Metro Vancouver Sikh community rallies at Indian Consulate amid foreign interference allegations

Members of Metro Vancouver’s Sikh community demonstrated outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver Friday amid international tensions over allegations of Indian interference in Canada.

The Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Management Committee — a Khalistan referendum advocacy group — says it wants the Canadian Government to shut down the Indian Consulates in Vancouver and Toronto.

“We all have known for a very long time that the Indian Consulate is actually just a spy agency in Canada, so we want this to shut down, because this is where they track us, they spy on the Sikh community,” said Imren Kaur Sahota, a member of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

Gurkeerat Singh, a spokesperson for the Gurdwara, says Khalistan advocates are not safe while the Indian Consulate remains in operation.

“If we truly want this crime in Canada to stop, the people who are responsible for it and where it is taking place and orchestrated must be shut down,” Singh said.

“It is really important that the Canadian government continues to unravel and disrupt this violence that this Indian state is conducting here in Canada.”

This comes more than a year after after prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of the temple he led.

Last week, the RCMP released information which alleges India’s involvement in foreign interference. This information included alleged extortion, acts of violence, and intimidation against Canadians with the aim of advancing the interest of the Indian government.

India has rejected the accusations and the escalating dispute between India and Canada has led to the expulsion of diplomats from both countries.