As Carney walks the fence, in Brampton & across the country Sikh Canadians & others don’t buy claim that India has stopped its campaign of violence here

A growing chorus of experts, politicians and activists is voicing concern that claims made by a senior Liberal government official, the day before Prime Minister Mark Carney left for India to repair a badly broken relationship, simply do not add up. 

In a briefing with journalists Wednesday an unnamed senior government employee told reporters that officials in Ottawa believe the BJP government in New Delhi is no longer orchestrating violent crimes against Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. 

“We have a very robust diplomatic engagement, including between national security advisors, and I think we can say we’re confident that that activity is not continuing,” the official claimed.

After immediate backlash against the claim, which contradicts recent Canadian intelligence and law enforcement information and numerous accounts by citizens across the country who have received “duty to warn” notices from police as recently as Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand offered a different narrative before she left with the Prime Minister Thursday morning.

Speaking to CBC journalist Rosemary Barton after the senior government official’s remarks to reporters, Anand made no such claim that Indian transnational repression in Canada has stopped. “I also interviewed Anita Anand today,” Barton reported, “who did not repeat those comments in any way, shape or form.”

Prior to her departure on the trip Anand was asked by a reporter in Ottawa about the claims made by the unnamed government official: “Does this government still believe that agents of India are currently involved in extortion, threats of violence in Canada?”

Anand responded: “I want to focus on the fact that no country will ever have a pass in terms of the domestic safety and security of Canada, period. The rule of law and the importance of adherence to the Criminal Code are of utmost importance to our government, period. …Vis-a-vis India, there is a law enforcement dialogue occurring at the most senior levels in the public service.” She said dialogue between senior officials from both countries regarding the evidence of Indian government involvement in violence against Canadians is ongoing. “That law enforcement dialogue has already begun in 2025, and will continue in 2026 and beyond.” 

Speaking to Barton about concerns of continued Indian interference, Anand said, “We need to be at the table to raise the concerns relating to transnational repression, to the rule of law.”   

As Carney flew to India yesterday, ahead of his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his three-nation trade mission, two of his own Liberal MPs in Canada lashed out against the remarks made by the unnamed government official.

“I strongly condemn these statements made by this official because he’s not in touch with the realities on the ground,” Surrey-Newton MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who has represented the area since 2015, told Global News investigative reporter Stewart Bell at his constituency office in B.C. on Thursday.

Dhaliwal has demanded accountability since Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in his vehicle outside a Surrey Gurdwara in 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice released an unsealed indictment in an attempted assassination case involving a dual Canadian-American citizen and Sikh rights leader, directly linking an Indian agent to the killing of Mr. Nijjar in Surrey.

“I’m dealing with the community and the victims almost on a regular basis. And this is totally irresponsible,” Dhaliwal told Global. “People across Canada, they are all coming to me and telling me the same thing, that this is still continuing.”

Liberal MP Parm Bains, who represents the B.C. riding of Richmond East—Steveston, posted similar concerns on X Friday: “I strongly reject a government official’s attempt to downplay India’s involvement in transnational repression and violent criminal activity in Canada. 

“Such a claim undermines public safety, dismisses the tireless work of our security agencies, contradicts findings from the NSIA, RCMP, and CSIS, and raises serious concerns about the official’s continued suitability for their role.”

Sources told The Pointer Thursday that it would be unusual for a senior government official to make such remarks without the knowledge of the Prime Minister and senior Liberal government political staff inside the Prime Minister’s Office, especially right before a critical diplomatic trip.

Sikh leaders expressed concern that the safety of community members was sidelined by Carney’s Liberal government through the “shocking” statement. 

“To be honest, we did not expect this. So more than shocking, it was more like disappointment and embarrassment," Kuljeet Singh, a representative of Sikhs for Justice, which has a large membership in Brampton, told The Pointer.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand backtracked on comments made by an unnamed government official claiming the Canadian government no longer believes the Indian government is involved in orchestrating violence against Canadians.

(Government of Canada) 

“It's disheartening to see how far the current Canadian administration, under Carney, has gone to sell out Canadian sovereignty.”

Dan Stanton, a former senior Canadian Security Intelligence Service manager, told the Globe and Mail that the statements made by the unnamed official were “naive” and contradictory to evidence brought forward by CSIS and the RCMP that connects the Indian government to violence against Canadians in Canada. 

