Assassination of Indian opponents abroad and red lines

Jorge Costa Oliveira

According to a recent edition of The Economist, “in a press conference held on October 14th Mike Duheme, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, accused India’s top diplomat in Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, of involvement with a criminal network that has coerced and killed Canadian citizens who support Sikh separatism.”

In September 2023, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, publicly claimed that Indian agents were involved in a shooting targeting Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a Canadian citizen, activist for the Khalistan separatist movement, and Sikh religious leader labeled a “terrorist” by the Indian government — outside a Sikh temple in a Vancouver suburb.

The Indian government dismissed the accusation as ridiculous and demanded that Canada provide evidence; Canada reportedly shared evidence via the intelligence services of both countries, though India continues to deny the allegations. It’s hard to believe the Canadian government would create a diplomatic storm with commercial repercussions for both countries without a strong basis.

Another similar case involved the attempted assassination of American citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (another Khalistani activist), which led to accusations from the U.S. Department of Justice against “an Indian working for the Indian government” in November 2023.

Pannun and Nijjar are just two in a long list of Indian opponents who have been assassinated (or faced assassination attempts) abroad. The Indian government denies having an overseas assassination program, but analysts suggest the sheer number of cases points to the existence of such a program.

While not unique on a global scale, it’s clear that the Modi/BJP government does not hesitate to violate the sovereignty of friendly nations and strain international relations with key Western countries in order to extend abroad its domestic sectarian persecution of religious minorities, in line with its Hindutva policies.

It’s also true that some Western powers (e.g., the U.S.) do not have entirely clean hands in actions of this sort, carried out in the name of “raison d’État”. Just as we criticize such actions when committed by Western powers, there must be consequences for the brazen way the Modi government engages in these acts that violate international law.

The West must recognize that, under BJP rule, India is a highly imperfect democracy with severe civil liberties violations, many stemming from BJP policies and the nature of RSS/BJP — a blend of religious-based ultranationalism with a proto-fascist organization. Access to India’s lucrative market and geopolitical considerations cannot be the only factors taken into account. If Modi continues crossing red lines in international law, there must be consequences.

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