Moninder Singh Bual, the President of the Canadian Sikh Federation and a prominent human rights defender who closely cooperates with the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), has become the subject of serious international concern following his appeals and official submissions to international organizations, as well as facts of assassination plots and transnational repression targeting him and his family, BIG told APA.
A newly published report by the UN Special Rapporteurs states that since 2022, Moninder Singh Bual has officially received four "duty to warn" notices from Canadian security authorities due to his advocacy for the Sikh people's right to self-determination on international platforms.
The fourth and most recent official warning was delivered directly to his home on February 22, 2026. According to the report, for the first time, the assassination plot assessed by Canadian intelligence authorities as highly credible targeted not only the activist himself but also his wife and two young children. The report describes the covert assassination attempt as a clear example of the Indian state's strategy of physically eliminating dissidents and human rights defenders cooperating with UN special mechanisms, regardless of where they are located. It also notes that the timing of the plot, shortly before Bual's departure for Geneva to attend the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, was not coincidental.
In response to the critical situation, five UN Special Rapporteurs and experts on human rights, counter-terrorism, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of religion sent an official communication to the Canadian government. The UN officials described the threats facing Moninder Singh and his family as part of what they characterized as unlawful transnational repression, contract killings, and retaliatory actions carried out abroad by the Indian authorities and intelligence services. The letter also recalls the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023, after he had received a similar warning, and expresses serious concern over what it describes as Canada's failure to maintain sufficient vigilance against acts of state-sponsored terrorism carried out by New Delhi on the territory of sovereign states. According to the documents, the Indian government is accused not only of suppressing the fundamental rights of ethnic and religious minorities within the country but also of attempting to silence Sikh activists living and working in Western countries through unlawful espionage, blackmail, and intimidation.
Following the publication of the full text of the UN experts' official communication, the issue became a major topic in the international media. The UK's The Guardian, as well as Canada's CBC News and Global News, and the UK's The Independent, extensively covered the story, criticizing Indian intelligence activities that they say undermine the internal security of sovereign states and involve covert assassination and intimidation networks targeting Sikh activists across Europe and North America.
Note that the Baku Initiative Group's social media accounts and official website are regularly subjected to cyberattacks originating from India.
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