India’s Involvement in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s Killing and Propaganda Against Pakistan

India is still trying to blame Pakistan’s intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for a number of events that happened inside and outside of India. In the newest case, there are claims that a famous Sikh separatist supporter for Khalistan, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was killed. He was a Canadian Sikh citizen. ISI has been blamed in Indian propaganda as a possible group responsible for this murder in British Columbia, Canada. These claims are part of a larger trend of baseless campaigns that India runs to blame Pakistan. New Delhi has a long history of blaming Pakistan for any mishap related to separatist groups. Indian authorities do this to divert attention away from their own domestic problems and change how people around the world see them.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in June 2023, which led to a political standoff between Canada and India. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau publicly said that India was involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. He said there was a “credible link” between Indian intelligence and the murder, which made things worse between India and the Canada. But while the Canadian investigation blames Indian intelligence, India has changed the story by blaming ISI, hoping to draw attention away from its own covert actions and the assassination of Nijjar in Canada.

The charges against ISI in this case are not unique. India has used similar methods to make Pakistan look bad on foreign stages many times in the past. India often blames ISI for separatist violence, militancy or political killings especially when those events could cause trouble at home or draw attention from other countries. The killing of someone like Nijjar, who was active member of Khalistan movement, provided an ideal scenario for India to blame Pakistan for it.

India has said in the past that Pakistan helps Sikh protestors and wants to destabilize India. This includes saying that ISI encourages terrorism in Punjab and gives money to Khalistani groups outside of Pakistan. But the claims never backed up by any evidence. It looks like these old strategies are being used again to hurt Pakistan’s image and take attention away from problems in India that how it treats minority groups.

India’s claims against Pakistan in the Nijjar case are not backed up by any proof. The investigations conducted by government of Canada have fingered at the involvement of India, proving India’s claims in this regard as baseless. In fact, many people around the world have also raised doubts about India’s baseless claims and propaganda against Pakistan. The Sikh population in Canada, especially those who support Khalistan, said that India is trying to avoid taking responsibility by levelling baseless allegations against Pakistan.

India has a long history of spreading false information about Pakistan, especially about claims that the ISI is involved in terrorism. For instance, India promptly blamed Pakistan for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, even though evidence pointed to a more complex web of actors. India has always been trying to change the stories told by the media to change public opinion against Pakistan, especially in Western media sources through disinformation campaigns.

India has also often used its diplomatic links to spread false information about Pakistan. New Delhi tries to keep up the story that Islamabad is to blame for any trouble in the region caused by Sikh separatists, Kashmiri freedom fighters or other dissident groups. It does this by lobbying in international forums and teaming up with countries that don’t like Pakistan’s impact.

Many people around the world are still not sure about India’s charges against ISI, even though the country keeps making them. As part of its own review into Nijjar’s death, USA has called for openness and asked India to cooperate with Canada.

Pakistan has also categorically denied any kind of involvement in Nijjar’s death and termed India’s claims as baseless propaganda. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has time and again asked for fair investigations asking the international community to pay close attention to India’s attempts to spread false information. In the recent past it was proved that how India remained involved in disinformation campaigns against Pakistan by using different platforms. Islamabad says India is trying to get the world’s attention off of its own crimes inside and outside of India, especially its attempts to silence people who speak out against the government in other countries.

India has had a hard time with the Khalistan movement for a long time. This movement wants to create a separate country for the Sikhs. India has been accused of violating human rights since the 1980s when it violently repressed Sikh citizens. It has also had a hard time controlling the separatist feelings of its Sikh citizens, both at home and in the diaspora. India has decided to blame Pakistan for the problem instead of dealing with the real reasons behind these feelings.

Attempts to connect ISI to Sikh nationalism are part of a larger plan to draw attention away from the problems facing the Sikh community. The fact that Nijjar assassinated is now being used as part of this ongoing campaign of lies. India has also been trying to call Sikhs who support Khalistan as “terrorists,” especially in the West, where the Sikh diaspora is still active. By framing Nijjar’s murder as part of a wider Pakistani plot, India seeks to undermine the legitimacy of Khalistani activism while evading its own accountability for the mistreatment of minorities.

India has a long history of using propaganda to avoid taking responsibility for crimes. The propaganda that ISI killed the Canadian Sikh national is a good example of it. India is trying to hide its own mistakes, especially the way it treats Sikh separatists, by giving Pakistan’s spy agency false accusations that can’t be taken seriously. But the lack of proof that can be checked has caused doubts around the world. Canada’s current investigation is likely to shed more light on who did it. India’s false story, especially about ISI’s role in international events, is part of a bigger campaign of spreading false information that has been going on for years.

The Khalistan movement, which is an internal issue of India cannot be solved by levelling baseless allegations against Pakistan or its agency (ISI). The international community shall see through these attempts and hold India responsible for its efforts to launch disinformation campaigns to spread false information. It’s very clear from the case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar that lies being used to hide the truth. Since there is no proof, it is important for people around the world to not be swayed by India’s false accusations. Instead, they should focus on making sure that fair investigations happen and that the real criminals are held accountable. India’s constant attempts to blame Pakistan and its intelligence agencies for all the bad things that happen inside and outside of India’s borders only make things more difficult diplomatically and raise tensions in the region.