Pro-Khalistan organisation Sikhs For Justice has called for a 12-hour “siege” on the Indian consulate in Canada’s Vancouver on Thursday, reported The Indian Express.

In a statement on Wednesday, the outfit urged Indian-Canadians to defer their visit to the diplomatic mission on September 18 for their safety.

Sikhs for Justice accused the Indian consulate of operating a spy network in Canada to target supporters of Khalistan, a proposed independent state for Sikhs sought by some groups.

The United States-based organisation was banned in India in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Thursday marks two years since Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told the country’s Parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” linking agents of the Indian government to the assassination of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

“Two years on, Indian consulates continue to run a spy network and surveillance targeting Khalistan referendum campaigners,” Sikhs For Justice was quoted as having stated.

Nijjar was shot dead near Vancouver by two masked men in June 2023. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, designated as a “terrorist outfit” in India.

New Delhi rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd and motivated”. The Indian government also described the claims as Ottawa’s attempt to shift focus from “Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

On Wednesday, Sikhs For Justice also released a poster showing Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik with a target symbol on his photo, calling him the “new face of India’s Hindutva terror in Canada”, The Indian Express reported.

Also read: Why are Sikhs abroad more pro-Khalistan than community members living in India?

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