precise palmy successful not lone agriculture, but besides successful finance, and politics.

"Business has been the strongest," she said. "We're precise savvy financially — precise savvy, economically — precise smart.

"The different country of manufacture is politics. We are precise politically active, engaged."

Beyond his onetime vocal advocacy for an autarkic Khalistan, Malik was a salient businessman, serving arsenic president of the Surrey-based Khalsa Credit Union and president of the backstage Khalsa School, supervising its campuses successful Surrey and Vancouver. In much caller years, helium had seemed to marque amends with the authorities of India.

Anne Murphy is simply a prof and seat of Punjabi Language, Literature and Sikh studies astatine the University of British Columbia. She said the run for an autarkic Khalistan tin beryllium traced backmost to the partition of India successful 1947 and decolonization.

Feeling persecuted, Sikh followers successful Canada and astir the satellite started to question a harmless spot to telephone home.

She said it is captious to enactment that though galore of Canada's Sikh faithful are captious of India, not each enactment the thought of a secessionist Khalistan.

"So, I would accidental that the Sikh community, similar galore different very, precise dynamic and vibrant communities, has galore antithetic positions successful it," she told VOA.

Still, the diplomatic rift betwixt Canada and India appears to beryllium acold from over.

The proceedings of Nijjar's 4 accused killers has yet to instrumentality spot and U.S. prosecutors person charged Vikash Yadav, an ex-intelligence authoritative for the Indian government, with trying to assassinate a proponent of Khalistan successful New York.

Authorities successful Canada and the United States person publically stated they are moving unneurotic connected some investigations.