'Disturbing That Canadian Politicians Continue To Associate With Extremists,' Journalist After Alleged Khalistani Assault

The incident occurred while Mocha Bezirgan, an independent Canadian investigative journalist, was in Vancouver to cover a rally organized by Khalistan supporters.

Representative image. (Photo: ANI)

An independent Canadian investigative journalist on Sunday alleged that he was surrounded by a group of Khalistanis supporters and threatened with violence while reporting their rally.

The incident occurred while Mocha Bezirgan, an independent Canadian investigative journalist who covers Khalistani protests across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, was in Vancouver to cover a rally organized by Khalistan supporters.

"Well, I'm still in Vancouver and it just happened two hours ago, not too long ago, and I'm still shaking because I was surrounded by multiple Khalistanis who acted like thugs. They surrounded me, threatened violence and they got physical with me. They grabbed my phone out of my hand in front of police, by the way," ANI quoted Bezirgan as saying. 

Bezirgan expressed concern over Canadian politicians' continued association with the extremist group despite their violent history.

"It is disturbing that Canadian politicians continue to associate with such extremists, despite their violent history and inflammatory rhetoric," he said. 

He pointed out that  Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, the NDP, and some Liberal MPs recently attended a Nagar Kirtan in Surrey and shared the stage with a convicted Sikh Canadian who conspired to bomb an airplane.

"Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, the NDP, and some Liberal MPs recently attended a Nagar Kirtan in Surrey, BC, which had significant Khalistani influence. They shared the stage with Santokh Singh Kelha, a convicted Sikh Canadian who conspired to bomb an airplane," ANI quoted Bezirgan as saying. 

Bezirgan claimed that the protesters said they would "ambush" and "kill" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's politics at the upcoming G7 event in Alberta.

"What these people are saying, how they are exercising their free speech while they are celebrating the assassins of Indira Gandhi and saying that they are going to ambush and kill Indian Prime Minister Modi's politics at the G7. I asked them are you going to kill his politics the same way you killed Indira Gandhi's politics? Because they refer to the assassins as their forefathers. They say we are the descendants of the killers of Indira Gandhi, and they are glorifying these acts of violence," ANI quoted Bezirgan as saying. 

Bezirgan called Prime Minister Mark Carney's invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the G7 Summit a "big step" in improving relations between the two countries. 

"It's a big step that PM Carney invited PM Modi to Canada to attend G7 Summit and we'll see how that goes because there's lots of pressure building on PM Carney right now from Khalistani elements and from World Sikh Organization that he should cancel the invitation," ANI quoted Bezirgan as saying. 

Prime Minister Modi on Friday confirmed that he would attend the G7 Summit in Canada, after an invitation from newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Carney. Canada will host the G7 Summit from June 15 to 17 in Kananaskis, Alberta.