Funeral for gunned down Surrey Sikh leader draws hundreds

Emotional community members gathered Sunday, for the funeral of a Sikh leader gunned down in Surrey last week.

Large crowds took to the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara to remember former president Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum recalls his time with Nijjar.

Mourners gather for the funeral of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. on Sunday June 25th, 2023. (OMNI / CityNews Image)

“He was [so] full of energy. And we worked with him a lot … he was always working for the community. He was a really a community member.

“I remember he used to pester me all the time to get a volleyball for the youth in the community and to widen the walkway so that people can get exercise,” McCallum told CityNews Sunday.

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Nijjar was killed in what many in the community believe to be a targeted shooting linked to foreign interference.

Police have denied that claim, adding investigators have no reasons to believe that the Sikh community in Canada is at risk.

“It is a very, very sad day. Not only just for the community of Surrey, but literally for the whole world, to be honest. This type of thing should never happen. … It’s just a terrible situation,” McCallum said.

The Times of India (TOI) reports in 2016, Nijjar was accused of running a terror training camp in Mission, B.C., to help carry out potential attacks in Punjab. The TOI added he previously called those allegations “factually baseless and fabricated.”

Mourners gather for the funeral of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. on Sunday June 25th, 2023. (OMNI / CityNews Image)

The funeral comes as about 200 protesters from the Canadian Sikh community gathered outside Vancouver’s Indian consulate Saturday morning, accusing the South Asian nation’s government of being involved in the death of Nijjar.

Protesters who knew Nijjar, who was organizing an unofficial referendum in India prior to his death, described him as a “peaceful” man who was “loved in the community.”

In connection with the death, homicide investigators are still looking to identify two witnesses in connection with the incident.

–With files from OMNI News