As Carney resumes diplomatic ties, India accused of renewed threats to Canadians

A Brampton, Ont., activist said police warned him this week his life is in danger and India is behind the threat.

The RCMP has warned a prominent Sikh activist that his life is in danger, fuelling concerns that India is continuing to target Canadians while Ottawa seeks improved trade ties with the South Asian power.

Inderjeet Singh Gosal told Global News in an interview on Thursday that RCMP national security officers had formally cautioned him last month that he may be killed within weeks.

He said the investigators returned on Monday and told him there was new intelligence indicating that the suspected hitmen “are here and they’re ready to take me out,” Gosal said.

Police have offered Gosal the equivalent of witness protection, he said, but the 36-year-old Brampton, Ont., resident refused on the grounds it would interfere with his activism.

Gosal is the Canadian organizer of a protest campaign for independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab state. He took on the role after its previous leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was gunned down in 2023.

Canada has accused India of orchestrating Nijjar’s assassination in Surrey, B.C., as well as plots against others whose involvement in the separatist movement has angered New Delhi.

Gosal declined to disclose what the RCMP told him about the source of the suspected plot against him, but said it allegedly originated from the government of India.

“It all stems from them, it all stems from the Indian government,” he added. “They call the shots.”