Home of Indian political activist shot in Brampton ahead of Toronto protest

An Indian political activist says he won’t back down after his home was shot up in Brampton ahead of a planned rally in Toronto this weekend.

“No amount of threats and violence can stop me from advocating for the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation,” reads a statement from Inderjeet Singh Gosal, a Khalistan referendum organizer from Brampton.

Activist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) says a bullet hole was discovered at a home belonging to Gosal in Brampton, which is still under construction.

Peel Regional Police have confirmed officers were called to a residence in the area of McLaughlin Road North in Brampton around 11:45 a.m. on Monday for reports of a shooting, with a video posted on social media reportedly showing a police cruiser at the scene.

The bullet hole was found by workers who reported the damage to police, and a spokesperson says no one was home at the time of the shooting.

Gosal has been involved with the Khalistan referendum – a nonbinding vote happening around the world with the SFJ calling for the state of Punjab to break away from India and become a Sikh state of Khalistan.

And while police have said it’s too early to say whether Gosal was targeted due to his pro-Sikh politics,  SFJ claims the shooting is part of a campaign of violence to stop the referendum and is at least the second incident targeting Sikh activists.

“It appears that only one bullet hole was found but that is subject to change,” a police spokesperson told Insauga.com. “Investigators are aware of the owner and his affiliations, and it is still early in the investigation.”

Police in B.C. arrested two youths last week following a shooting at the home of Simranjeet Singh, another pro-Khalistan organizer, just days after he helped organize a pro-Khalistan protest at the Indian consulate in Vancouver.

Gosal has also been organizing rallies at the Indian consulate in Toronto, with the latest one planned for Saturday to mark the eight-month anniversary of the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Voting in the referendum started in October of 2022, and SFJ has held votes in Brampton, Surrey, the UK, Switzerland and Italy, among others. The secessionist group is based in the U.S. and is calling for the state of Punjab to break away from India and become the state of Khalistan.

The group is banned by the Government of India, and leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was declared a terrorist in that country for promoting secessionism and allegedly encouraging Sikh youth to join militant ranks.

He is at the heart of an alleged international plot that U.S. prosecutors say targeted him for assassination and was orchestrated by an Indian government employee.

In a statement, Pannum said that despite the attack the SFJ “is dedicated to using the ballots to liberate Punjab from Indian occupation.”

News of the shooting comes as police in Mississauga and Brampton have been dealing with a spike in extortions targeting members of the South Asian community.

The Khalistan movement made international news when Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in Surrey last year, leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to announce allegations that India may have been involved in the killing. That announcement caused a diplomatic rift between the two nations, with India temporarily halting all visa services for Canadian citizens.

Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey. A prominent member of the Khalistan movement, Nijjar was reportedly involved in promoting the referendum vote in Brampton.