Canadian Sikh groups point out Conservative Party’s reluctance to ask questions about foreign interference by India

Sikh organizations in Canada are pointing out the Conservative Party of Canada’s reluctance to interrogate India’s acts of transnational repression and violence in Canada.

During a Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security meeting on Thursday, members of two prominent Canadian Sikh organizations testified as witnesses, detailing decades of actions by the government of India to target Sikhs in Canada.

British Columbia Gurdwaras Council and Sikh Federation Canada spokesperson Moninder Singh called out “certain party leaders” for failing to get security clearance to view evidence about India’s acts of transnational repression.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is the only remaining federal party leader who has not gotten his security clearance to view evidence on India. 

“We would actually expect everyone, especially party leadership, to have that clearance,” Moninder Singh testified before the committee.

“One of the things that’s being spoken about, I’ll be very blunt, in the Sikh community is that people don’t want to know so they can actually walk away from a situation saying well, ‘I never knew.’ That type of excuse is not going to fly.”

World Sikh Organization Legal Counsel Balpreet Singh also joined the meeting via video conference, adding that access to information on India would allow leaders to respond to accusations of interference within their own parties.

 “At the very least, our party leadership should know so that they can take actions within their own parties,” Balpreet Singh testified.

Moninder Singh added that Poilievre’s position has contributed to a favourable image of his party in Indian media, with his refusal to get clearance being seen as a sign of loyalty to India.

“India watches and manipulates this type of information all the time. So when our elected leadership in the country is not on the same page on an issue of national security, I think it sends a very wrong message internationally,” Moninder Singh said.

“India is able to utilize this, and they have utilized that—a party leader not getting security clearance has been just blown out of proportion within Indian media that basically the Conservative Party and Mr. Poilievre are standing up for the truth, which is Indian truth, and everyone else is a Khalistani extremist supporter.”

Members of the Liberal Party, the federal NDP and the Bloc Quebecois also all noted in their questions during the committee meeting that the Conservative Party leader has yet to get his security clearance.

Balpreet Singh added that for a party leader choosing not to get clearance is an act of “wilful blindness.”

“I think from day one, our community has said that this issue shouldn’t be politicized. We should all be united,” Balpreet Singh said.

“We’re dealing with a hostile foreign country, India, that is killing Canadian citizens, running criminal gangs, extortion, arson, all of it. It’s unprecedented.”

On Wednesday, Poilievre’s relationship with India slightly soured after he faced backlash from a BJP-affiliated org for cancelling their attendance at an annual Diwali event organized by the Overseas Friends of India (OFIC) and Canada India Global Forum (CIGF). Both organizations represent Indian interests in Canada. 

The CIGF was formerly known as the Overseas Friends of the BJP (The Bharatiya Janata Party) which is the ruling party in India. 

Last year, Poilievre and other members of the CPC attended the Diwali event alongside India’s high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma just weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced India’s links to the murder of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June 2023. 

Verma and other diplomats have since been expelled from Canada after the RCMP announced links between Indian officials and criminal activity in Canada.

Singh notes the timing of Poilievre’s decision to cancel the CPC’s attendance at the OFIC Diwali event could potentially be about optics.

“Automatically, your mind goes to, is this just because of what’s happening with the Conservatives being called out multiple times?” Moninder Singh told PressProgress.

“I would think this is just something that is temporarily needed for them to ease that pressure.”

Moninder Singh adds that with the RCMP warning of “credible threats to life,” against members of the South Asian and Sikh community, Poilievre refusing to get security clearance is raising many questions for the Sikh community.

“It automatically points towards, what are people trying to hide?”

On Tuesday, Canada’s deputy foreign minister told the committee that Amit Shah, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-hand man was responsible for authorizing a wave of violence in Canada.

“The issue with this entire process right now is that there is still an underlying thing of not wanting to push India too far that there wont be a relationship to be had after, but its happening to the detriment of the fact that there are people’s lives at risk,” Moninder Singh said.

“For the Sikh community it’s a life and death situation. We need to put Canada first.”

Moninder Singh says he believes these acts of violence and foreign interference would be “massive news” if it wasn’t India perpetrating these crimes.

“We’re not getting any commentary from the leaders of this country which I think makes it very difficult for the story to have any legs and for average Canadians to figure out what’s actually going on,” Moninder Singh said.

Moninder Singh added during the standing committee meeting that the issue of India’s foreign interference in Canada is “not just an issue of the Sikh community.”

“This is an issue of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of this country. I think that has to be more apparent that this is not a fight just between Sikhs and India anymore. As we can see with the expulsion of diplomats, this is a fight between Canada and India.”