India-Canada Row: Surprise, Surprise! New Zealand, Another Of The "Five Eyes," Predictably Blinks

As turmoil found another residence on the world map with the Israel-Hamas conflict, a recent X post from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade flew under the radar.

However, the contents of the post should be a cause for explanation from a country that is part of the "Five Eyes," an intelligence-sharing alliance between the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom’s servile behaviour towards the Khalistani elements within the Sikh communities in their nations is well known and well documented.

However, what has been going unnoticed is the way New Zealand is increasingly becoming a stage for the dangerous and violent extremism that characterises the Khalistan movement.

Earlier this month, three people were convicted overwhelmingly by a 12-bench jury (one with an 11-1 verdict finding the accused guilty) for the attempted murder of radio show host Harnek Singh.

What happened at the trial raises questions about a 'civilised' nation’s understanding of crime.

The defence attorney of one of the guilty parties had argued that Harnek Singh was a "professional provocateur" and purveyor of "clickbait," as if almost trying to justify the attack.

The trial was originally held against five people, two of whom were let go for lack of evidence.

If anyone has heard Harnek Singh’s show, he has openly criticised the Khalistani movement and reminded people of the horrors committed by the Khalistani militants on ordinary people during the dark era in Punjab.

While he may be considered critical of orthodoxy, it has always been about Harnek Singh criticising Khalistan and the terrorists fighting for the cause. Given his wide audience around the world, thanks to YouTube, it is not surprising that he got a mark painted behind his back.

This trial, however, has only brought to surface the unnoticed politics of Khalistan being played out in gurdwaras and New Zealand’s Sikh community.

Just four days earlier, the Sikh Press Association, a Khalistani propaganda site, put out a release about New Zealand Sikhs demanding a “formal independent investigation” by the New Zealand government into Indian interference in the country.

This call for the demand, reported from an assembly of 200 people at Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib in Auckland, saw representatives of New Zealand Sikh Youth, Sikh Aspirations and Gurdwara sevadaars gather, with virtual appearances by Canadian speakers, British Columbia Gurdwaras Council spokesperson Bhai Moninder Singh, and legal advocate Bhai Prabjot Singh, editor of Panth Punjab.

In April this year, there was news of the arrest of Baltej Singh (nephew of Satwant Singh, one of Indira Gandhi’s assassins). He was arrested as part of a drug racket bust carried out by the Auckland Police.

Baltej Singh was allegedly known to have been involved in pro-Khalistan activities in New Zealand, and had amassed huge amounts of wealth through drug peddling.

Meanwhile, propaganda flows unabated in New Zealand about "Hindutva terror."

A story by Ripu Bhatia from earlier this year talked about Sikhs ‘afraid’ to go back to India, claiming they are becoming marginalised by the “Hindu-centric rhetoric and policies” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It is ironic, though, that the reason for fear is supporting Dubai-based truck business owner who has turned into an extremist and secession advocate, Amritpal Singh Sandhu, with the fear of getting blacklisted by Indian authorities.

While the story was full of unsubstantiated claims, it was fascinating to see how the quoted person was a spokesperson for Waris Punjab De, Amritpal Singh Sandhu’s organisation.

In fact, a month prior to this story, a protest had been carried out in Auckland against the arrest of Amritpal Sandhu in Aotearoa.

Of course, this is not new. The politics of Khalistan in gurdwaras of New Zealand is common.

Videos can be seen of gurdwaras across New Zealand where pictures of Khalistani militants and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale gloriously adorn walls, with some pictures even bigger than that of historical figures like Baba Deep Singh.

For instance, in Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib in Takanini, which has one of the largest Sikh populations outside Auckland, one can see pictures of Bhindranwale, Satwant Singh, Gurdev Singh Kounke, and Harjinder Singh Jinda among others.

If this was a surprise, you can see it even in Auckland.

For instance, the langar hall of Gurdwara Nanaksar Manurewa in Auckland has many pictures of extremists adorning its walls.

This very gurdwara has been under the scanner for a while for the presence of extremism.

Last year, during the Baisakhi mela, the portrait of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was also placed on the same palki as that of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

In fact, Nanaksar Gurdwara’s managing trust has been in the scrutiny for an alleged immigration fraud.

In 2021, it was reported that Tarsem Singh had alleged that senior officials of the Nanaksar gurdwara in Manurewa, south Auckland, organised a fake passport after he was declined a visa under his real name.

This, in fact, led to a bizarre turn of events, where the accused Rajvinder Singh admitted to creating the fake passport under duress of a religious leader when he worked as the gurdwara’s full-time manager.

Another case of immigration fraud was seen with a famous restaurant in 2020, where migrant workers were exploited for financial gains.

There have been other stories that raise concern. In 2013, we had the case of Manpreet Singh's arrest in India on terrorism charges.

A former president of the New Zealand Sikh Society Auckland, Singh faced multiple charges including alleged involvement in seditious activities, masterminding a jailbreak, and attempted murder of a jail staff.

Singh had managed to escape the country after getting bail in 1999.

Similarly, a rather peculiar case of blacklisting was seen in 2010 when Ranvir Singh Lali’s wife and son were deported from India, because of possible terror links.

It must be pointed out that Lali is also head of the Supreme Sikh Society of New Zealand, based out of Takanini.

What is the influence of these bodies, one may ask?

Well, there is literature to show how the nuisance of vote-bank politics, all too visible in Canada, is a problem for New Zealand, as well.

A 2019 paper from the journal Asian Development Perspectives showed how the Sikh congregation at gurdwaras was seen as places to secure vote banks by the politicians of New Zealand across party lines:

"However, if we return the Western gaze by looking at how Gurudwaras are seen (and used) by local and national politicians in the developed countries Punjabi Sikhs migrate to, such places are not merely cultural and religious sites for minorities to gather, but also strategic vote banks for making “withdrawals” from at elections. Minority places of worship in developed countries are often referred to conversationally and in the media as vote banks where political parties line up clusters of voters affiliated to these establishments and the surrounding vicinities. Politicians in New Zealand elected to the Auckland constituencies are no exception, with both the centre-left Labour Party and the right-leaning National Party visiting Auckland’s nine Gurudwaras during the Sunday proceedings with a single-minded agenda to campaign for votes."

A particular reason for the same has also been the growth in the Sikh population in the country in huge numbers.

In 2019, it was reported that the number of people who identified as Sikhs more than doubled between 2013 and 2019, and more than quadrupled since 2006.

This is a statement reiterated within the community, as well. During the establishment of the New Zealand Sikh Cultural Association in 2022, it was stated that the total population of Sikhs is likely to be about 100,000 in Census 2023, making up 2 per cent of the country’s total population.

Therefore, even as New Zealand’s foreign minister last year reiterated her stand for not supporting anti-India politics in a presser in New Delhi, it is no surprise that the action on the ground was in another direction altogether.

As part of the Five Eyes, it is hardly a random occurrence that these nations are all hosting Khalistani terrorists, backers, and sympathisers who are causing disruption and trouble for a significant portion of the Sikh community as well as the Indian diaspora.

There is an element of shielding that is circumstantially evident now, and it is only a matter of time before India asks these countries to come clear on their stand.

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander too. Hence, it comes as no shock that the second member of the Five Eyes also turns a blind eye to the issue of Khalistan.

The rhetoric of human rights seems to exclusively encompass a certain set of individuals, labelling them as activists and freedom fighters, while others are conveniently classified as terrorists.