Pro-Khalistan protests held outside Indian missions in Canada and US

A week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that the Indian government was involved in the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, pro-Khalistan demonstrations were conducted outside the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and consulates in Toronto and Vancouver on Monday.

The demonstrators yelled anti-Indian slogans and tore up the Indian Tricolor in one of the locations while waving Canadian and yellow Khalistan flags. Some demonstrators were spotted throwing shoes at a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a different demonstration. Additionally, they displayed signs that read, "India is to blame for terrorism in Canada."

There were roughly 70 people at each of the three protest locations, and they were well-organized, according to a CBC report. The Vancouver event was held atop an enormous Indian flag that had been laid on the damp ground, according to CBC. Participants waved the Canadian and Khalistan flags and held posters criticizing the Indian government and outside intervention.

In a similar incident, US Congressman Eric Swalwell declared that he would contact the Committee on Homeland Security to learn more about Trudeau's claims. He is a Democrat and represents California's 14th district, where half of the Sikhs in the US reside.

"As a member of the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, I oppose political violence & hate with the Sikh community. Sikhs should not have to fear political persecution in America or anywhere else in the globe. The reports that the Indian government is pursuing Sikh activists overseas worry me, and as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I'll look for additional information. On Monday, Swalwell wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "I will work with local and federal government officials to ensure appropriate efforts are implemented to protect the Sikh community.

Swalwell was responding to a report in the news website The Intercept that said the FBI had alerted Sikh activists in California that their lives might be in danger after Nijjar's murder outside a gurdwara in British Columbia, Canada, in June.

Jim Costa, a Democrat who represents California's 21st congressional district, is the other US Congressman who has announced plans to use the congressional committee system to gather further information on this issue. Swalwell is the second of them to do so. "I have asked for an official briefing in my capacity as a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee because I am extremely worried about reports that Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Niijar was murdered. To identify the parties responsible for this crime, we must conduct a thorough investigation,'' Costa wrote in a post on Monday.