On February 10, 1997, one Ravi Sharma fled India and arrived in Toronto. Global News managed to get its hands on his immigration records. But why was the portal seeking Sharma’s immigration records? It turns out Ravi Sharma was a fraudulent alias used by none other than Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was recently assassinated by unknown assailants in Canada.
As per Global News, Nijjar used fake identity as he “feared” persecution in India for his association with “a particular social group, namely, individuals associated with Sikh militants.” Nijjar was linked to a Khalistani terrorist organisation, and in the 1990s, a full-fledged operation was ongoing in Punjab against Khalistani groups.
Nijjar, the head of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, was shot dead in Surrey by two unidentified assailants on June 18 this year. He was a wanted terrorist by the Indian Government. The 46-year-old hailed from the village Bhar Singhpura of Jalandhar.
Najjar lied to immigration officials in Canada
The Global News report suggested that Nijjar told immigration officials that his troubles began in 1990 when police started a crackdown on insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab. The Punjab Police arrested his brother and father. Initially, his brother Jatinder was picked up by the police, and later, his father was also arrested. Nijjar claimed both of them were tortured.
In a sworn affidavit, Nijjar told the immigration officials that he was picked by Punjab Police in 1995 and was tortured to find the whereabouts of his brother and father. Nijjar further claimed he bribed police with Rs 50,000 and cut his hair to change his appearance. Till 1996, he stayed away from the public eye at a relative’s house in UP. When police reached the relative’s house, Nijjar was not there, and his uncle was arrested.
He claimed in the affidavit that he submitted to the immigration officials in June 1998 that his life was in grave danger in India. However, immigration officials did not believe him and said the letter submitted by Nijjar was fabricated. The information provided by a physician who claimed to have treated Nijjar after his release from police custody had spelling mistakes that raised a red flag. His immigration request was dismissed as unreliable, the report noted. The panel categorically said they did not believe Nijjar was ever arrested and tortured by the police.
Just eleven days after immigration officials refused his claims, he married a woman from British Columbia who sponsored him to immigrate as her spouse. In his application form, he refused to associate with any group that advocated “armed struggle or violence to reach political, religious or social objectives.” His application was, however, again rejected by the officials, saying it was a “marriage of convenience”. His supposed wife was sponsored by a “different” husband in 1997 when she arrived in Canada. Nijjar appealed in court against the decision but lost in 2001.
During his stay in Canada, he kept calling himself a citizen of Canada, which has now been clouded by the report of Global Times.
Nijjar’s anti-India activities and cases against him
Nijjar travelled to Geneva in 2013 and asked UN Human Rights Council to recognise the anti-Sikh violence of 1984 as genocide. He also lobbied for a referendum for Khalistan at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2014.
In November 2014, an arrest warrant was issued through Interpol’s National Central Bureau in New Delhi, in which he was described as a mastermind/active member of the Khalistani terrorist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force. He was accused of having involvement in the 2997 Srinagar Cinema bombing in Punjab in 2007. Another notice was issued by Interpol against him in 2016 in which he was accused of being a mastermind and key conspirator of several terrorist activities in India.
In 2018 he took charge of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Canada as President. In March 2019, he was charged with assault, but the case was stayed in December 2019. He was also accused of not returning a printing machine to Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted of alleged involvement in the 1985 Air India bombing. A case was filed by Malik against Nijjar, saying he handed over the printing press to Nijjar in November 2020 for safekeeping, but Nijjar refused to return it. Malik was murdered in July 2022. In February 2023, a lawsuit was filed for the return of the machine.
Nijjar was an associate of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist by the Government of India under the UAPA Act. Pannu runs a terrorist organisation Sikhs For Justice, that is behind the Referendum 2020. Nijjar was working on organising the so-called referendum scheduled for September 18 this year. In a statement to Global News, Pannu claimed National Investigation Agency (NIA) placed a bounty of 1 million (CAD 16,000) on Nijjar.
Fraudulent documents to get immigration in Canada
In March 2023, OpIndia published a detailed report on how Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Mann admitted in a June 2022 interview that he gave letters to asylum seekers for permanent residency in other countries. He claimed to have issued 50,000 such letters for approx Rs 35,000 per letter.
Recently, around 700 students were found to have presented fraudulent documents in Canada and faced possible deportation. The fraudulent documents were given to the students by immigration agents in India. The politics around the matter is still on while the future of these students hangs mid-air.
