NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has written an open letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino asking him to investigate the “troubling” murder of Guru Nanak Gurdwara President Hardeep Singh Nijjar, adding that this “brazen act of violence” has made the Sikh community feel more unsafe.
In the letter written on Tuesday and shared on Instagram, Singh also refers to the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister calling India “one of the top sources of foreign interference targetting Canadians”.
Singh says that as public safety minister it is Mendicino’s responsibility to ensure every Canadian feels safe. However “the Sikh community feels even more worried and unsafe than they previously had” on account of Nijjar’s murder.
Nijjar, 45, who was designated as a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year and carried a prize of Rs 1 million on his head. He was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while leaving the gurdwara at about 8.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Nijjar, who came to Canada from Bhar Singh Pura village in Jalandhar in 1997, was also the main leader of the pro-Khalistan referendum in Canada along with New York-based Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Just days before his murder, Nijjar reportedly told a local Punjabi channel that he had been informed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that there was a threat to his life.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) says Nijjar was targetted by Indian intelligence agencies.
“Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he would be targeted by Indian intelligence agencies. The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) and local law enforcement were aware of the threat to Nijjar as well as other Sikh activists in Canada,” WSO Legal Counsel Balpreet Singh Boparai said in a statement to CanIndia News.
Jagmeet Singh concludes the letter to Mendicino saying that the threats to Nijjar and India’s alleged interference in Canada need to be investigated thoroughly in order to ensure the safety of all Canadians.
