Toronto/New Delhi, Dec 3 Canada right now stands at the crossroads -- it can continue treating Khalistani extremism and Punjabi-Canadian gang violence as two different issues, or it can trace the financial links and acknowledge that they are increasingly interconnected, a report said on Wednesday.
It added that enhanced border security, financial intelligence cooperation with trusted partners, and a zero-tolerance approach to laundering of drug money through political or charitable fronts would mark meaningful first steps.
"Canada is home to one of the world's largest Sikh diasporas - nearly eight lakh strong. The overwhelming majority are law-abiding citizens who have enriched the country through trucking, farming, construction and small business. Yet, a small, violent fringe within the Punjabi-Canadian community has, over the past two decades, become deeply entangled with transnational organised crime,” noted author, cultural critic and filmmaker, Vikram Zutshi wrote for NDTV.
“The profits from cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl trafficking are not only buying guns and luxury cars; mounting evidence suggests they are also bankrolling pro-Khalistan rallies, referendums and legal defence funds for extremists. This toxic nexus is no secret to Canadian police. Since 2007, more than 200 gang-related homicides in British Columbia alone have been linked to rival Punjabi-Canadian gangs fighting for control of the lucrative cross-border drug trade,” he added.
Citing law-enforcement sources in both countries, the NDTV report stated that a significant share of the cocaine and fentanyl entering Western Canada now moves through networks controlled by a subset of Punjabi-Canadian organised crime groups.
“The more disturbing allegation - raised by Indian diplomats and echoed in some Canadian police circles - is that part of this criminal revenue is diverted to finance Khalistan separatist activities in the diaspora,” it highlighted.
The report stated that the majority of Canadian Sikhs reject both violence and separatism, with prominent community leaders, such as former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh and the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, consistently condemning the exploitation of gurdwaras for political extremism and demanding stronger action against gang recruitment of Sikh youth.
But, it said, the problem endures, partly due to the reluctance of the political parties in vote-rich ridings such as Brampton and Surrey to confront it head-on.
“For the vast majority of Canadian Sikhs who simply want to work, raise their families and pray in peace, dismantling this criminal-extremist nexus is not just a law-enforcement priority - it is the only way to remove the stain that a tiny minority has placed on an entire community,” the report noted.
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