Report Flags Pak Links To Khalistani Funding In US And Canada
TORONTO- Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been identified in multiple assessments as a potential external sponsor of the Khalistan campaign in North America, with a report alleging that drug-trafficking networks involving Punjabi-Canadian operators may help sustain its activities as traditional diaspora donations fall short.
Writing in ‘Khalsa Vox’, Harleen Kaur said the movement was not simply an expression of diaspora grievances but a sustained political and organizational campaign requiring continuous funding. She urged Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies to scrutinize its financing, arguing that the sources of funds had become a national security concern.
The article cited the activities of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which has organized a series of non-binding ‘referendums’ in Canadian and American cities. The organization maintains legal and advocacy operations, stages public events, produces campaign material and supports legal defense and lobbying efforts. These activities require funding for venues, logistics, personnel, communications and travel.
The report questioned how these operations are financed, noting that some participants had entered Canada or the United States as asylum seekers or temporary residents with limited resources. Their immigration status and personal finances, however, do not in themselves establish the source of funding for the campaign.
Kaur cited Canada’s Department of Finance 2025 Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks, which states that Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, both listed as terrorist entities under Canada’s Criminal Code, have been observed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to receive financial support originating in Canada.
According to the assessment, the groups are suspected of raising funds in Canada and elsewhere through diaspora donations, the misuse of non-profit and charitable organizations, cryptocurrency and criminal activity.
The report also cited the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which has said that a subset of Canada-based Khalistani extremists continues to use the country to promote, fund or plan violence, primarily in India.
Kaur argued that criminal proceeds could be another source of funding for organizations involved in the campaign. Canada’s national risk assessment identifies illegal drug trafficking as the country’s highest money-laundering threat, involving billions of dollars annually.
The report said some Punjabi-Canadian organized crime groups have been involved in the cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl trade in Western Canada and along trucking routes in Ontario. It also cited more than 200 gang-related homicides in British Columbia since 2007 linked to rival Punjabi-Canadian gangs competing over the drug trade.
Kaur said Indian investigators and Canadian law enforcement sources had raised concerns that some proceeds from criminal activity could be diverted to diaspora political campaigns, legal defense funds and organizational support. The report referred to one case in which financial intelligence allegedly traced tens of thousands of dollars from a raided drug house to a registered Canadian charity associated with pro-Khalistan causes. It did not establish that the charity knowingly financed extremist activity.
The report further alleged, citing recent intelligence inputs, that the ISI was reassessing its spending as grassroots support for Khalistan weakened in Punjab and some former backers distanced themselves from what they described as a criminal syndicate involved in drugs, arms trafficking and extortion. (IANS)
