Surrey BC: Bhangra in Schools, UN Warning for Sikh Activist, Election Interference Claims, Operation Hard Ball, and Satluj
Surrey, BC is at the centre of multiple intersecting stories about South Asian community life in Canada. From a local organisation embedding Bhangra into provincial high school curricula to UN experts warning of imminent threats against a Sikh activist, the city is navigating questions of cultural pride, political interference, and transnational crime with unusual intensity this summer.
🎓 Surrey organisation brings Bhangra into BC high school curriculum
A Surrey-based organisation has achieved a landmark in British Columbia's education system by bringing Bhangra into high school curriculum offerings across the province. Surrey Now-Leader reported the initiative, which marks a significant step in embedding South Asian cultural traditions into mainstream BC schooling. Bhangra — the high-energy Punjabi folk dance form originating in the Punjab region — is being taught to students as part of physical education or cultural arts programming. Surrey, home to one of the largest Punjabi-Sikh communities in Canada, has long been a centre of Bhangra performance culture in British Columbia, with competitive dance troupes and community ensembles maintaining the art form across generations of the diaspora. Introducing Bhangra into formal high school settings not only gives South Asian students a point of cultural recognition within the school system but also introduces the tradition to students from other backgrounds. Proponents of the initiative argue that cultural inclusion in curriculum fosters deeper respect and understanding across BC's increasingly diverse student population. The move reflects a broader shift in Canadian education toward multicultural recognition in formal school programming. [1]
UN rapporteurs call on Canada to protect threatened Sikh activist Moninder Singh
Five United Nations special rapporteurs have written formally to the Canadian government calling on it to increase protection for Moninder Singh, a Sikh Canadian activist in British Columbia who has received four duty-to-warn notices from police indicating his life may be in danger. CBC News reported in early August 2026 that the UN experts expressed serious concern over what they describe as an imminent threat to Singh and his family, situating the case within what they call a broader pattern of transnational repression by Indian authorities against Sikh activists in different countries, including Canada. The letter, sent in June 2026, requests that Canada respond with details of protective measures taken and urges authorities to accelerate investigations and hold perpetrators accountable. Singh has been active in advocacy for a separate Sikh homeland. Canada had not publicly responded to the letter at the time of reporting despite the two-month gap since it was sent. The UN experts stated they were prompted in part by concerns that Singh may have been targeted because of his engagement with the world body itself. The case is among the most direct expressions of international concern about alleged Indian state-linked targeting of Sikh diaspora members on Canadian soil. [2]
🗳️ McCallum alleges Indian election interference in Surrey, calls for investigation
Former Canadian ambassador and politician John McCallum has publicly alleged that India interfered in elections held in Surrey, British Columbia, and has called for a formal investigation. Today in BC reported that McCallum's claims centre on efforts by Indian actors to influence electoral outcomes in a city where the Punjabi-Sikh community forms a substantial part of the electorate. Surrey has long been a focal point of India-Canada tensions given its large Sikh population, its political representation in Parliament, and the 2023 assassination of Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar at a Surrey gurdwara. McCallum, who served as Canada's ambassador to China until 2019 and has remained active in public affairs, argued that the alleged interference demands the same scrutiny as better-documented foreign influence campaigns targeting Canadian democratic processes. The allegations add to an already fraught diplomatic relationship between Ottawa and New Delhi, and directly concern a community — Surrey's Punjabi Sikhs — that has experienced multiple dimensions of alleged Indian government interference over the past several years. McCallum called on federal authorities to open a full investigation and to ensure the integrity of future electoral contests in the region. [3]
Operation Hard Ball exposes India-linked crime networks tied to Nijjar assassination and Surrey extortion
A major joint FBI-RCMP law enforcement operation has exposed the alleged reach of India-linked transnational crime syndicates into Surrey and across British Columbia's Sikh community. CBC News Investigates reported that Operation Hard Ball resulted in indictments against 37 defendants connected to three criminal organisations, including the network run by Lawrence Bishnoi — imprisoned in India since 2015 — charged in connection with extortion activity in Ontario and BC as well as the 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey. The investigation, assembled through months of court documents, deportation hearings, and victim interviews, alleges a sprawling operation involving threats, auto fraud, cricket fixing, drug trafficking, and contracted killings. The unsealed indictment names Bishnoi despite his incarceration in India, raising questions about his alleged continuing ability to direct operations from prison. For Surrey's Sikh community — already shaken by Nijjar's murder — the disclosures represent both a validation of long-held concerns about transnational organised crime and a deepening of anxieties about the safety of community members involved in activism or political dissent. FBI Los Angeles assistant director Patrick Grandy described the operation as a strike at the heart of organisations that have terrorised families and exploited communities across North America. [4]
Satluj: banned in India, Diljit Dosanjh film finds audiences at Surrey community screenings
A film documenting the life of Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra is drawing audiences at community screenings across Canada, including in Surrey, after being blocked in India and pulled from an Indian streaming service just two days after its release. CBC News reported that Satluj, starring Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh as Khalra, focuses on a man who investigated and publicly exposed the extrajudicial killing and disappearance of thousands of Sikhs in Punjab during the 1990s under police counter-insurgency operations. Khalra was subsequently abducted and killed in 1995. The film's suppression in India — attributed to its critical examination of state conduct — has lent its community screenings in Canada a particular urgency and significance. In Surrey, where memories of Punjab's troubled period remain vivid among older members of the diaspora, the film has been received both as historical documentation and as a political act of remembrance. Its grassroots distribution through community screenings has generated substantial discussion about freedom of expression, diaspora cultural memory, and the ongoing relevance of Khalra's legacy. The Surrey screenings were planned for a weekend in July 2026, with organisers expecting strong attendance from across the local Punjabi Sikh community. [5]
Sources: [1] Surrey Now-Leader · [2] CBC · [3] Today in BC · [4] Radio-Canada · [5] CBC