Precis

When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood up and accused India of being behind the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil last year, the world took notice.

To have a head of state call out another country for effectively a state sponsored assassination was eye popping.

Then, months later, US authorities said an Indian agent was involved in a murder attempt on an American Sikh in New York.

Now Foreign Correspondent can reveal Australian authorities are also speaking to the Sikh community here.

This week, South Asia correspondent Avani Dias travels to Punjab where tensions are high and the authorities are watching.

This is the Sikh homeland where a banned separatist movement is fighting to create its own independent nation of Khalistan.

Avani visits the family home of the man murdered in Canada, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and learns of unusual activity in the lead up to his killing.

She also gains rare access to the movement's leaders, viewed as extremists by Indian officials, who are in no doubt the Modi government is targeting Sikh separatists around the world including Australia.

Episode teaser

PROTESTORS: "Long live Khalistan!"

00:10

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: I'm in the Indian state of Punjab and a protest is happening about a killing that took place on the other side of the world.

00:18

NEWSREADER:  "Breaking tonight a stunning allegation; the Prime Minister accuses India of being behind the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil."

00:27

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: The Narendra Modi government is being accused of assassinating a Sikh separatist on foreign soil. India says those claims are absurd.

00:35

WOMAN:  We will fight against our government, we will get our freedom, we will win, it will be clear that Indian Government has killed Hardeep Singh.

00:46

YOUNG WOMAN :  Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed mercilessly. This is not right at all. Because everyone has the right to fight for their rights, and it's good that they do.

00:57

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: India says this movement, fighting for an independent state called Khalistan, is a threat to national security. These protestors want answers.  We're taking you

01:10

Avani to camera. Super:
Avani Dias

to the heartland of this movement considered so dangerous by the Indian Government it's now at the centre of an international murder conspiracy.

01:21

KANWAR PAL SINGH: He's an intelligence man. He was waiting for us.

01:35

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: While we've been investigating how Indian authorities are treating this movement, agents have been pressuring us, too.

01:48

"You need to give us a reason why you've suddenly decided not to allow us…"

OFFICIAL: "The reason I can't explain you that."

02:01

Title: Sikhs, Spies and Murder

02:08

Punjab street GVs. Avani walking

02:14

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Punjab in India's north is the heart of the Sikh community.

02:25

Music

02:28

Golden Temple

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: It's home to the Golden Temple, the holiest site in the Sikh religion. There are around 26  million Sikhs globally, but they make up just two per cent of India.  Sikhism is one of the world's youngest religions, founded in Punjab over 500 years ago. Sikhs believe in one god, equality and service to other people.

02:42

Avani meets with Dal Khalsa members at temple

"Avani, nice to meet you."

03:23

I'm meeting the members of a group called Dal Khalsa which wants to split from India and create its own independent Sikh nation, called Khalistan. Kanwar Pal Singh is one of their leaders.

03:27

KANWAR PAL SINGH: So we have to clean our foot before entering into the Golden Temple, this is the most sacred place of the Sikhism.

03:41

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: The Modi government sees Dal Khalsa as a radical, extremist organisation. Its members are heavily monitored by Indian intelligence. Even at the temple, we're being watched.

03:40

KANWAR PAL SINGH:  At least six to eight person from the intelligence department were accompanying us. They were they were just scanning us what we are doing, but we are talking.

04:05

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: How do you know they're intelligence?

KANWAR PAL SINGH:  We see them daily.

04:14

Every protest, every function of Dal Khalsa, they come, they take notes, they make films and they send it to the government. We are under the scanner of India. 

04:17

Kanwar Pal Singh interview

We want Punjab to be a separate independent country. We want to become the masters of our own destiny. We want to rule as we are a sovereign people.

04:32

Activity at Golden Temple

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: The idea of Sikh independence was first raised in the 1600s to deal with persecution by the Muslim Mughal empire. When the British left India in the 1940s, some Sikhs had hoped to gain their own nation. That didn't happen. 

