The banned Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has announced a 12-hour siege of the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, beginning at 8 am on Thursday (local time).
"Indo-Canadians planning routine visits to the Vancouver Indian Consulate on 18 September are advised to refrain and choose another date. Pro-Khalistan Sikhs Shaheed Nijjar-will lay a historic 'SIEGE' of the Consulate to demand accountability for Indian state-directed espionage and intimidation on Canadian soil," the group said in a notice.
The outfit also released a poster featuring India’s high commissioner-designate Dinesh K Patnaik with a target drawn on his face. The text below read: “New face of India's Hindutva terror in Canada.”
In the same notice, SFJ claimed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had offered "witness protection" to Khalistani leader Inderjeet Gosal, who serves as one of its coordinators, reports said.
Gosal was arrested last year in connection with a violent attack at a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area.
The fresh threat comes over a year after diplomatic relations between India and Canada soured following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of Indian involvement in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India had dismissed the charges as "absurd" and retaliated by recalling six of its diplomats, including the high commissioner, while expelling six Canadian envoys.
In a bid to reset ties, both countries recently appointed new high commissioners. Dinesh K Patnaik, currently India’s ambassador to Spain, will soon assume charge in Ottawa, while Christopher Cooter has been named as Canada’s envoy to New Delhi.
