The Government of India expelled six Canadian diplomats on Monday (October 14) after rejecting Canada’s allegations that top Indian diplomats posted in Canada were involved in the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. India also recalled Sanjay Kumar Verma, its High Commissioner in Canada, and other senior diplomats.
The Minister of External Affairs said in a statement, “The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics.”
Sikhs began migrating from India to Canada in the late 19th Century and today comprise around 2% of Canada’s population. Despite the small percentage, how did the community come to occupy an important space in politics? We explain.
Sikh community in Canada
The 1980s witnessed a new wave of migration to Canada, amid the Indian government cracking down on the pro-Khalistan movement at home. Many of its supporters fled to Canada and continued rallying for the cause, giving it a global dimension.
Although the issue does not hold major significance in either India or Canada today, the Canadian government’s recent reluctance to outrightly reject support for Khalistan has been linked to the increasingly powerful role Sikhs have come to play in Canadian politics.
According to the government agency Statistics Canada, the proportion of Canada’s Sikh population rose from 0.9% to 2.1% between 2001 and 2021. Ontario (300,435) had the largest Sikh community in Canada in 2021, followed closely by British Columbia (290,870). Just under one-third of the Sikhs living in Canada are based in the Toronto metropolitan region, while over one-quarter lived in Vancouver in 2021.
Increasing political participation
The first Sikh elected to the Canadian Parliament was Punjab-born Gurbax Singh Malhi, who won from the Liberal Party in 1993. By the 2021 general elections, 18 Sikh MPs were elected to the Canadian Parliament.
Notably, the Indian Government’s Monday statement said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Government depended on “a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India”, was also responsible for “aggravating matters”.
The statement likely referred to the centre-left New Democratic Party (NDP), which supported Trudeau’s minority government until earlier this year. Its leader Jagmeet Singh became the first Sikh politician to lead a major Canadian party in 2017. However, he has been accused of supporting the demand for Khalistan, after he was seen at pro-Khalistan rallies.
As early as 2004, a report in Canadian media organisation The Globe and Mail noted the greater visibility of Sikhs during political campaigns. While liberal parties are seen as more pro-immigration, the Conservatives have also reached out to the group, given how all Canadian parties have generally welcomed immigration.
Henry Jacek, a political science expert at McMaster University in Hamilton, said then that Sikhs were going through a phase that affects most immigrant communities — their political ‘coming of age’. It happens when a group grows to a significant number and its members “feel they should be given their due by the political system,” he said. Sikh lawmakers have raised community-specific issues in legislatures as well, related to racial profiling of the community and bans on the turban.
The rising political participation has also been linked to strong support within the local community, with Gurudwaras and other organisations rallying behind leaders.
Question of Khalistan
In his book Blood for Blood: Fifty Years of the Global Khalistan Project (2021), Canadian journalist Terry Milewski wrote, “It is a question often asked by Indians: why do Canadian politicians pander to Sikh extremists? The short answer is that it is not easy to look out at a throng of 100,000 on Vaisakhi Day, knowing they might vote for you if you keep your mouth shut, and then to open it instead and risk losing the votes.”
Ostensibly to avert any criticism from the community, Canada has attempted to walk a tightrope in its relations with India over the years. In 2018, the government’s annual ‘Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada’ mentioned the words “Sikh extremism” and “Khalistan” for the first time.
However, a year later, Canada revised the report just a day before Vaisakhi, removing all mentions of Khalistan and Sikh extremism. This omission was criticised by then Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who had previously provided Trudeau with a list of extremists in Canada, including Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The government’s website now features an update, stating, “A review of the language used to describe extremism has been undertaken and is ongoing. The Government’s communication… cannot be perceived as maligning any groups. As we continue this review, it is apparent that in outlining a threat, it must be clearly linked to an ideology rather than a community.”
In April, the Indian Government summoned the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged its protest over pro-Khalistan slogans raised at a public event attended by Trudeau in Toronto. The Khalsa Day event was also attended by Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, pointing to the significance of Sikh voters among the major Canadian parties.
The Trudeau government has been in power since 2015 and the next general elections will be held in 2025. At the moment, his Liberal Party is staring at falling electoral support in opinion polls. A poll from the Angus Reid Institute in May this year found the party had the lowest support among Sikhs, in comparison with other religious groups.
According to the government agency Statistics Canada, the proportion of Canada’s Sikh population rose from 0.9% to 2.1% between 2001 and 2021. (Via Wikimedia Commons) 
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