‘A deep scarring moment’: Reaction from B.C’s Sikh community over allegations against India

The reaction is mixed it’s something that should have been done a long time ago the community’s been after this issue for over 40 years Indian foreign interference in this country we’ve seen year over year you know kind of inching towards this type of Declaration is very unfortunate that it took the death of

Habib Singh Niger on this property a few hundred feet away to actually bring this about like we heard in June from Jody Thomas that India is a foreign actor we’ve heard from foreign interference reports in the past and past years that India is along with China and other nations interfering in Canada’s Affairs

So we have a mixed kind of emotion right now that’s kind of one is we are acknowledging that Canada has acknowledged India as an actor and done it from Parliament and on the other side we’re wondering what the next steps are going to be as well so I think there’s

Mixed feelings at the moment are you confident in the justice system and the international uh way of reaching Justice I think that at the moment uh we have no idea like as in like the justice system itself has been kind of I think failed in these moments in the past where trade

Deals and diplomacy and all these types of things come into play so human rights if it’s actually at the Forefront of our agenda then I would say like the justice system should do its work its job find the people that actually did this if Canada is actually declaring that India

Is an actual actor in this I think that’s the first step towards acknowledging and a first step towards justice but until we actually see people behind borrowers until we see actually people that were you know supplying uh you know money for this hit carrying this out I think it’s kind of like

Skepticalism right now that as if something’s actually going to happen and that just comes from a long I think list of things that have happened in the past where we don’t really see that Justice whether it’s in India or whether it’s here to try that the Prime Minister came out

And said this today I think a little bit of surprise it also goes to the the efforts of the sick community over the last several months in bringing this issue up and raising it ensuring that it doesn’t die out I think continuously kind of raising the fact

That India has actually got a hand in this so there was some level of surprise but at the same time I think it had to be acknowledged I think we’re at a point now where with Jody Thomas and others in intelligence service are actually saying that this is

A real thing the fact that Canada is now acknowledging it I think is is the right step and acknowledgment will then move on to actually like action and implementation of something and we’re very interested to know what that might be wasn’t okay I think the wave of uh support that we

Saw post his death it’s just a small indication of how big of a stature Hardeep Singh had in the entire Community internationally this thing it shook the community across the entire world including in Punjab before us growing up we always heard stories that as in like this would happen to you if

You were in Punjab that if you spoke out against the government that you could be tortured and killed and we grew up with those stories our whole life and then watching it transpire right before us that somebody that was so eloquent so like as in kind so respected within the

Community internationally was gunned down uh on Agora at a place of worship where we actually gather for all of our social and political and faith-based needs it was just a deep scarring moment I think for the sick community in Canada and also for the generation of activists

That’s still coming that the reality of what we’re speaking out about may lead to our death even in this country which I don’t think was a thought that even crossed our minds in the past just this move by Canada make activists in your community more or less scared

I think there’s people that are in the activist community that they understand that this is the this is the result of their activism at some point so I think that the fear is there that as in something could happen I think that’s in the activism in and of itself that you

Know they could be you know the careers could be at risk their families could be at risk they themselves their lives could be at risk so I think a lot of them come into it with this me standing before you today I would say it doesn’t

Do anything to say that we’re afraid of this at the end that it’s not going to silence us so I think there’s a lot of activists out there that are newer the reality of movements whether it’s this one or any other one for that matter if this is the end they’ll meet while

They’re sitting in Canada I think there is a sense of fear amongst them like as in like that this can actually happen here those of us that are a bit more seasoned that I’ve seen this happen have watched it right before our eyes unfold I don’t think we’re afraid of that end

But there’s nothing there that actually says that you know that’s the end we want for ourselves or our activists at the end of the day who

Moninder Singh, spokesperson for the BC Gurdwaras Council, said it’s disappointing that it took so long for Canada to act.

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