Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma on Friday shared a terrifying moment when Khalistani 'goons' came very close to bodily harm him and attacked him with a 'sharp object' - most likely a 'kirpan' - in Alberta that could potentially harm him.
In a podcast with ANI, Sanjay Verma shared his experience of threats and intimidation from the Khalistanis.
Sanjay Verma said, "All these attempts to harm me bodily, that was in the presence of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the local police and the local police on the ground took immediate action, pushed him away because there was a sharp weapon and the RCMP then whisked me from the side door to the venue."
"It was in Alberta. I am not an expert on Canadian law about open carrying so I will not be able to say that. But most likely they would have said that it was 'kirpan' which is a small blade whereas they had swords in their hand. They could come very, very close to me," said Mr Verma.
When asked if the incident was reported, Sanjay Verma said, "It was all reported and we were told that investigations are on."
Speaking of intimidation from the Khalistanis, Sanjay Verma said that the intimidation came through banned organisations associated with the Khalistani extremists.
"Some came through emails during the so-called protests, which I call hooliganism when they gathered in front of the two consulates or the High Commission. They would shout slogans to intimidate us. Whenever we were attending public events, again, they would shout slogans to intimidate us," he said.
Sharing an incident, Sanjay Verma said, "In one instance, close to Diwali, they created 10 heads for me, called me Ravan. And then my effigy was burnt as Ravan. Is that not hate speech? Then they created another poster of mine. And they riddled it with bullets. Is that not hate speech? Then what is it?"
"I reported this to the foreign ministry. The response was that we forwarded it to the relevant authorities, which is correct. We also do the same. But the report never came back. Okay. So we presume that nothing happened. So we presume that it went into a black box. Not to come out," he stated.
When asked if he, at any point, felt threatened physically, Sanjay Verma replied, "Threatened, yes. But did I become threatened? No. In most of my public events, there will be these hooligans outside shouting slogans against India, but also against me. Some of them are very burly-looking tall guys who would also gesture to physically harm me, but just the gestures, except for a few incidents. And so they tried."
"They came close to me. They tried to intimidate me through such, slogans shouting, and abusing me verbally. That was reported," he stated.
Speaking about his security, Sanjay Verma said, "I had Canadian security, both federal and local."
Asked about whether he, at any time, doubted their ability to protect him, he replied, "No, that I won't say. They were very professional, well-trained, and very respectful. So as far as the police officers who were protecting us and now protecting my colleagues there, very, very professional, never had an iota of doubt on their professionalism."
He added, "But unfortunately, the statement which we saw in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police press briefing, where even the investigation has not been concluded, that was a sad thing to see."
Mr Verma said that he was there to serve India's national interest and was committed to doing so.
"So diplomacy for most of us would be, you know, being nice, nice cities. But then the final objective of diplomacy happens to be to safeguard your national interest. National interest could be improving relationships. National interest could be raising awareness against these Khalistani goons. All these are national interests," he said.
"So we work for the national interests. It so happened that my national interest was a bit different than the national interest of most other ambassadors in other countries," said Sanjay Verma.
Mr Verma was recalled from Canada after the country said he was a person of interest in the case of the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He denied all charges.
The ties between India and Canada soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he had "credible allegations" of India's hand in the killing of Nijjar.
India has denied all the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated" and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country.
Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
