A Chinese military company, Qihoo 360, according to Sanduja, ‘took an interest in SFJ’s non-sanctioned worldwide referendum drive for an independent Khalistan.’
CHICAGO
THE 1987 CIA MEMO
A now declassified (in 1987) USCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) memo about “Sikh extremism” in India accurately captured the threat perception of the Americans during the 1980s, the heydays of Khalistani insurgency in India. The memo discussed the long-term threats from Khalistani extremism, which it said “will prove impossible for New Delhi to stamp out.”
The memo stated that at that time, MrsIndira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister, was a “clear target” of the extremists. “[T]he likelihood of Gandhi’s eventually falling victim to a Sikh assassin,” the memo read, “is about even.”
The Americans were also concerned about the political fallouts from this possible assassination. They worried about what it would do to the US-India relationship, which had started moving in the right direction. India’s “favorable response to U.S. policy initiative,” the memo claimed, depended to a great extent “on Gandhi’s remaining in power.”
The American intelligence was aware of MrsGandhi’s political clout and stature. It was also acutely aware of the power vacuum the absence of Mrs. Gandhi from the Indian political scenes would create. “No successor is likely to be as motivated or have political standing to continue improving ties to the U.S.,” the memo read.
Mrs Gandhi was indeed assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. In the assassination’s aftermath, a widespread riot ensued, killing thousands, mostly Sikhs.
Thirty-six years later, Khalistrani separatism has virtually left Indian soil. It is almost nonexistent in India. However, some of the parallels of the memo to the current situation are not lost on anyone entirely.
Today, the Khalistani movement is confined predominantly in small pockets of Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. The past few weeks’ events have brought the focus back on this issue. These countries are also part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
TRUDEAU’S FANTASTICAL ‘CREDIBLE ALLEGATIONS’
On 18September2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise and explosive statement in the Canadian House of Commons. In his statement, Justin Trudeau claimed that the agents of the Government of India were behind the killing of an alleged Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In June, Nijjar, 45, was killed outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
In his Parliament address,Trudeau said that Canadian security agencies “were pursuing credible allegations” of India’s involvement inNijjar’s June killing.
India, on its part, has rejected Trudeau’s accusations as “absurd.” So far, Canada’s law enforcement agencies have failed to identify the perpetrators and have not made any “credible” information public.
WHO WAS HARDEEP SINGH NIJJAR?
Indian authorities have linked Nijjar to terrorism. He was wanted in India, among others, on several bomb-related charges. He was on the US and Canada’s “no-fly” list. Interpol had issued the “Red Corner” notice on Nijjar. It has also been reported, quoting Nijjar’s son, Balraj Singh, that his father was meeting the CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, officers weekly.
Nijjar had referred to himself as a Canadian citizen, and so did Justin Trudeau in his statement in the House of Commons. However, Nijjar’s “immigration” to Canada is shrouded in controversy.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a professional plumber, “immigrated” to Canada in 1997, claiming a “refugee” status. He had entered Canada on a fake passport under the name of Ravi Sharma. According to a National Post report, Nijjar’s “refugee” claim was rejected by Canadian immigration. Within days, Nijjar married a Canadian woman who sponsored him for immigration. That did not convince Canadian Immigration either.
Nijjar also had links to the pro-Khalistani organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Headed by the US-based immigration lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the group is active in the US, the UK, Canada, and Pakistan. Besides its various forms of fierce pro-Khalistan activism, SFJ has organized several non-government-sanctioned referendums for the independence of Khalistan, an ethnoreligious homeland for Sikhs to be geographically carved out from India.
THE CHINA ANGLE
Pannun was Nijjar’s lawyer and was in touch with Nijjar before his death. In an exclusive interview with this author, Utsav Sanduja, a DC-based policy advisor and geopolitics and hybrid state actors analyst, expressed his intrigue about the Chinese involvement in the latest avatar of the Khalistan movement. Among others, Pannun’s“Referendum 2020” campaign, according to Sanduja, stands out “along with a sanctioned Chinese military company known as Qihoo 360.” Qihoo 360, according to Sanduja, “took an interest in SFJ’s non-sanctioned worldwide referendum drive for an independent Khalistan.”
Qihoo 360, Sanduja said, is a Beijing-based cyber security-based military company. “Understanding the linkages between the US-based SFJ and China is critical.” Sanduja points to a letter written byPannun to President Xi Jinping of China, in which Pannun claimed that Khalistani land and resources were under “Indian occupation.” Pannun also claimed in that letter that his people “have faced genocide” at the hands of the Indian state.
One of the purported SFJ propaganda pamphlets, Sanduja recalls, also exhorted Sikh soldiers serving Indian armed forces to desert ranks during the Galwan skirmishes. “INDIA IS YOUR ENEMY, NOT CHINA,” the message read.
ROLE OF WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES?
There is no evidence of a direct link between Western intelligence or security agencies and Khalistani operation in the Five Eyes countries. However, it is worth mentioning that India had alleged a covert CIA role in the Khalistani movement of the 1980s.
This lack of evidence hasn’t stopped Indian analysts from pointing fingers at foreign intelligence agencies. Brahma Chellaney is one of them. Chellaney is a geostrategist and a professor at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi, India-based think tank.
In an op-ed, Chellaney writes: “Making things murkier is increasing evidence of an unholy nexus between some Anglosphere security or intelligence agencies and prominent Khalistanis. Key extremists are not just being shielded by such agencies; some also serve as intelligence assets.”
Mike Benz, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communication and Information Technology at the US State Department, has frequently hinted at the involvement of the US State Department in anti-government protests and marches in foreign countries.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Benz suggested that the USState Department prefers Rahul Gandhi over Narendra Modi. Benz also pointed to the USState Department’s penchant for exercising control over populist political movements worldwide.
At the time of writing for these pages, over two weeks after the allegations were made, there have been no qualitative changes in the situation. Both Canada and India expelled each other’s diplomats. India went a step further and cancelled the processing of visas to Canadian citizens, even at the consulates outside of Canada, and has asked the Canadians to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country.
HINDU DIASPORA UNDER THREAT
Meanwhile, there is a widespread fear in the Hindu diaspora. A purported video attributed to SJF chief Pannun threatens Hindus to leave Canada. In an interview with the Canadian network CBC, Chandra Arya, the Hindu Member of Parliament belonging to Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, claimed that his family members fear for his safety.
Samir Kalra, the Managing Director of the Hindu American Foundation, a DC-based Hindu advocacy group, said the “resurgence of Khalistani extremism in the diaspora has significantly impacted Indian Americans of all backgrounds and has led to a great deal of fear and insecurity.”
The UShas seen a rising tide of hate crimes against Hindus committed by Khalistani sympathizers. Some of this author’s friends have privately confided with him about receiving threats from pro-Khalistani elements in the USfor speaking up against them. India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, was threatened, abused, and stopped from entering a gurudwara in Glasgow.
These are testing times for the Hindu diaspora around the world.
Avatans Kumar is a recipient of the San Francisco Press Club’s Journalistic Excellence Award in 2022 and 2021.