“You don’t make categorical statements that a foreign government like India is not going to conduct transnational repression or interference in our elections,” he said, highlighting that intelligence and senior law enforcement agencies do not issue such sweeping categorical claims.

Critics are suggesting it was a political stunt, to help Carney smooth over the past position taken by the Justin Trudeau government, which, unlike the current Prime Minister’s focus, placed Canadian security ahead of economic consequences.

According to reporting in the Globe and Mail, the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday that both countries continue to communicate through “top-level channels” on issues of security. There was no mention by the PMO that India is no longer involved in transnational repression in Canada. 

The timing of the claim by the unnamed government official has been questioned.

On Sunday, Moninder Singh, leader of the Sikh Federation of Canada, was issued a “duty to warn” notice by the Vancouver police, after receiving the same warning multiple times in the past when law enforcement had credible information of imminent danger. But this time the warning was extended to his family.

“We as Sikhs see the (transnational repression) as a Canadian issue, not just our issue. We demand accountability,” Singh told The Pointer Friday. He has said police have indicated the threat against him is linked to the Indian government. 

He criticized local MPs in Brampton, which has the largest Sikh population (more than 163,000 residents as of the 2021 Census, which is over a quarter of the city’s population) of any city outside India, for not listening to the concerns of their constituents.

“What are they (the Brampton MPs) doing?”

“They have done nothing, and they continue to do nothing other than tweet and post on social media. Typing a few words is not going to stop any violence and benefit anyone.”

His concerns were echoed by Nitin Chopra, a veteran Brampton journalist, who questions why the city’s MPs, five of whom are Sikh-Canadians (five are also Liberals), have been silent since the controversial claim was made by the unnamed government official, while residents continue to feel threatened in their own community.

“They should come out publicly and answer how we can provide security to our residents in Peel Region who continue to be threatened.” 

Brampton resident Inderjeet Singh Gosal, the local head of Sikhs for Justice, was first issued a duty to warn notice in 2024, and the construction site his company was working on was riddled with bullets. Then, in September of last year, the RCMP advised him to enter a witness protection program due to an imminent threat to his life, which he declined.

“First of all, I want to ask who this official was,” Gosal told The Pointer Thursday. “Why haven't they named this official?”

“That is a complete joke statement. It makes no sense to me.”

The Pointer reached out to all of Brampton’s MPs: Liberals Ruby Sahota, Amandeep Sodhi, Shafqat Ali, Sonia Sidhu and Maninder Sidhu, as well as Conservative Amarjeet Gill. They did not respond. All but Ali are Sikhs.

They were blasted in December during a packed Brampton town hall hosted by Sikh organizations across Canada, to address the Indian government’s continued targeting of the community. MPs, the Carney government and Peel Police were criticized for failing to protect the largest religious community in Brampton, as attendees questioned if a similar apathetic response would be tolerated if a foreign government targeted other Canadian communities on Canadian soil. 

(Muhammad Hamza/The Pointer)

Brampton East MP and Canada’s Minister of Trade, Maninder Sidhu, made remarks last month in Davos during the World Economic Forum, that raise questions now, about his government’s priorities and the timing of claims that India is no longer involved in transnational repression here. 

Asked on January 21 about the “next big trade frontier for the Prime Minister,” Sidhu addressed the plan for engaging India: “I was in India in November to scope out opportunities,” he disclosed before detailing the various sectors in India being targeted by the Carney government, as it focuses on diversifying trade away from the current Canadian concentration in the U.S..

He was then asked by a Canadian reporter about security concerns and other diplomatic challenges of re-engaging with India, after evidence of its involvement in the killing of Mr. Nijjar and violent threats against Sikhs in Brampton: “Getting close to India can be controversial to many South Asian-Canadians. I wonder particularly as an MP from Brampton how you try to explain to people in Brampton that might be a little skeptical of (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi; is now the time to get closer with India?”

Sidhu sidestepped the question but addressed another one about India earlier: “India’s going to be the third largest economy… It’s important to engage with India, they’re destined to be the third largest economy in the world. Me, as an MP from Brampton, the largest South Asian community in Canada, this is what Canadians are asking us to do, is to bring more economic opportunities.”

Many Sikhs in Brampton have repeatedly asked Sidhu and other federal politicians why, while pursuing renewed economic opportunities with India, the safety concerns of the community seem to be getting pushed to the sideline. 

