Sikh advocacy groups seek role in Canada’s foreign interference inquiry

Sikh community groups have sought standing in the public inquiry into foreign interference currently in progress in Canada. Their focus is the alleged Indian interference in the country by India.
Even as these groups asked for that status, the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has accused the Government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “insufficient response” to the killing of is principal figure in the province of British Columbia Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Three organisations, World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO), Ontario Gurdwaras Committee (OGC), and British Columbia Gurdwaras Council (BCGC) have jointly applied for standing in the public inquiry in a letter addressed to Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who is leading the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.
The letter stated that “with India now included in the mandate, the absence of Sikh voices would be unacceptable.” WSO said it had written to Hogue in December last year “requesting the Commission to examine the role of Indian interference in Canada.”
The organisations “emphasized the importance of including Sikh voices in the inquiry, particularly in light of recent developments regarding India’s interference and involvement in influencing electoral outcomes in Canada.”
Each of these organisations has been critical of the Indian Government for several years.
They noted their readiness to apply for standing had India been named in the Terms of Reference, and they urged Justice Hogue to exercise discretion in allowing their participation in the inquiry process.
The original terms of reference named China, Russia and other foreign states. On January 24, the Commission said it “requested that the Government of Canada’s collection and production of document” should include “include information and documents relating to alleged interference by India related to the 2019 and 2021 elections.”
It is expected to release an interim report by May 3, 2024 and deliver its final report by December 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, a day after shots were fired at the residence of an associate of Nijjar, Simranjeet Singh, in Surrey, SFJ’s general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun alleged that the Government’s “insufficient response” had “further emboldened India resulting in the violent attack on pro-Khalistan Sikh.”
Pannun’s statement also carried a warning, as he said “whenever Sikhs are attacked they have a history of defending their community and faith tooth and nail.”
“With continued Indian repression and frustrated by the Canadian Government’s inaction against India,”, he said he was “apprehensive that Sikhs may not take it upon themselves to defend their community” from the Indian Government’s “violent attacks”.