Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

By KRUTIKA PATHI and DAVID COHEN
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh independence advocate whose killing two months ago is at the center of a widening breach between India and Canada, was called a human rights activist by Sikh organizations and a terrorist by India’s government. India has denied any role in the killing, calling Canadian allegations that its agents were involved absurd. Nijjar was a prominent member of a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, and at the time of his death was organizing an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora. He also owned a plumbing business and served as president of a local Sikh temple. Nijjar was a wanted man in India, where authorities labeled him a terrorist in 2020.