Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a Khalistani separatist group that is illegal in India, has said it will “siege” the Indian consulate in Vancouver, Canada. The group has put out a public notice that has gone viral, telling Indo-Canadians not to go to the embassy on Thursday, September 18, the day of the planned “historic siege.”
The SFJ’s threat comes at a time when India and Canada are having a lot of trouble getting along diplomatically. The group’s notice mentions that Justin Trudeau, a former Prime Minister of Canada, said in the past that Indian government agents were engaged in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist leader, in 2023. The SFJ further says in the notification that Indian consulates maintain “spy networks” that go after Khalistani campaigns.
The group has said that they will lay siege to the consulate for 12 hours, starting at 8 a.m. local time on Thursday. The public warning says: “Indo-Canadians who plan to visit the Vancouver Indian Consulate on September 18 should not go and choose another date.” Pro-Khalistan Sikhs Shaheed Nijjar will lay a historic “SIEGE” of the Consulate to demand accountability for Indian state-directed spying and intimidation on Canadian soil.
The SFJ also sent out a poster with an image of India’s new High Commissioner, Dinesh Patnaik, with a target painted over his face. The text accompanying the picture calls him the “new face of India’s Hindutva terror in Canada.”
This threat to the Indian consulate comes more than a year after the two countries’ diplomatic relations hit an all-time low. After Trudeau said that India was involved in Nijjar’s killing, India quickly called the assertions “absurd,” and there were diplomatic problems as a result. In reaction, India kicked out six Canadian diplomats and then brought back six of its own diplomats from Canada, including its High Commissioner.