Crime & Justice

India urged to probe alleged overseas murder plots in US, Canada

New Delhi, Dec 15 (EFE).- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday asked India conduct “thorough and impartial investigations” into allegations that government agents had plotted to assassinate Sikh separatists in the United States and Canada.

“India’s alleged involvement in assassination plots in the US and Canada suggests a new and notorious leap in extrajudicial killings,” said HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson in a statement.

“The Indian authorities’ repeated failure to hold police and military personnel accountable for unlawful killings demonstrates the need for more credible investigations.”

In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist leader, on June 18, in British Columbia.

The Indian government dismissed the allegations as “absurd.”

In November, US authorities announced charges against an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, whom they allege was recruited by an unnamed Indian government official to arrange a contract killing of a Sikh separatist leader in the US.

The Indian government has announced a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the allegations.

The global rights group accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of trying to “silence dissent using intimidation and harassment of critics through raids and arbitrary arrests.”

The nonprofit said the government’s ultranationalist ideology had promoted Hindu supremacy and encouraged violence against religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians.

The rights group alleged that the Indian government “attempted to label Sikh farmers protesting against government agriculture laws as Sikh separatists” in 2021.

“The Indian government needs to do a lot more than issue denials in response to alleged involvement in grave abuses both at home and abroad,” Pearson said.

“The authorities need to stop silencing critics and allowing security forces to commit violations with impunity.” EFE

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