Not supporting Khalistan, but probe Nijjar's 'extrajudicial' killing: Muslim diaspora group

In a surprise move, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to represent Muslim diaspora, said, it "supports" the US Department of State in urging India to cooperate with “a full and open investigation ” into Indian government agents’ alleged assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar on the Canadian soil.
It approvingly quoted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for stating that Canadian intelligence had ascertained that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of the Sikh community leader in June this year.
Amidst strong protest by the Government of India that Trudeau's stand was absurd, IAMC executive director Rasheed Ahmed said, the alleged overseas killing of Nijjar could constitutes "an extraordinary and unacceptable breach of Canada’s national sovereignty.”

He added, “If allegations prove to be true, this alleged assassination will have a profound chilling effect on freedom of expression around the world.”
At the same time, Ahmed underlined, “We do not support Khalistan and do not condone Nijjar’s beliefs", though insisting, "No foreign government should be allowed to interfere with a democratic nation by carrying out extrajudicial killings.”

“For the sake of the entire Indian diaspora, IAMC demands a swift, international investigation into the Indian government’s alleged use of violence beyond its borders to target its political and ideological opponents", he said.
Nijjar was ambushed by masked individuals and then fatally shot near a Sikh temple in British Columbia last June. Trudeau reportedly discussed his 'killing by Indian government agents" at the recent G20 Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, American President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“Modi has repeatedly proven that he has no qualms about using extrajudicial force to suppress his own citizens. Now it appears that his government is escalating its repression overseas,” said IAMC president Mohammad Jawad.

“The international community should be seriously alarmed by the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which may pose a serious threat to international security.”
IAMC agreed with Canadian National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas stating that India is among the top sources of foreign interference in Canada, pointing out, a report by Canadian intelligence officials raised the alarm of Indian government interference into Canadian economic matters and elections in July 2019. "Political actors affiliated with the overseas wing of Indian PM Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party openly intervened in 2019 British elections, trying to sway the electorate in favor of right wing candidates", it said.
Objecting to the Indian government revoking the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) of journalist Aatish Taseer, IAMC said, it was "politically motivated retribution for his public criticism of the Modi government".

"Hindu Nationalist organizations affiliated with Modi’s BJP have persecuted international academics with overwhelming volumes of hate speech, targeting U.S. Prof. Audrey Audrey Truschke and New Zealand Prof. Mohan Dutta in particular", it added.

In the US, continued IAMC in a statement, Hindu nationalist organizations which support Modi’s BJP have sought to "intimidate local minority populations with frightening displays in New Jersey, including parading anti-Muslim hate symbols in a community event last year, and waving the flags of paramilitary groups which kill Indian minorities in India." It added, "In recent years, the Hindu Nationalist organization Hindu America Foundation has tried to silence its critics through extensive litigation, which has all been dismissed."

“IAMC is itself the subject of an extensive disinformation campaign, carried out by former Indian intelligence officials with the aim of challenging our constitutionally protected activism,” Ahmed stated. “If indeed carried out by the Indian government, the alleged killing of Nijar sets a dangerous precedent and can easily be escalated to target individuals with far less of a reason.”

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Polymath academy or echo chamber? A personal take on knowledge, control, and WhatsApp moderation

A few months back, I was made a member of a WhatsApp group called Polymath Academy. Frankly, I didn’t know what the word polymath meant until its administrator, veteran Gujarat-based sociologist Vidyut Joshi — with whom I have been interacting since the mid-1990s when he was with the Gandhi Labour Institute — told me it refers to a person with an exceptional academic record.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.

English proficiency for empowerment: Modi’s SCOPE vision contrasts Amit Shah’s remark

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah may have asserted that soon a time would come when those speaking English in the country would “feel ashamed”, it is ironic that Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, had launched what was called the SCOPE programme, actively involving the University of Cambridge to provide opportunities to the youth of Gujarat to "become not just job seekers but job creators (entrepreneurs)."

Whither whistleblower concerns? Air India crash: Govt of India report suggests human error

Is the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, seeking to bail out Boeing in its preliminary report released recently despite the top MNC's whistleblower concerns ? It would seem so, if the Ministry's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB's) preliminary findings into the catastrophic crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registration VT-ANB, which went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on 12 June 2025, killing all 241 on board and 19 on the ground, is any indication.

Search This Blog