On Sunday (26th November), the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was heckled by a group of pro-Khalistani elements during his visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in New York’s Long Island.
Sandhu was visiting the Gurdwara on the occasion of Gurpurab to offer prayers. In a viral video, pro-Khalistani elements can be seen confronting the ambassador with irrelevant and baseless questions about the murder of Khalistani terrorists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign.
— RP Singh National Spokesperson BJP (@rpsinghkhalsa) November 27, 2023
Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused… pic.twitter.com/JW5nqMQSxO
The video was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson RP Singh. He wrote, “Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu with baseless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign.”
“Himmat Singh who led the pro-Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused Ambassador Sandhu of India’s role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for the Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum,” he further added.
The Khalistani extremists called the Indian Ambassador “responsible for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar”. They also accused the Ambassador of “plotting to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun”.
When the Sangat and other personnel present at the scene tried to push the Khalistanis away, they warned the Gurdwara officials to not touch them. The incident took place after the ambassador was honoured at the Gurdwara.
Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak’s everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all. pic.twitter.com/i45M2TuSdf
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) November 27, 2023
As the pro-Khalistani elements kept hackling the ambassador, he calmly walked towards his vehicle and left the premises. Later, Sandhu posted about his visit to the Gurdwara but did not mention any incident involving pro-Khalistani elements.
In a post on X, he wrote, “Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak’s everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all.”
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and accusations against India
In June 2023, Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in Canada by unknown assailants probably as a result of a gang war. However, in September 2023, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, accused India of being involved in the murder.
Following the accusations, Canada also expelled a senior Indian diplomat. India categorically denied any involvement in the murder and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in retaliation.
Furthermore, 41 more diplomats were asked to leave the country and warned to strip them of their diplomatic immunity. In October, the diplomats of Canada left India.
Canada tried to gather support from its Western allies but failed to do so. Even after two months of the diplomatic blunder that Canada made, India is yet to receive any credible evidence that Indian agents were involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India has also raised the issue that the Canadian government has been harbouring terrorists and giving them political and financial power on its soil. Since the accusations, Indian diplomats and Hindus living in Western countries are facing threats from the Khalistani elements.