04:43

Archival. Sikh protest at Golden Temple. Operation Blue Star

The fight peaked in the 1980s, when separatists took over the Golden Temple, to demand independence. The Indian Army brutally stormed in with tanks, causing a seven day shoot out.  It was called Operation Blue Star and Indian authorities took back the temple.

05:08

Bullet holes in building at temple

KANWAR PAL SINGH: You see these are the bullet marks.

AVANI DIAS, Reporter:  Wow! So that's actually where they were shooting?

KANWAR PAL SINGH: Yeah.

05:30

Avani into temple with Kanwar Pal Singh, photos of separatists killed

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Memories of that dark time permeate every corner of this temple. The government says more than 600 separatists and troops were killed in the shoot-out. But human rights groups estimate thousands of innocent pilgrims were caught in the crossfire.

05:36

KANWAR PAL SING:  They all sacrificed for the cause of Sikh religion and Sikh sovereignty.

06:00

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Tucked away in one of the many rooms of the Golden Temple, portraits stand as tributes to the separatists who were killed. Kanwar Pal was just 19 at the time, and knew many of these men personally. Watching the violence drove him to join the Khalistan movement.

06:05

Kanwar Pal Singh interview

KANWAR PAL SINGH:  At that point we were angry. What government did with us, it alienated us from the government. We lost oneness with this country.

06:24

Archival. Indira Gandhi

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Indira Gandhi was prime minister at the time and ordered the storming of the temple. In a retaliation that shocked the world,  two of her Sikh bodyguards assassinated her.

KANWAR PAL SINGH:  I felt proud of those two Sikh bodyguards.

06:40

Kanwar Pal Singh interview

They took it as their religious obligation to carry out and to finish, or what I can say, is to punish the sinner as Indira Gandhi sinned.

06:56

Golden Temple GVs

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Indira Gandhi's assassination led to attacks on Sikhs across India. Thousands were killed. Less than a year later, in response to Operation Blue Star, Canadian authorities accused Sikh separatists

07:11

Archival. Aftermath of Air India bombing

of detonating a bomb on an Air India flight traveling from Montréal, killing all 329 people on board.

07:26

Kanwar Pal Singh interview

KANWAR PAL SINGH: When states come crushing you with tanks and bullets and bombs, what else option you have, other than to defend yourself and retaliate and resist. Resistance is in the Sikh nature.  We never give in, we never give in, we stand against the repression and we fight and fight and fight.

07:37

Evening GVs

Music

08:10

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: For years, the movement has been stagnant, but the recent mysterious death of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada has revived the fight.

08:20

Avani to camera

It was in the carpark of a Sikh temple like this that Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June last year in Vancouver. He walked out of the temple, got in his pick-up truck, and police say two men in dark clothes and hoods shot him several times. He died then and there. At the time, it seemed like a local murder, but it's turned into a major international dispute.

08:30

Photo. Hardeep in Canada

By day, Hardeep was a plumber, married with two sons in Canada. By night, he was one of the leaders of an influential global Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice.

08:59

Evening temple GVs

India has banned many of the separatist movements, so the Sikh diaspora is leading the fight. To prove there's support for an independent state, they're holding unofficial referendums in western nations. Hardeep was organising the Canadian vote.

09:11

Who killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

09:30

Kanwar Pal Singh interview. Super:
Kanwar Pal Singh
LEADER, DAL KHALSA

KANWAR PAL SINGH:  India. India wanted him back. India wanted his extradition. When India failed to get Hardeep Singh Nijjar legally, they killed him illegally.

09:32

Avani to Hardeep's Punjabi village

09:48

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: There's been so much global attention on the life of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. I'm heading to his village in Punjab, called Bhar Singh Pura. I want to find out who he really was.

10:03

Hardeep's family farm/Avani walks with Gurcharan

The house Hardeep grew up in is still on this potato and wheat farm. Gurcharan Singh has worked for the Nijjar family and shows us around.

