Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma on Friday shared a horrifying moment when Khalistani ‘goons’ came too close to physically harm him and attacked him with a ‘sharp object’ – possibly a ‘sabre’ – in Alberta Which could potentially cause harm. Him.
In a podcast with ANI, Sanjay Verma shared his experiences of threats and intimidation from Khalistanis.
Sanjay Verma said, “All these attempts to physically harm me were made in the presence of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and local police and the local police on the ground took immediate action, pushing him away because There was some sharp weapon there.” And then the RCMP took me through a side door to the venue.”
“This happened in Alberta. I’m not an expert on Canadian law about open carry so I wouldn’t be able to say. But most likely they would have said it was a ‘sabre’ which is a small blade whereas They had swords in their hands. They could come very close to me,” Mr Verma said.
Asked whether the incident was reported, Sanjay Verma said, “It was all reported and we were told that the investigation is ongoing.”
Talking about the threat from Khalistanis, Sanjay Verma said that the threat has come from banned organizations associated with Khalistani extremists.
“Some people came through email during the so-called protests, which I call hooliganism when they gathered in front of the two Consulates or the High Commission. They used to raise slogans to scare us. Whenever we participated in public events They used to shout that slogans were being raised to scare us,” he said.
Sharing an incident, Sanjay Verma said, “In one instance, close to Diwali, they made 10 heads for me, called me Ravana. And then my effigy was burnt as Ravana. Is this hate speech? No? Then they made another poster of me.” .And they riddled it with bullets. Is this not hate speech?
“I reported it to the Ministry of External Affairs. The response was that we forwarded it to the relevant authorities, which is correct. We do the same. But the report never came back. OK. So we assume nothing happened So we believe it went into a black box so it can’t come out,” he said.
When asked if he felt physically threatened at any point, Sanjay Verma replied, “Threatened, yes. But did I feel threatened? No. In most of my public events, these goons come out against India. They might be raising slogans, but also against me. Some of them are very tough looking people who even hint at physically harming me, but barring a few incidents, they tried to do so.
“They came close to me. They tried to intimidate me by raising slogans and verbally abusing me. This was reported,” he said.
Talking about his security, Sanjay Verma said, “I had both federal and local Canadian security.”
Asked if he ever doubted their ability to protect him, he replied, “No, I wouldn’t say that. They were very professional, well trained and very respectful. As far as police officers go.” The thing is, he was protecting us and now protecting his colleagues there, very professional, there was never any doubt about his professionalism.”
He added, “But unfortunately, the statement that we saw at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police press briefing where the investigation has not even been completed was sad to see.”
Mr Verma said he was there to serve India’s national interest and was committed to doing so.
“So diplomacy for most of us, you know, would be nice, nice cities. But the ultimate purpose of diplomacy is to protect your national interests. The national interest may be improving relationships. The national interest may be raising awareness against Khalistani goons. These are all national interests.”
Sanjay Verma said, “So we work for national interests. It so happened that my national interest was a little different from the national interest of most ambassadors of other countries.”
Mr Verma was recalled from Canada after the country said he was a person of interest in the case of the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He denied all the allegations.
Relations between India and Canada soured when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he had a “credible allegation” that India was involved in Nijjar’s murder.
India has denied all the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated” and accused Canada of harboring extremist and anti-India elements in its country.
Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot dead outside a gurudwara in Surrey in June last year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
