What's happened
Canadian police have issued a 'duty to warn' notice to Inderjeet Singh Gosal, an aide to assassinated Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. This follows a recent assassination attempt on another Sikh separatist, Satinder Pal Singh Raju, in California, raising concerns about the safety of Khalistan advocates amid allegations of Indian government involvement.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to Maroosha Muzaffar in The Independent, Satinder Pal Singh Raju survived an assassination attempt in California, which his organization, Sikhs for Justice, attributes to Indian government efforts to suppress the Khalistan movement. Dani Anguiano from The Guardian highlights that Raju's attack follows the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, with Trudeau citing credible allegations of Indian involvement. The South China Morning Post reports that Gosal has been warned of threats to his life, emphasizing the ongoing danger faced by Sikh activists in North America.
How we got here
The tensions surrounding Sikh separatism have escalated since the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked to possible Indian government involvement. This has led to increased scrutiny and threats against Sikh activists in North America.
Common question
More on these topics
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Sikhs are people associated with Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak.
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California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.5 million residents across a total area of about 163,696 square miles, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area, and is also the world's thirty-fourt
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by land area, and the most populous democracy in the world.
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Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a lawyer and activist who is known for his work advocating for the self-determination of Sikhs in Punjab.
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Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Canadian Sikh separatist leader involved with the Khalistan movement, which calls for an independent Sikh state.
Born in India, Nijjar migrated to Canada in the mid-1990s.