10:20

Into house, family photos on display

"So this is the house?"

10:33

Faded, dusty photos from Hardeep's life are still displayed inside.

10:40

GURCHARAN SINGH: He was born here and studied here.  I used to see him while he was going to school. 

10:46

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Gurcharan reveals to us that Indian police and intelligence searched this house and their village in the months leading up to Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing.

10:54

GURCHARAN SINGH:  At least two or four cars came at a time, a senior official was among them.   I was with the police when they were searching. I didn't have the keys so, they broke the lock and checked it as well. I was with them in case they needed anything.  They said they wanted to search his house, where he lived, how he lived, everything. They searched everything and found nothing.

11:04

Himmat on farm

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Hardeep's uncle Himmat still works on the family farm. He watched Hardeep grow up during the anti-Sikh violence in the late '80s and '90s.

11:59

Himmat interview

HIMMAT SINGH: He was a normal kid. He used to go to school, and here he used to help his father with his milk business. What more would a 15-16 year old do? He left the village because he had curiosity. He wanted to go overseas and see the world.

12:15

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: News of Hardeep's death shocked the village.

12:36

Himmat on tractor

HIMMAT SINGH: They all came here to grieve. They kept coming here for months.

12:40

Himmat interview

He was killed there. His sons became fatherless. His wife became a widow. His parents are saddened and in grief. Killing someone, this is not a solution to any issue.

12:47

Avani and Himmat look at photos of Hardeep

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Hardeep's uncle says his nephew wasn't a terrorist, despite the Modi government's claims.

13:04

HIMMAT SINGH:  He stayed in Canada for so long, never did we hear about him taking part in any such activities.  The government shot him.

13:10

Music

13:22

JUSTIN TRUDEAU:  In no uncertain terms,

13:30

Trudeau address to parliament. Super:
JUSTIN TRUDEAU
Prime Minister/ premier ministre

any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves.

13:33

Avani watching Trudeau address on laptop with Pankaj Saran

Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

13:54

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Pankaj Saran was working in India's national security agency in the lead up to Nijjar's death.  He's since left but it's rare someone from that secretive department sits down with media on this issue.

14:11

Pankaj interview

PANKAJ:  I think we were all surprised in India when we watched and we heard, because it was dramatic. The Indian government, I think, responded the way anyone would have expected them to, basically they said, look, this, we don't know what they're saying. And, you know, this is not our policy.

14:25

Political posters around city

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: India had labelled Hardeep Singh Nijjar a terrorist, accusing him of a range of crimes like meeting militant leaders in Pakistan, flying ammunition from there to India through paragliders, and plotting killings in India. Pankaj Saran says Hardeep Singh Nijjar was on their radar; India wanted him and members of his group extradited.

14:47

Pankaj interview. Super:
Pankaj Saran
FMR DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

PANKAJ:  This was something that had been shared along with many other dossiers. We've had, I believe, almost 25 extradition requests that have been put across to the Canadians. And we have basically told them, this is all the material that there is, and all we're asking you is to return them back to India so that they can be tried as per law.

15:12

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Was Hardeep Singh Nijjar a threat to India?

15:38

PANKAJ: They threaten India's unity and territorial integrity, and therefore, they strike at the foundations of the Indian state.

15:41

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Pankaj Saran says protecting India's national interests is paramount…

15:49

Do you think there's a scenario where Indian agents are justified in killing overseas citizens?

15:58

PANKAJ:  Theoretically speaking, if someone has to defend your country against threats which you perceive to be of your core national interest, then all means are fair. This is the practice that has been followed since time immemorial, by every nation on earth, this is nothing unique or specific to India. So at a conceptual theoretical level, of course, every nation has the responsibility to protect and defend itself.

16:04

Indian parliament building

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: For months, Canada's allegations against the Indian government seemed to be isolated. Then, at the end of last year another stunning allegation came to light. US authorities charged a man with plotting to kill a Sikh separatist in New York, saying he was acting on the orders of an Indian agent. The alleged plot failed.

