New Delhi:
Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma shared a terrifying moment on Friday when Khalistani ‘goons’ came very close to inflict bodily harm on him and attacked him with a ‘sharp object’ – most likely a ‘kirpan’ – in Alberta that may could harm him.
In a podcast with ANI, Sanjay Verma shared his experiences of threats and intimidation by the Khalistanis.
Sanjay Verma said: “All these attempts to cause me bodily harm, that was in the presence of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the local police and the local police on the spot immediately took action and pushed him away because there was a sharp weapon and the RCMP then took me from the side door to the location.”
“It was in Alberta. I’m not an expert on Canadian open carry law, so I can’t say. But most likely they would have said it was ‘kirpan,’ which is a small knife, while they were swords in their hand. They could get very, very close to me,” Mr Verma said.
When asked if the incident had been reported, Sanjay Verma said, “It has all been reported and we have been told that the investigation is on.”
Speaking about intimidation by the Khalistanis, Sanjay Verma said the intimidation came through banned organizations linked to the Khalistani extremists.
“Some came through emails during the so-called protests, which I call hooliganism when they gathered in front of the two consulates or the High Commission. They shouted slogans to intimidate us. Whenever we attended public events, they would again shout slogans to intimidate us,” he said.
Sanjay Verma shared an incident and said, “In one case, near Diwali, they created ten heads for me and called me Ravan. And then my effigy was burnt as Ravan. Isn’t that hate speech? Then they created another poster of mine .And they riddled it with bullets.
“I have reported this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The response was that we forwarded it to the relevant authorities, which is correct. We do that too. But the message was never returned. Okay. So we assume nothing happened. So we assume it went into a black box and never came out,” he said.
When asked if he felt physically threatened at any point, Sanjay Verma said, “Threatened, yes. But was I threatened? No. At most of my public events, there will be hooligans outside shouting slogans against India, but also Some of them are very big looking tall guys who also made gestures to hurt me physically, but only the gestures, except for a few incidents.
“They came close to me. They tried to intimidate me by shouting slogans and verbally insulting me. It was reported,” he said.
Sanjay Verma said of his security: “I had Canadian security, both federal and local.”
When asked if at any point he doubted their ability to protect him, he replied, “No, I won’t say that. They were very professional, well trained and very respectful. protected us and now protected my colleagues there, very, very professionally, and never had an iota of doubt about their professionalism.”
He added: “But unfortunately the statement we saw at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police press conference, where even the investigation is not yet concluded, was sad to see.”
Mr Verma said he was there to serve India’s national interest and was determined to do so.
“So for most of us, diplomacy would be nice, nice cities. But the ultimate goal of diplomacy is to safeguard your national interests. National interest could be improving relations. National interest could be increasing awareness against this. Khalistani goons are all national interests,” he said.
“So we are working for national interests. It just so happened that my national interest was a little different from the national interest of most other ambassadors in other countries,” said Sanjay Verma.
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 allegations.
Ties between India and Canada deteriorated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in the Canadian parliament last year that he had “credible allegations” about India’s hand in Nijjar’s killing.
India has denied all the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated”, and accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country.
Nijjar, who was labeled a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot dead outside a Gurdwara 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.)