Indian envoy warns of rising Khalistani extremism in Canada, urges parents to safeguard students from radicalization

India's High Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, said on Oct 24 that Indian students studying in Canada "should be aware of their surroundings" and oppose attempts by Khalistani terrorists and extremists to radicalize them.

Verma asked parents of students in Canada to keep their children away from poor decisions and to "please talk to them regularly and try to understand" their situations.

"At this time in Canada there is a threat from Khalistani terrorists and extremists to the larger Indian community... including students (of whom there were around 3,19,000 as of 2023)," he said.

"How this (Khalistani terrorists' outreach to Indian students in Canada) works is... given the condition of that economy there are few jobs... so students are offered money and food, and this is how Khalistani terrorists and extremists influence them with nefarious plans," he added.

"Some students are also persuaded to take photographs or videos of themselves 'protesting' — shouting anti-India slogans or insulting the flag—outside Indian diplomatic buildings in Canada," he said.

"Then they are told to go seek asylum... because their version will be, 'If I go back to India now, I will be punished...' and there have been cases of such students being given asylum," he added.

Verma appealed to the parents, saying, "There are a variety of negative influences acting on Indian students in Canada that are pushing them in the wrong direction."

His statements come as the India-Canada diplomatic relationship is deteriorating due to repeated and unsubstantiated claims by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that "agents" of Delhi conspire with criminal gangs, including the Lawrence Bishnoi outfit, to "target (the) South Asians" in Canada.

Verma emphasized that since he was appointed High Commissioner in Canada in September 2022, "not a shred of evidence" has been shared with him.

In fact, according to Verma, India provided Canada with proof of extremist organizations, but "no action was taken."

The situation intensified when Canadian federal authorities connected the Bishnoi gang and named Verma, the longest-serving diplomat in India, as a "person of interest" in "homicide, extortion, intimidation, and coercion" incidents. Canada said that Verma would be expelled.

In response to Canada's treatment of Verma, New Delhi issued an order for Stewart Wheeler, the acting high commissioner of Ottawa, along with his deputy and four first secretaries, to depart from the country by midnight on Oct 13.

On Oct 14, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, accusing them of being part of a larger plot to attack Indian dissidents in Canada and connecting them to the death of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Verma was also designated as a 'persona non grata', a diplomatic term that means a 'person who is no longer welcome'. He is the first Indian diplomat to ever be treated as such.

India's relations with Canada reached an all-time low when the Trudeau government announced that it was looking into a possible connection between Indian government agents and the death of Sikh leader Nijjar on Canada's west coast and informed New Delhi that its diplomats were potential suspects in the Nijjar murder.

Prime Minister Trudeau has revealed that the federal RCMP has found "clear and compelling evidence" that Indian government agents had participated in, and are still participating in, acts that endanger public safety, which has only made the situation worse.

Recently, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made public claims that Indian officials were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by providing intelligence about them to their government.

They further claimed that high-ranking Indian authorities were then providing Indian organized criminal groups with this information, and the groups were using it to target the Canadian-born campaigners.

The Ministry of External Affairs has continuously mocked the claims that it was involved in Nijjar's murder, saying once more that it "strongly" rejects the "preposterous imputations" made by Canada.

In July 2020, Nijjar was labeled a "terrorist" by India due to his desire for an independent Khalistani state as a Sikh homeland.

India has clearly said that it was not involved in his death and has challenged Canada to provide proof to support this assertion.

The MEA sharply said the charges were attributable to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's vote-bank politics and political agenda.

On June 18, 2023, Nijjar, a 45-year-old Canadian citizen, was killed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

The assassination of Nijjar last year set off a major political dispute between Canada and India when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that "Indian agents" were involved in the crime. The accusation was dismissed by India as "absurd" and "motivated."