16:32

Blinken press address. Super:
Antony Blinken
US SECRETARY OF STATE

ANTONY BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE: I can say this is something we take very seriously.  A number of us have raised this directly with the Indian Government.

16:58

Trudeau with Modi

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Canada said this gave its claims legitimacy.

17:07

Photo. Trudeau in US congress

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime Minister: News coming out of the United States further underscores what we've been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously.

17:12

Modi posters on street

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Sikh separatists in Canada, the US, and the UK have been warned by authorities in their countries that their lives are in danger.

17:20

Gurdwara Sahib Sikh temple Sydney

While we've been investigating this story, we've discovered that officers from Australia's intelligence agency, ASIO, have met up with Sikh separatists in Australia as well.

17:32

Samar at temple

Samar Kohli is one of the leaders of the Khalistan movement in Australia. He's been working with Hardeep Singh Nijjar's group, Sikhs for Justice.

17:45

Video call, Samar and Avani

SAMAR:  We met at the cafeteria and at that time they had basic questions on the referendum, what the referendum is about. Do we feel that there's a foreign interference, to which I said yes and I could give an examples and I gave them a couple of examples there.

14:55

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: He says ASIO officers have met with him since the killing.

18:13

Samar interview

SAMAR:  I think a week after the assassination, I met with ASIO again and we were like told you this is going to happen. And then the question was whether we feel that threat is real in Australia. I think that everything is possible. The way they use the terminology is we are aware of what is happening, we are monitoring everything. We know who the key figures are and we are making sure all those key figures are safe.

18:17

Prime Minister Albanese greets Narendra Modi in Australia

Music

18:41

AVANI DIAS, Reporter:  When Narendra Modi met his Australian counterpart, he urged him to take action against Khalistan supporters.

18:45

Modi speech in Government House

NARENDRA MODI, Indian Prime Minister:  Prime Minister Albanese has once again assured me today that he will take strict actions against such elements in the future.

18:55

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: The Australian government has had to walk a fine line, defending the right of Sikh separatists to protest. But in the lead up to the Khalistan referendum, Hindu temples were vandalised in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

18:18

Graffiti on Hindu temple wall/Modi address

NARENDRA MODI, Indian Prime Minister:  Naturally these reports of temple attacks concern all of us Indians. It is depressing for our hearts.

19:34

Modi and Albanese greet dignitaries/ Graffiti on Sikh temple wall/Modi address

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: The Australian government promised to take action. Documents obtained under freedom of information show that Australian police in Queensland believe the graffiti may have been done by Hindu groups to frame Sikh separatists. They say similar vandalism in Victoria could have also been done by the same person, but Queensland police say there's no current admissible evidence to link any Hindu person to the crime.

19:57

Samar interview. Super:
Samar Kohli
SIKH SEPARATIST

SAMAR:  They damage their own temple and then they use it as a propaganda. Sikhs have no interest in that nonsense.  The word Khalistan has been turned into something so bad. We just want our freedom.

20:27

Punjab street GVs, Republic Day

Music

20:43

Sikhs prepare for protest

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: In Punjab, it's India's Republic Day, a celebration of independence from Britain. If the overseas killing was designed to put off the Khalistan movement, it looks like it's failed. Kanwar Pal Singh and his Sikh separatist group are getting ready to protest.

20:52

KANWAR PAL SINGH: People are being killed on foreign soil extra judicially. They energise us, they give us enough reasons to keep our fight going.

21:11

Music

21:22

Kanwar Pal Singh travelling to protest march

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Indian intelligence is already watching, even as the separatists travel to the march.

21:35

KANWAR PAL SINGH: He's an intelligence man. He was waiting for us.

21:53

Music

22:02

Protestors assemble at temple

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Protesters gather at a local Sikh temple. The march is heavily organised. Every protester gets a sign or a black flag.

