Murder of Sikh Leader in Canada Highlights Modi’s Embrace of Authoritarianism in India & Abroad

We speak to Arjun Sethi, a Sikh community activist, civil rights lawyer and professor at Georgetown Law, about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s public accusations that the Indian government arranged the assassination of a prominent Sikh leader and Canadian citizen outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June. India has denied the allegations. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a prominent leader in the Khalistan movement, a Sikh separatist movement that advocates for the formation of an independent Sikh homeland in the northwest Indian state of Punjab. He had been designated a terrorist by India’s Hindu nationalist government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has long been accused of targeting Sikh leaders at home and abroad. Sethi says that India’s extension of minority group persecution to foreign soil shows the world “just how emboldened the Modi administration is.” Transcript: Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Support independent media: Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: