New York – A detailed investigation published by The New Yorker on November 19 has revived scrutiny of the killing of Sikh political activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, with new reporting suggesting that the assassination may have been part of a broader India-linked campaign targeting Sikh separatists across North America. Nijjar, a prominent Khalistani activist, was murdered outside a Surrey gurdwara in British Columbia on 18 June 2023, after warning fellow activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun the night before that he had received new threats.
According to the report, Canadian and United States Intelligence officials suspected early on that Nijjar’s killing, carried out by two gunmen who fired nearly 50 rounds, was linked to a state-backed operation, citing India’s decades-long history of pursuing Sikh separatists domestically and abroad. Canadian authorities had previously alerted Nijjar that individuals of Indian origin posed a credible threat to his life.
The publication outlines how the killing coincided with a broader surge of transnational extortion attempts targeting South Asian communities in British Columbia from late 2023 onward. Victims, mostly business owners, reported threats, violence, and demands for payment. Law enforcement later connected many attempts to India-based criminal groups, most notably the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, whose members allegedly operate with networks spanning more than 700 associates. Canadian police and US officials have said there is evidence linking the Bishnoi network to Indian government agents, further complicating already strained bilateral relations.
US DOJ Allegations: A Second Plot on American Soil
The New Yorker report also highlights an extraordinary US Department of Justice (DOJ) case accusing Indian national Nikhil Gupta of conspiring to assassinate US citizen and Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. Gupta, arrested in the Czech Republic in 2023, is alleged to have acted under instructions from an Indian intelligence officer identified as Vikash Yadav, said to be a former RAW operative tied to the Bishnoi network.
US investigators say Gupta paid an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, posing as a contract killer, and provided evidence of his involvement in Nijjar’s assassination, including a seven-second video of Nijjar’s body presented as “proof of success.” Prosecutors plan to argue that the operation was directed by senior Indian officials rather than rogue actors.
The attempted plots reportedly extended beyond Canada and the U.S., with targets identified in California, New York, and additional locations in Canada.
India’s Response and International Fallout
Under heavy US pressure, India privately agreed in 2024 to cut ties with Yadav. However, publicly, New Delhi maintains that any involvement of Indian officials is “absurd” and politically motivated, insisting Yadav acted independently. According to the New Yorker, Indian officials in private conversations dismissed these denials as “total bullshit” and called the assassination plan a “botched operation.”
The revelations further compound a diplomatic rift that began when then–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused India of involvement in Nijjar’s killing, a charge New Delhi rejected, later expelling Canadian diplomats and suspending visas for Canadian nationals. In 2024, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme stated the force had “strong evidence” that the “highest levels” of the Indian government were involved in orchestrating violence on Canadian soil, including murder, intimidation, and extortion.
Fear and Fractures Within the Sikh Diaspora
The report places these incidents within the broader context of Sikh activism shaped by decades of discrimination, state violence, and trauma, including Operation Blue Star, the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms, and the enforced disappearances that followed. These events have long contributed to diaspora distrust of the Indian state.
In British Columbia and across North America, Sikh community members now increasingly fear attending protests or even gurdwaras due to possible threats to them or their families in India. While many diaspora Sikhs embrace Khalistani activism as a political movement rooted in historical grievances, others worry that heightened rhetoric, especially around figures like Pannun, could escalate threats against ordinary Sikhs.
Adding to community frustration, Canada’s Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu recently concluded a positive diplomatic visit to India aimed at strengthening economic ties. Sikh Canadians say such engagements overlook the unresolved allegations surrounding Nijjar’s killing and the safety of activists.
A Diplomatic Crisis Still Unfolding
Experts warn that the extortion attempts linked to Indian criminal groups add another layer of complexity. Former RCMP officer and criminology professor Galib Bhayani, in an interview with The Early Edition of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), said the international nature of the crimes poses serious investigative challenges.
“Let’s be frank, these extortion attempts are coming from India,” Bhayani said. “Our relationship with India in terms of information sharing is not good. At other levels, it’s not good as well.”
The New Yorker’s report, coming against the backdrop of an already deteriorated Canada–India relationship, underscores both the geopolitical sensitivity and the human cost of the allegations. For Western governments, the evidence of extraterritorial operations, if proven, raises significant alarm about state-backed political violence on foreign soil.
As investigations continue in Canada, the US, and international courts, the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar has become a central flashpoint in a widening dispute over sovereignty, intelligence operations, and the safety of Sikh activists worldwide.
