NEWS / Canada refuses to provide death certificate of controversial Sikh separatist to India

The death of controversial Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar has caused a serious diplomatic row between India and Canada. Having accused the Indian government of being involved in Nijjar’s murder, Canadian authorities are now refusing to provide the Sikh leader’s death certificate to India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA), India’s equivalent of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Nijjar, a native of India who had naturalized as a Canadian citizen in 2007, had long been accused of being affiliated with the militant Khalistan Tiger Force, which aims to create an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan in the northwestern Punjab region of India. Although he denied these allegation claiming he only wanted to achieve Khalistani independence peacefully, Nijjar got placed on Canada’s No Fly List and had his personal bank accounts frozen over allegations of being involved in terror training camps.

On June 18, 2023, Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of his Sikh temple, the Guru Nanak Gurdwara, in the City of Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia. In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister stated that Canadian intelligence agencies discovered a “potential link” between Indian government agents and the murder of Nijjar. Canada then expelled an Indian diplomat from the country. India denied any involvement in the murder and expelled a Canadian diplomat in response.

In May 2024, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested 3 Indian nationals who were charged with murdering Nijjar. Canada then went on to expel 6 Indian diplomats in October 2024, claiming that the 6 individuals gathered intelligence on Nijjar and Sukhdool Singh, another Sikh separatist, which later led to the murder of the 2 individuals.

Canada is now refusing to provide the Nijjar’s death certificate to the Indian NIA, which claims it needs the document to update court cases in which Nijjar is named as the defendant. Canadian authorities refused, saying India did not provide sufficient reasoning to justify sharing the death certificate of a Canadian citizen, the Times of India reports.