CHANDIGARH: Last year on September 18, Indian intelligence noticed an unusual guest at two gurdwaras in Canada’s Surrey in British Columbia: Dashmesh Darbar and Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. The guest’s name is Janbaz Khan, Pakistani Consul General in Vancouver.
Like any official of Pakistan, Khan’s apparent objective was to collect donations for his flood-hit country. No one knows how much Khan collected, but officially, he thanked the gurdwaras for their generous help. He also held secret meetings along with two officers of the consulate with Khalistani separatists.
Surrey is a part of the Metro Vancouver area and lies between the Fraser River and the US border. In Peace Arch Provincial Park, a white arch marks the international boundary between Canada and the US. Surrey is also a hub of migrating birds. As per the 2021 Census, more than half of Canada’s Sikhs can be found in one of four cities: Brampton (1,63,260), Surrey (1,54,415), Calgary (49,465), and Edmonton (41,385).
In months following Khan’s meetings, a series of anti-India attacks took place in Canada. On January 31, the Gauri Shankar Mandir was defaced at Brampton, on February 17, the Ram temple in Mississauga, Toronto, was sullied with anti-India graffiti and on March 23, two smoke grenades exploded in the Indian High Commission premises in Ottawa.
Indian security agencies say a sudden spurt in the Khalistani movement in Canada, the UK, the US, Australia and Germany is due to rising insecurity among the sympathisers of Khalistan. The separatists believe that their fellow comrades have fallen to Indian security agencies abroad.
In the last two months, three top Khalistani protagonists have died mysteriously. They are Avtar Singh Khanda, chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force and a mentor of Amritpal Singh (who is lodged in an Assam jail) who died following cancer in a hospital in UK’s Birmingham. Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by two youths outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey and Khalistan Commando Force chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Lahore.
ISI’s ‘double game’
A section of Indian secret agencies also attributes the recent depletion in Khalistani ranks to the Pakistani spy network, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Pakistani handlers believe they have used up the present hardcore Khalistani crop; and that they need to nurture a new generation of separatists to revive the so-called Khalistani movement.
“The ISI could be playing a double game: on the one hand they could be monitoring and stashing away parts of donations from the pro-Pakistan Indian diaspora and crowd-funding, they could be using the money to carry out assassinations of those Khalistani hotheads who have been unable to do ISI bidding,’’ said a senior intelligence official.
Sources said soon a National Investigation Agency team would visit the US and probe the recent attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco after it was torched by Khalistani elements months after vandalising the same consulate in the wake of Amritpal Singh’s arrest.
Operation 21
The proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is headquartered in New York. Pannun holds a dual passport from Canada and the US. Sources say in a meeting held in June in Canada, Pannun announced putting up anti-India posters and rallies against “atrocities committed against Sikhs in India.”
It is Pannun’s plan to hold a protest march to the Indian missions in Toronto and Vancouver on July 8 against the killing of Nijjar and a referendum in the Greater Toronto area on July 16 and a referendum in the Greater Vancouver area in September. All of this is under the macabre ‘Operation 21’ plan.
The plan includes asking Khalistani supporters across the globe to form 21-member groups each and protest outside 21 prominent embassies across the world. These elements and operations are backed by Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and ISI in a desperate attempt to stay “relevant.”
It is learnt that Pannun went underground for some time, recently. His “death” in a car accident did the rounds on social media last week. However, he surfaced last Thursday and released a video.
Pannun named Indian diplomats by the surnames: Sandhu-Verma-Doraiswami-Malhotra-Vohra (believed to have been posted in Canada, the UK, Italy and Australia) and held them responsible for the assassination of Nijjar.
Pannun also announced to “besiege” Indian embassies on August 15 and asked Khalistani sympathizers in Toronto to “vote” against India on July 16. He “dedicated” the September 10 Vancouver protest to Nijjar. The Khalistanis have released a threat poster in the UK with pictures of top Indian diplomats. Provocative banners have been put up against the Indian high commissioner to Canada.
The fallout
The Canadian High Commissioner in India was summoned and conveyed India’s concerns after posters of ‘Kill India’ were out by pro-Khalistan leaders in Canada. India has already asked the Canadian authorities to take measures for the security of its diplomats. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service are in touch with the Indian High Commission and consulates in Canada and have provided escort to top diplomats in Toronto and Vancouver.
“We have requested our partner countries like Canada, the US, the UK and Australia not to give space to Khalistanis. Extremist thinking is neither good for us nor for them nor our relations,’’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
In a recent statement, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly stated, “Canada takes its obligations under the Vienna Conventions regarding the safety of diplomats very seriously. Canada remains in close contact with Indian officials in light of some of the promotional material circulating online which are unacceptable.’’
Talking with this newspaper, political analyst Kuldeep Singh said, “There is a visible Indian government pressure on governments in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia to be tough with these radical elements. As a result, these governments have become active on this front.’’
Indian-origin Canadian MP Chandra Arya of the Liberal Party who represents the Nepean constituency in Ontario and belongs to Karnataka tweeted, “Khalistanis in Canada continue to reach a new low in abusing our Charter of Rights and Freedom by promoting violence and hate. Emboldened by non-criticism from elected officials of a recent Brampton parade portraying and celebrating the assassination of Indian PM Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, they are now openly calling for violence against Indian diplomats... we should note the snakes in our backyard are raising their heads and hissing. It is only a question of time when they bite to kill.’’