22:08

PROTESTORS: Long live Khalistan!

22:32

Avani questions child protestor and then father

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: So how old are you?

CHILD: Six years old.

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: And why have you come here today?

22:44

CHILD: I have come here today to mark Black Day. We have come here today so they give us our land back. We want to free our nation, land.

22:48

AVANI DIAS, Reporter:  You brought your little son here to this protest, why did you think to bring your little child as well?

23:03

FATHER: We are fighting for a separate state. We will not rest until we get that. That's why I've brought him along.

23:08

CHILD: Long live Khalistan!

23:16

Protestors march

PROTESTORS: Long live Khalistan!

23:22

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Thousands are on the streets.  They've stopped traffic.

23:30

As the day goes on, the presence of the government's intelligence officers becomes harder to ignore.

23:47

Avani in car, leaving protest

Music

23:56

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: We just left the protest. And we had someone come up to us at the end who said that they were part of India's criminal intelligence department and they asked us questions about why we spoke to people at the protest, who we spoke to and it's just so clear that everything to do with Khalistan is so closely monitored, even to the extent that we as journalists are being questioned about this.

24:03

Punjab street GVs

Music

24:27

Avani travelling to Pakistan border ceremony

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: It's our last day in Punjab and we're heading to the border with Pakistan where the seeds for this movement were planted. Every day, thousands of tourists go to a public ceremony at the border, but Indian authorities approach as we arrive.

24:48

Authorities stop car

Hi, I've been talking to you on the phone?

25:07

A group of Indian officers prevent us from entering the border region. But it's open to tourists, why can't we just go in and film?

25:15

OFFICIAL: It's not allowed.

25:25

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: But I just don't understand what's changed in the last hour. I was talking to you last week, you asked how many people were coming, I've given you all the information. Everything's organised. So I don't understand, we've come all the way here, our crew's here. You need to give us a reason why you've suddenly decided not to allow us.

25:28

OFFICIAL: The reason I can't explain you that. I have been directed to inform you that your permission was cancelled.

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: We're at the India--Pakistan border,

25:48

Avani to camera at border

we've come here to shoot this daily ceremony; it's a public event. We were given permission by Indian authorities to do this, but as we've arrived we've been told that we cannot do this. You can probably see over here a police officer has come. He's told us that we're not going to go inside. It's just really bizarre. The tension's been building every day that we've been shooting this story. Earlier today, I got a call from a government official asking us questions about where we've been, about our crew.  It's clear that we're being really monitored and that there's concern about the story that we're doing.

25:59

Avani on phone in car

We made several requests to India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar and Narendra Modi's national security advisor Ajit Doval, but we didn't hear back.

26:31

Ajai at home reading

Ajai Sahni has been tracing the Khalistan movement for nearly 30 years; he says we should be looking at this in light of the upcoming Indian election.

26:47

Ajai interview

AJAI: This is very good propaganda for both sides. The Khalistanis are able to project themselves as, you know, exaggerate their victimhood, project themselves as targets of Indian state atrocity and state excess.

26:58

As far as the current Indian government is concerned, it serves their narrative of a muscular state, a state that will, in language that has been used by the leadership, that will go into their homes and kill them. So this feeds the profile that the present regime seeks to project among its supporters and in the forthcoming election.

27:13

Kanwar Pal Singh interview. Super:
Kanwar Pal Singh
LEADER, DAL KHALSA

KANWAR PAL SINGH: We are working as a lawful organisation. There is no ban on us to date. Our office, 24 hour office is running. Our activities are transparent and very lawful. And whatever we are doing is an open secret. We have nothing to hide and just we strongly advocate the cause of Khalistan and independent Punjab.

27:46

AVANI DIAS, Reporter: Are you worried for your life?

28:19

KANWAR PAL SINGH: No, I'm not scared. It is better if an enemy kills me. It's all up to the God and you can ask Mr. Modi also.

28:21

Credits [see below]

28:41

Outpoint