Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Canada-based pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen at the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of Canada’s British Columbia province.
Born in Jalandhar, Punjab, Nijjar moved to Canada in 1997 and worked as a plumber. He was married and had two children. His wealth rose suddenly due to his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities. He joined the terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International and went on to establish his own group – Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
Nijjar was also associated with the separatist organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which is banned in India. He is accused of being proactively involved in recruiting, training, financing and operationalising pro-Khalistan terrorist modules for spreading terror in India.
The Khalistani terrorist was wanted in several cases, including a blast in 2007 that killed six people in Ludhiana. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet in 2022 against the KTF chief over a conspiracy to kill a Hindu priest in Jalandhar. A cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs was declared against Nijjar by the NIA.
Nijjar had been accused of killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case, in Surrey last year. He was designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July 2020.
India has repeatedly asked the Canadian authorities to take action against Nijjar for his alleged involvement in terrorist acts in Punjab. Last year the Punjab Police had sought the extradition of Nijjar on charges of reviving terrorism in the state.
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Nijjar was not a random target, but a prominent advocate for the creation of Khalistan, a Sikh ethno-religious state carved out of areas including India’s Punjab region.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials deem it a national security threat, but it has some support in the country’s northern regions, as well as among the sizeable Sikh diaspora in Canada and Britain.
Pakistan, India’s chief foe, is widely suspected of fanning the movement.
Related:
What is Khalistan separatist movement, how did the ideology travel from India to Canada?
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