Three Indian nationals have been charged in the brazen killing of a separatist leader in British Columbia. The case strained already-tense ties between the two nations.
Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged in the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia in June, Canadian authorities announced on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India of orchestrating the brazen killing, setting off angry back-and-forth denunciations between the two countries.
The case widened a rift between Canada and India and set off a political dispute between the two already apprehensive nations.
Here is what we know:
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and what happened to him?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was born in the North Indian state of Punjab. After several unsuccessful attempts to gain entry to Canada, he moved there in the mid-1990s, according to Indian news reports, just after a period of Indian crackdowns on a Sikh separatist movement.
In Canada, Mr. Nijjar worked as a plumber, married and had two sons. He obtained Canadian citizenship in 2015, Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, said on social media. In 2020, Mr. Nijjar became the president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Mr. Nijjar was a self-proclaimed “Sikh nationalist who believes in and supports Sikhs’ right to self-determination and independence of Indian-occupied Punjab through a future referendum,” according to an open letter he wrote to the Canadian government in 2016. He was a key figure in British Columbia in rallying votes for a referendum in Canada supporting the establishment of a nation called Khalistan that includes the northern state of Punjab.
