Thank you.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that I come to you from the unceded, occupied territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo first nations. I'd like to thank them for the opportunity to live and work on the lands they've been caretakers of since time immemorial.
I'd also like to recognize that today marks the anniversary of the onset of the first brutal and horrific incidents of Indian state-sponsored, planned and orchestrated violence against the Sikh community, in November 1984—a genocide in which thousands of Sikhs were murdered across India. The continuation of this state violence, oppression and now transnational repression has placed its foot firmly in Canada. The challenge before all of those who call Canada home is how to stop it.
State-sponsored violence is nothing new for India. In their report “Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India”, Human Rights Watch states, “from 1984 to 1995 the Indian government ordered counterinsurgency operations that led to the arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial execution, and enforced disappearance of thousands of Sikhs.” This is important today, because of the continuation of this violence in the form of transnational repression, which has taken the lives of Canadian citizens in this country. There should be no question about what India's policy has been towards Sikh activists for the last 40 years. India has engaged in these types of behaviours for decades.
However, successive governments have ignored this or brushed it under the rug, in order to pursue trade or closer ties with India. Repression is going unchecked, and the international community's response, or lack thereof, has emboldened India to reach even further. Canada's role is that it effectively granted Indian intelligence networks impunity to operate in Canada, which emboldened them to escalate their violence. As a case in point, when it was known that a nexus of agents of Indian origin were operating in the Vancouver consulate in 2017, very little to nothing was done to stop them at that time. This eventually led to the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey on June 18, 2023. All of this evidence is pointing to the fact that India is continuing its transnational repression in a very violent form. The evidence on record demonstrates that India is directly targeting activists for assassination and coordinating generalized violence against the entire community across the country. The acts of violence...through the revelations of the RCMP on October 14.
The reality of the situation in the community is something I can speak about personally. I am one of the individuals in Canada who have received multiple duties to warn regarding the threat of imminent assassination against their lives. This obviously places an individual in a very dangerous situation. I was removed from my home, where I have children who are minors. I couldn't be around them. The reality of working within your community while exercising your charter rights of freedom of speech and expression becomes blurred. Communities suffer greatly, not just families. The lack of response we receive in those situations is also very problematic. We have law enforcement agencies that aren't able to provide much help. We don't know where the threat is coming from. We don't know how to react to this type of threat within Canada, either.
All of these things, over the last two years, have been right in front of us. Mr. Nijjar, myself and dozens of other Sikh Canadians are forced to choose between retreating from public life and supporting our communities, or continuing our work and risking our lives as Sikhs and as people who stand up for human rights—which I believe everyone in this room would also adhere to. There was no choice. We had to continue our work. We had to continue to speak out. We had to continue to exercise those rights of freedom of speech and expression enshrined within the charter. That is the only option we have, and we continue to do so. We will do so going into the future, as well.
This is what an authoritarian regime like India looks like, and this is what they want—to intimidate and shut down dissenting voices. However, that's not going to be possible in Canada, and it's definitely not going to be possible for the Sikh community in Canada.
Transnational repression tactics include assassination attempts, threats and intimidation of Sikh activists. The assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar is a blatant example of how deeply India has penetrated into Canada, not only with assassinations but also by undermining general elections and the nominations of candidates in political parties—all the way to leadership races in that sphere, as well. We have evidence presented at the foreign interference commission that verifies all of this. India has conducted these operations for over 40 years. I myself have come out several times, over the last two years, stating that the Sikh community knows India is interfering in Canada.
I'd like to read you something:
India conducts intelligence operations in Canada at two levels—directly through its consulates in Toronto and Vancouver and indirectly through infiltration of the Canadian Sikh community. India's target is a well-organized international Sikh lobby that is the financial, intellectual and administrative backbone of the drive for a homeland in Punjab.
According to the sources, India's intelligence activities in Canada include the spreading of false information, the use of paid informers and the instigation of activities to discredit the Sikh separatist movement.
This is not something that was put out in the last six months. This is from November 28, 1984, in the Globe and Mail in Canada. Canada has known about Indian interference for 40 years. Canada, its media and the Sikh community all have known about it. The unfortunate reality is that little to nothing has been done about it.
In closing, we have four things that we think would help protect Canadians: the suspension of security and intelligence agreements with India in the short term as a short-term mechanism to ensure there is safety within Canada for all Canadians; a public inquiry into the assassination of Mr. Nijjar, along with India's activities and the revelations of violence that have been put forward by the RCMP on October 14, because, as far as we know, India is the only country to inflict this much violence in Canada on Canadian citizens on Canadian soil; the prosecution of conspirators and perpetrators and the imposition of targeted sanctions against Indian diplomats who are believed to be involved in this, especially those who have been removed from this country; and support for the Sikh community in combatting the rise in anti-Sikh hate, which has a direct link back to India's misinformation and disinformation campaigns against Sikhs.
Finally, I implore all of you to ask me questions about the real lived experience of Indian foreign interference. If anyone here remains silent on this issue, it will actually speak volumes as to where they stand and whom they are seeking to protect. We're all here as Canadians. We're all here in order to protect this country and its freedoms.
Right now, it's the Sikh community that's facing the brunt of this violence, but in the future it can be any community. There must not be party lines as we work together to combat this type of hate, this type of violence, on Canadian soil. This is a life-and-death situation for the Sikh community, for sure, but it's also the sovereignty of Canada that's being undermined, and that of all Canadians. Your response here now will be indicative of the priority you give our lives and of your commitment to your elected office to safeguard the interests of this country first.
Thank you.
