Sikh separatist leader survives alleged assassination attempt in California

A Sikh separatist leader was attacked on a California highway earlier this month in a shooting that his organization has described as an assassination attempt.

Satinder Pal Singh Raju, an organizer with Sikhs for Justice and an advocate for the establishment of an independent Sikh state , Khalistan, was traveling on the Interstate 505 near Sacramento on 11 August when the truck he was in was “sprayed with bullets”. He survived the shooting.

Raju is an associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian advocate for Khalistan who was assassinated in Vancouver in 2023, according to Sikhs for Justice. The Canadian government has said there were “credible allegations” that “agents of the Indian government” were behind Nijjar’s death.

California has long been home to a strong Sikh independence movement, and Raju has helped organize referendum efforts in the state to show support for Khalistan.

The California highway patrol confirmed to the Guardian that a shooting had occurred and that it unfolded after 11.30pm on 11 August in Yolo county. The agency is investigating the incident, and no arrests have been made, Rodney Fitzhugh, a CHP spokesperson, said in a statement.

Raju told the Sacramento Bee that he was returning from an organizing meeting with colleagues when a car pulled up next to them in a rural area of the highway and began firing, prompting the driver of the truck to veer into a ditch. They fled the vehicle and hid behind a haystack where they called 911, the newspaper reported.

Sikhs for Justice shared video on social media that showed bullet holes in the window of the driver’s side and in the windshield of the Dodge Ram.

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Following Nijjar’s killing, Raju and other members of Sikhs for Justice spent months in British Columbia to organize for their cause. Raju has also taken part in organizing in San Francisco and Sacramento and has said this incident will not deter him.

“The day of our death is already written. I am happy to survive. But this won’t change the work that we do,” Raju told the Los Angeles Times .

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for Sikhs For Justice, said the shooting as part of “India’s unabated transnational violence”.

“Modi 3.0 Regime is continuing with its policy of transnational repression to violently suppress the global Khalistan Referendum campaign seeking liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation,” Pannun said in a statement.