The son of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar says his father was meeting regularly with Canadian intelligence officers in the months before he was shot dead in British Columbia, in a killing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says has been credibly linked to India.
Balraj Nijjar says in an interview that his father was meeting Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers 害羞草研究所渙nce or twice a week,害羞草研究所� including one or two days before the June 18 killing, with another meeting scheduled for two days after his death.
Balraj Nijjar says he also attended a meeting between his father and the RCMP last year in which they were told about threats to his father害羞草研究所檚 life, and he was advised to 害羞草研究所渟tay at home.害羞草研究所�
Hardeep Nijjar 害羞草研究所� a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement that advocates for a separate Sikh homeland in the Punjab 害羞草研究所� was gunned down by two masked men in the parking lot of Surrey害羞草研究所檚 Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where he was president.
Trudeau announced to Parliament on Monday that intelligence services were investigating 害羞草研究所渃redible害羞草研究所� information about 害羞草研究所渁 potential link害羞草研究所� between India害羞草研究所檚 government and the killing.
India害羞草研究所檚 government has denied the accusation as 害羞草研究所渁bsurd and motivated.害羞草研究所�
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S.-based spokesman for the group Sikhs for Justice and a close associate of Nijjar, says Nijjar had asked Canadian authorities whether he should wear a bulletproof vest in the weeks before he was gunned down.
The New York-based lawyer saysNijjar asked about the vest in April or May, and the agencies responded to the effect that they could not provide one.
Pannun says Nijjar had also told him a year earlier, around July 2022, that Canadian authoritieshad told him about a threat to his life.
He says they told Nijjar he shouldn害羞草研究所檛 go to his gurdwara at his usual times and he should avoid being seen in public.
But Balraj Nijjar said neither he nor his father wanted to hide.
害羞草研究所淲e weren害羞草研究所檛 worried about safety because we weren害羞草研究所檛 doing anything wrong. We were just using freedom of speech,害羞草研究所� he said.
India had previously accused Hardeep Nijjar of terrorism and separatism. He was a key proponent of Sikh independence and had been helping organize an unofficial referendum on Sikh independence in India.
Pannun said he believed Nijjar chose to go about his daily life despite the warnings from Canadian authorities because his campaigning in Canada was peaceful.
害羞草研究所淪ince the Khalistan referendum is a peaceful and a democratic process, and he is in Canada, where freedom of speech and expression is inherently a democratic, fundamental right,害羞草研究所� he said.
A media officer for the RCMP in B.C. said a request for a response had been forwarded to RCMP national headquarters. CSIS did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
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