Man under investigation by India elected president of Surrey Sikh temple
Posted January 11, 2019 12:05 pm.
Last Updated January 11, 2019 9:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A man who India accuses of running a terror camp in B.C. has been elected as president of a Surrey Sikh temple.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar is listed as an executive committee member on Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara’s website.
He’s accused of being a Khalistani extremist, and using the Mission terror camp to try to plan and carry out attacks in South Asia.
Nijjar has been a Canadian citizen since 1995.
India’s National Investigation Agency claims Nijjar’s associates in that country have been carrying out reconnaissance of gatherings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS has close ties to India’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Nijjar has admitted to participating in Sikh nationalist activism, but has denied involvement in violence. He has called the accusations against him “fabricated, baseless, fictitious and politically motivated.”
Nijjar was reportedly on a most wanted list given to Justin Trudeau when the prime minister was visiting India last year.
There were also reports that he was arrested and quickly released by the RCMP in Surrey in April, 2018. However, RCMP have not corroborated those reports.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more details and to reflect the fact that Hardeep Singh Nijjar has stated that he supports separatism but is not a terrorist.
