For decades, Canada was a safe haven for Sikhs. Many left their native India in the 1980s and ’90s after thousands died there during armed struggles for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. Nearly 800,000 Sikhs live in Canada today, the largest community outside India.
While the Sikh separatist movement is hardly visible in India anymore, it is still very much alive within the diaspora in Canada. The relationship between India and Canada has been tense for many years because of this.
