Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, slain Khalistan leader, the cause of fresh India-Canada diplomatic row

Reacting to the claims made by the Canadian PM, the Ministry of External Affairs responded with a statement rejecting all allegations calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.

“We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law,” read the MEA statement.

Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is at the centre of the latest stand-off between India and Canada, was shot dead outside a gurudwara in Surrey on June 18, 2023.

According to the Punjab Police documents, Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s native place is Bharsingh Pura Village of Jalandhar district. He moved to Canada in 1996 where he began to work as a plumber for the initial years. After settling in Canada, Nijjar began his journey of getting involved in terrorism by becoming a member of Babbar Khalsa International, which was led by Jagtar Singh Tara.

Later, Nijjar decided to establish his own group namely, Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), through which he played a significant role in identifying, connecting, funding and training the Khalistani cells in India. More than 10 FIRs were lodged against him in India and he was declared a ‘wanted terrorist’.

Nijjar then became a very frequent name in many assassination cases in India.  The most important among them was the killing of the spiritual leader Baba Bhaniara in 2014. In Baba Bhaniara’s case, Nijjar was said to be the mastermind. In the following year, 2015, he conducted a training camp in Canada where he trained Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was then sent to Punjab to target the Shiv Sena leaders. However, Mandeep was arrested in 2016.

Nijjar was wanted in several cases including the 2007 blast in Ludhiana, which killed six people and injured over 40 others. He was also involved in the killing of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat President, Rulda Singh, who was gunned down in Patiala in 2009.

Prior to Nijjar’s assassination in June this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) declared a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on him after he was accused of conspiring to kill a Hindu priest in Jalandhar in July 2022.