Inderjeet Singh Gosal, the new head of the Khalistani referendum movement in Canada, has revealed he rejected a Canadian government offer of protection that would have forced him to abandon his public life, despite escalating threats linked to Indian intelligence networks.
Speaking to CBC News on Parliament Hill, Gosal, a Brampton resident who succeeded Hardeep Singh Nijjar after his assassination in Surrey, B.C., declared that he refuses to go underground even as the RCMP warns of active hit squads operating in Canada. “I respectfully declined, because I’d rather take India’s bullet than stop campaigning for the Khalistan referendum,” he said.
Between August 20 and September 10, RCMP officers visited Gosal nearly a dozen times, warning him that “shooters are in town” and that the only way to guarantee his safety was through witness protection and relocation. Gosal refused to “disappear,” saying he intends to remain publicly active, including attending a planned Punjabi independence referendum event in Ottawa on November 23, which is expected to anger the Modi government.
Gosal’s defiance comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Canada and India. Ottawa has accused Indian government agents of orchestrating Nijjar’s killing, while U.S. prosecutors recently linked the murder directly to India’s overseas intelligence agency in court filings related to a separate assassination plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the global leader of Sikhs for Justice.
Pannun, a U.S.-Canadian citizen, defended Gosal’s decision, arguing that asking him to abandon his life amounted to offering “no real protection.” “He’s not a witness in a gang war,” Pannun said. “He’s leading a peaceful, democratic referendum campaign.”
Gosal is currently out on bail facing firearms charges, which he says must be seen in the context of repeated RCMP warnings about credible assassination threats.
Meanwhile, the Carney government is attempting to normalize relations with India, despite the RCMP’s extraordinary public warning last year about Indian agents’ involvement in criminal activity in Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, who is in talks with Indian officials, has signalled a “step-by-step approach” to restoring diplomatic ties.
Pannun, however, says Ottawa is moving too quickly. “How do you normalize with a regime that is actively pursuing assassination plots?” he asked. Gosal echoed that sentiment: “We want Foreign Minister Anita Anand to confront, not cooperate, with India.”
Gosal’s public stance underscores the growing tension between Canada’s diplomatic objectives and the escalating security threats faced by Sikh activists on Canadian soil.
Courtsey CBC News