Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Hardeep Singh Nijjar (11 October 1977 – 18 June 2023) was a Canadian Sikh involved with the Khalistan movement. He was a prominent member of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and spearheaded the group's Khalistan Referendum campaign.

Born in India, Nijjar emigrated to Canada in the mid-1990s. The Indian government accused him of being a criminal and terrorist affiliated with the militant Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and sought his arrest. Nijjar and his supporters rejected these allegations, saying he advocated peaceful means for creation of Khalistan. In 2016, Nijjar was placed on Canada's No Fly List and had his personal bank accounts frozen following allegations of his involvement in "terror training camps". Nijjar gained prominence in 2019, when he became the leader of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, and became an advocate of Sikh separatism.

On 18 June 2023, Nijjar was shot and killed in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara. On 18 September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canadian intelligence agencies were "pursuing credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Nijjar. After the killing, Canada expelled an Indian diplomat from the country. India's foreign ministry denied involvement in the killing, and expelled a top Canadian diplomat as a retaliatory measure. These measures sparked an ongoing diplomatic row.

In May 2024, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested three Indian nationals, who were charged with killing Nijjar. The Canadian investigations are ongoing, including into possible connections between the killing and the Indian government. In October 2024, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, as persona non grata. This occurred after Canada said they provided India with "irrefutable evidence" of links between Indian government agents and the murders of both Nijjar and of Sukhdool Singh, who was shot in Winnipeg on 20 September 2023; Canadian officials say that the six officials were "directly involved in gathering detailed intelligence on Sikh separatists who were then killed, attacked or threatened by India's criminal proxies". India responded by calling the claims "preposterous" and expelling six Canadian diplomats in a tit-for-tat move.