Carney, Anand, Sidhu and other senior Liberal politicians have signalled since May, in the midst of American tariff pressures, that India is a key to expanding trade beyond Canada’s southern border, to the rest of the world.     

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is being criticized for appearing to downplay threats to Sikh Canadians by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(Government of Canada)

Chopra says it's a government “policy U-turn" from the position held by the Trudeau Liberals after Nijjar’s assassination in 2023, the disclosure of U.S. evidence directly linking the Indian government to the killing and other assassination plots across Canada and the U.S., and the 2024 disclosure by the RCMP of evidence tying Modi’s BJP government to widespread violence against Sikhs in Canada.

“They have used the word 'no longer,' which means they (the Indian government) were involved before, but not now?” he questioned.

“This is a total U-turn. This is because they can not ignore the trade.”

Jaskarandeep Singh Sekhon, a Sikh student at Humber College, said the government's priority is to focus on trade as part of a “new world order", which disregards the safety of the Sikh diaspora living in Canada.

“I think this trip is not beneficial for us. They don’t give any weight to issues (impacting minority communities). The federal government has not done anything for those Sikhs settled here in Canada for many years. They are facing the same problem as they are facing in India.”

Jaskarandeep Singh Sekhon, a Sikh student at Humber College, spoke about what Prime Minister Mark Carney’s India visit means for the Sikh community.

(Supplied) 

Gosal said any deal with India without justice in Mr. Nijjar’s killing would undermine public trust in Canadian law enforcement.

“So what we need first is justice. We need transparency and accountability.”

Sikh groups across the country raised red flags after reporting by Global’s Stewart Bell revealed the federal government has asked for sensitive evidence to be kept from the public during the upcoming trial of the four men accused in Nijjar’s murder case, to protect “international relations”.

“We need to hold those individuals accountable who killed a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” Gosal said, even if it implicates the Indian government.

Gosal was first informed by police in August 2024 that he was under a “duty to warn” notice because the Indian government might be targeting him for his Sikh activism. Last year, between August 20 and September 10, he met with the RCMP “eight to nine times” and in the last meeting, officers urged him to accept new measures to protect himself.

He said Sikh politicians in Canada who remain silent, will not be supported going forward.  

“Based on my understanding, the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee has already placed a ban on all politicians coming into their Gurdwaras,” he said.

“In future meetings, we will make sure that we take a firm stand on this, and we don't allow any politician to come out, until they make a statement.”

He said the community has not seen any robust action from local elected officials. “We will make sure that we get the message out that we are not going to be voting for these individuals, and we are going to end their political careers."

In a joint press conference by leaders with the Sikh Federation of Canada, the World Sikh Organization (WSO) of Canada, and the British Columbia Gurdwaras Council on Thursday, February 26, three main issues were highlighted: Carney’s visit to India, the safety and security impact of the potential redaction of key evidence in Mr. Nijjar’s case, and the duty to warn notices Sikh advocates continue to receive. 

“We are now being told that India has no link to violent crimes in Canada anymore. How does this connection magically disappear?” Gurpreet Kaur, the British Columbia regional president of the WSO, asked, singling out federal government officials. “No public evidence has been presented or shared to show that the organized criminal gangs, like the Bishnoi gang, are no longer connected to the government of India.”

She continued: "It is dishonest, it is insulting, and it is gaslighting at its highest level.”

The Bishnoi gang is a criminal enterprise that Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have linked to the Indian government, and is allegedly involved in assassinations, extortions and intimidation carried out at the direction of Indian government agents. The 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. and other violent crimes have been linked to the criminal network, led by Lawrence Bishnoi, who has operated his vast international crime ring from an Indian prison since 2014.

Global News reported in June last year that a suspected Indian government agent linked with the same gang had been monitoring the movements of Jagmeet Singh, the former NDP leader who has been openly critical of India’s BJP government and its alleged campaign of violence in Canada. 

Singh was placed under RCMP protection for 18 months beginning in late 2023, which he revealed during the 2025 federal election campaign.

Balpreet Singh of the Ottawa-based World Sikh Organization said the Liberal government’s sudden claim, days before Prime Minister Carney’s trip, that India’s campaign of violence in Canada is over, “feels like gaslighting” for Sikhs across the country.

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