Themes

Diaspora

Sikhs abroad, from the first settlers in Canada to the killings and plots of today.

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  1. Jan 1908First gurdwara in North America opens, VancouverPacific Sikh diaspora takes root
  2. 1911Gur Sikh Temple AbbotsfordOldest standing North American Gurdwara
  3. 1912Gurdwara Sahib StocktonOldest U.S. Gurdwara
  4. 1913Ghadar Party foundedBuilt in steps by Punjabi workers of the Pacific coast: Portland 1912, the Astoria meeting of 30 May 1913, the first Ghadar issue on 1 Nov, the Sacramento conference of 31 Dec 1913.
  5. May 23, 1914Komagata Maru incidentFoundational migration trauma
  6. Jun 23, 1985Air India Flight 182 bombingA bomb destroyed Air India Flight 182 off Ireland a year after Operation Blue Star; all 329 aboard died. Canada's inquiry blamed Talwinder Singh Parmar and the Babbar Khalsa.
  7. 1998 onwardSurrey Vaisakhi Parade begins and grows into a Khalsa Day crowd of hundreds of thousandsSince 1998 Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar has led an annual Khalsa Day parade through Newton, Surrey, which grew from about 16,000 people to crowds reported at 450,000 to 550,000.
  8. Aug 5, 2012Oak Creek gurdwara shooting, WisconsinA gunman with neo-Nazi ties killed six worshippers at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek on 5 Aug 2012. The attack prompted the US to start counting hate crimes against Sikhs.
  9. 2012 onwardCampaign to have the 1984 killings recognised as genocideFrom a 2012 White House petition to Ontario's 2017 motion and Delhi's 2018 resolution: how the call to name the November 1984 killings genocide moved through governments.
  10. Nov 1, 2013Sikhs file 1984 genocide petition at the UN in GenevaOn 1 Nov 2013 Sikh groups filed a petition of about one million signatures at the UN in Geneva, asking for an investigation of the November 1984 killings and recognition as genocide.
  11. Apr 6, 2017Ontario legislature passes Motion 46 on the 1984 Sikh genocideOntario's Assembly voted 34 to 5 for a motion calling the 1984 killings of Sikhs a genocide, a year after a similar motion failed; India's foreign ministry rejected it as misguided.
  12. Nov 2017Jagtar Singh Johal arrested in JalandharDefining diaspora detention; alleged torture
  13. Aug 2021 onwardAfghan Sikhs flee after the Taliban takeoverAfter the Taliban took Kabul on Aug 15, 2021, India flew out Afghan Sikhs and Hindus with saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. In January 2022 community leaders counted about 140 Sikhs left.
  14. Oct 31, 2021First Khalistan Referendum vote held in LondonSikhs for Justice opens its unofficial, non-binding Khalistan Referendum at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London and claims 30,000 voters. No independent count was published.
  15. Sep 18, 2022Khalistan Referendum vote held in Brampton, CanadaFirst Canadian round of the Sikhs for Justice referendum: organisers claimed over 110,000 voters at Gore Meadows in Brampton, The Tribune doubted it, and India protested to Ottawa.
  16. Jan 29, 2023Khalistan Referendum vote held in Melbourne, with clashesThe Australian round of the Sikhs for Justice referendum at Federation Square drew a large crowd and two scuffles with pro-India demonstrators; police arrested two men and India protested.
  17. Jun 18, 2023Hardeep Singh Nijjar killed in SurreyCanada later links Indian agents
  18. Sep 10 and Oct 29, 2023Khalistan Referendum votes held at Nijjar's Surrey gurdwaraMonths after Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot there, two Khalistan Referendum rounds were held at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Organisers claimed over 200,000 votes across both.
  19. Sep 2023 to Jun 2025Canada and India fall out over the Nijjar killingTrudeau's September 2023 charge of a possible Indian link to the Nijjar killing led to expulsions, a trade pause and a diplomatic freeze, which began to thaw in June 2025.
  20. Nov 2023US indictment in Pannun plot unsealedPlot foiled; follows the Nijjar killing
  21. Jan 2024 to Nov 2025Khalistan Referendum rounds in 2024 and 2025From San Francisco to Calgary, Auckland and Ottawa, Sikhs for Justice kept holding unofficial votes. Hosts declined to ban them, India protested, and all turnout figures came from organisers.
  22. May 3, 2024Four men charged with murder in Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killingIn May 2024 police charged four Indian nationals with first-degree murder over Nijjar's killing. The case is still pretrial, and who ordered the killing is still disputed.
  23. Feb 5-16, 2025US military deportation flights land at AmritsarThree US military planes brought more than 330 deported Indians to Amritsar in February 2025. Many were Punjabis, and Sikh deportees on the second flight said their turbans were taken.
  24. Mar 4, 2025Jagtar Singh Johal acquitted in his first caseA Moga court cleared British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in the first of the cases against him to reach a verdict. He stayed in jail on further cases until bail and release in September and October 2026.
  25. Sep 29, 2025Canada lists the Bishnoi gang under its anti-terror lawCanada listed the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a "terrorist entity" on 29 September 2025, citing murder, shootings and extortion. The RCMP had earlier tied the gang to agents of the Indian government.
  26. Oct 13, 2025Newsom vetoes California's transnational repression training billGovernor Newsom vetoed SB 509, a bill to train California police on transnational repression, after it passed both houses with no No vote. Sikh groups backed it; Hindu American groups opposed it.
  27. Feb 13, 2026Nikhil Gupta pleads guilty in the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh PannunGupta pleaded guilty in New York to murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy. US officials say an Indian government employee directed him; sentencing is set for November 20, 2026.
  28. Feb 27-Mar 2, 2026Canada and India reset ties as Carney visits Delhi, with Nijjar unmentionedEight months after agreeing to restore envoys, Carney and Modi launched trade talks in Delhi. Sikh groups in Canada said accountability for Nijjar's killing and threats to Sikhs had been left aside.
  29. Mar 22, 2026Seattle holds a Khalistan Referendum voteSikhs for Justice ran a one-day, non-binding vote at Seattle's City Hall Park and reported about 27,000 votes. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's remark on armed struggle drew attention.
  30. Apr 9, 2026Record anti-Sikh hate crime figures reported for the United States in 2025A preliminary count in April 2026 put anti-Sikh hate crimes at 228 for 2025. The FBI's August data was lower but still above 2024. A House bill would create a DOJ task force on anti-Sikh hate.
  31. Apr 22, 2026UN experts say Jagtar Singh Johal's detention is psychological tortureTen UN experts urge India to free the British Sikh held since 2017: one acquittal, and NIA cases resting on one alleged confession (eight by Reprieve's count, seven by The Tribune's).

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