On 27th November (local time), an American-Sikh body, Sikhs of America, condemned the incident that place at Hicksville Gurudwara in Long Island, New York, where Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu was heckled by pro-Khalistani elements. The Sikh body urged the Gurudwara management to take strict action against those involved.
In a statement, Sikhs of America said Gurudwaras are places of worship and they should not be used for personal political views. They said, “We urge the management of the Gurudwara to take strict action against these miscreants so that the peace-loving Sikh community in New York can come to Gurudwaras freely without any fear or pressure.”
Undersigned by Sikhs of America’s founder and chairman Jasdip Singh Jassee and president Kanwaljit Singh Soni, the statement further read, “Ambassador Sandhu went to the Gurudwara to pray, and the management honoured him. After that, a handful of miscreants tried to disrespect him and violated the peace and sanctity of the Gurudwara. Gurudwaras are places of worship and should be free from personal political views.”
“Sikhs of America, the leading Sikh organisation in the US, strongly condemns the disrespect of a Sikh devotee, Ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in a Gurudwara in Long Island, New York, yesterday,” it added.
The Indian Ambassador was heckled at Gurudwara in the US
On 26th November, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was heckled by a group of pro-Khalistani elements during his visit to the Hicksville Gurudwara in New York’s Long Island. Sandhu was visiting the Gurudwara on the occasion of Gurupurab 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 also about SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The incident took place after the Ambassador was honoured at the Gurudwara. While the pro-Khalistani elements kept heckling the Ambassador, he calmly walked towards his vehicle and left the premises. Later, Sandhu posted about his visit to the Gurudwara but did not mention any incident involving pro-Khalistani elements.
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 Canadian diplomats were asked to leave India, and India 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.
