Sikh activist Inderjeet Singh Gosal said he turned himself into Peel Regional Police on Nov. 8 after being charged with assault with a weapon.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
An advocate for a Sikh homeland carved from India says he will plan more rallies despite being charged with assault with a weapon after a violent altercation at a Hindu temple in Ontario last week.
Inderjeet Singh Gosal said he will continue with his advocacy even though he faces the criminal charge and says he has been contending with threats for months. Mr. Gosal said he believes he is being targeted by the Indian government, and that he has been talking to federal security officials about these dangers.
“It’s a constant dialogue with CSIS and the RCMP,” he said in an interview Monday. “I can’t get into too much detail.”
Mr. Gosal, who said he turned himself into Peel Regional Police on Friday, declined to address the charge against him, laid after a Nov. 3 protest on the grounds of the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton, Ont.
The protest at the temple turned into a brawl between Sikhs and Hindus. Sikh separatists were demonstrating against a decision by consular staff with the India High Commission to visit Canadian temples and community centres to help expatriates apply for government pensions.
Sikhs advocating for a separate homeland called Khalistan believe the consular outreach is cover for possible intelligence gathering by India.
In Ontario, Peel Police said last week they arrested three people in the immediate aftermath of the Nov. 3 protest at the Brampton temple. Later, the force said they charged another man with inciting hatred at a Nov. 4 protest involving Hindu nationalists. Police alleged one man was calling for groups to storm Sikh temples. Arrest warrants were issued for two other men.
Last week, police arrested three people who were not immediately charged with any criminal offences at protests outside a temple in Surrey, B.C.
The violence has been condemned by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Peel Regional Police say they have created an investigative team to get to the bottom of who did what.
“Individuals are arrested as they are identified,” Peel police said in a statement Saturday. The force said that they have videos of people using flags and sticks to assault others on Nov. 3.
Over the past year, Mr. Trudeau’s government has repeatedly accused Mr. Modi’s government of presiding over covert campaigns to repress and kill Sikh secessionists living in Canada. RCMP officials announced this fall they had evidence of Indian officials’ involvement in homicides, extortion and other violent crimes. Tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions in Canada and India followed.
In February, Mr. Gosal’s house was shot at. At the time, he was planning a rally at the Indian consulate urging the subcontinent to allow for the creation of a Sikh separatist state known as Khalistan. “I will push this Khalistan referendum until the day I die,” he said at the time.
In August, The Globe reported that Mr. Gosal had received a threat-to-life warning from RCMP officials.
Brampton City Council will this week consider a bylaw initiative from Mayor Patrick Brown that aims to block protesters from gathering outside houses of worship.
Diplomatic officials cancelled several future consular events after Peel police expressed fears of the potential for more violence.