- Nijjar’s assassination “ignited support” for Khalistan independence.
- Major countries of the world held India responsible for the murder of Nijjar.
- India openly violated Canada’s sovereignty: Sikh leader
Vancouver, Canada: Council of Khalistan President Dr. Bakshish Singh Sandhu has claimed that the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar has awakened unwavering support for the independence of Khalistan within the Sikh community.
Ahead of the Khalistan referendum voting on Sunday, Dr Bakshish Singh Sandhu at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara here announced that the Sikh community is set to vote in historic numbers in the referendum to be held at the Shaheed Nijjar Centre.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot outside the same temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a significant Sikh population where the second round of the referendum is scheduled.
The veteran Khalistani leader noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had confirmed in the Canadian Parliament that Nijjar’s killing was the work of Indian secret agencies operating out of Indian consulates in Canada.
Furthermore, major countries of the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have held India responsible for the killing of Nijjar and called for India’s accountability, Dr. Sandhu said, adding that India has acted as a rogue Has worked as a state.
He said India has openly violated Canada’s sovereignty and independence by killing and threatening Canadian citizens.
The Sikh leader said that when the Sikhs said that India was involved in their genocide, the world would not have believed them, but the Canadian Prime Minister’s statement has proved to the world that the Sikhs were right.
He said major world powers have supported the idea of a democratic referendum, noting that the Sikhs are waging a legitimate campaign for the independence of Punjab and the establishment of a separate Sikh homeland.
100,000 Sikhs expected to vote
Avtar Singh Pannu, coordinator of Sikhs for Justice, said that agents of Indian secret agencies shot Nijjar 50 times in an attempt to stop him from holding a Khalistan referendum in Canada.
Nijjar was an advocate of the Sikh homeland in Punjab, Avtar Singh Pannun said, giving his last speech minutes before his assassination.
He encouraged the community to get involved and vote in support of independence.
Earlier, he said, 135,000 votes were cast in support of the referendum at the same location on September 10, while several thousand people waiting in lines when voting time ended could not vote.
It is now estimated that more than 100,000 Sikhs will participate in the referendum at the Shaheed Nijjar Centre.
‘In the name of Nijjar’
Meanwhile, General Secretary of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Bhupinder Singh Hothi has urged members of the Sikh community to come in large numbers to cast their votes in the memory of Shaheed Nizhar.
He said that India killed Nijjar in the hope that it would scare the Sikhs but India was wrong because this killing has exposed India as a terror supporting country which has no regard for international law.
The Khalistan referendum voting campaign is being conducted under the supervision of the independent Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC) which will announce the results once all the phases are completed.
Voting began on October 31, 2021, in London and has so far taken place in several cities across Europe, Australia and Canada.
