‘Acted like thugs:’ Canadian journalist shares ordeal after being assaulted by Khalistani extremists

Pro-Khalistani radicals reportedly assaulted a Canadian independent journalist while he was covering a rally in Vancouver on Sunday (June 8). Mocha Bezirgan revealed that he was targeted by violent Khalistani elements over his editorial stance and previous Khalistan-related posts.

“It just happened 2 hours ago and I am still shaking. I was surrounded by multiple Khalistanis who acted like thugs. They surrounded me, threatened me, and got physical with me, and they grabbed my phone out of my hand,” said the journalist in a post on X.

He said he was attacked by an individual who had been harassing him for a “long time online using dehumanising language”.

“I have been covering Khalistan protests in Canada, UK, US, New Zealand. My only goal is to do independent journalism and record and report what’s going on and because I’m editorially independent, this frustrates some people,” Bezirgan added.

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“What’s up now bro!?”
Here’s the view from my main camera of two Khalistani thugs blocking my exit as I try to get away from a serial harasser who can’t keep his distance from me.

These intimidation tactics won’t stop me or influence my editorial independence. pic.twitter.com/jXU1uTZDmV

— Mocha Bezirgan 🇨🇦 (@BezirganMocha) June 8, 2025

The independent journalist then claimed Khalistanis wanted to “influence” and “buy” him.

“These intimidation tactics won’t stop me or influence my editorial independence,” Bezirgan said, sharing a video of the alleged incident, which shows a man confronting the journalist.

“He refused to keep his distance from my face and began making threats of violence if I were to touch him. I kept walking away from him but his harassing behaviour wouldn’t stop… He continued following me around, mobilising others to interfere with my job, and kept appearing behind me despite being told to stay away from me,” Bezirgan explained.

He stated that the alleged attacker had previously targeted him, and he had reported it to the police then. He also filed another report today.

While speaking to news agency ANI, he expressed concerns over extremists related to the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit exercising freedom of speech and glorifying violence. The SFJ is outlawed in India for terrorism.

#WATCH | Vancouver, Canada: On being asked about Khalistani extremism, Canadian Investigative Journalist Mocha Bezirgan, says "This is a movement headed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). They are the ones organising it, and most of the time, it's the same people attending these… pic.twitter.com/p8Z29IFcMj

— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2025

“Because of the tensions between Canada and India, it’s a very highly political subject, but I feel like we are disregarding what’s happening underground. What these people are saying, how they are exercising their free speech while they are celebrating the assassins of Indira Gandhi and saying that they are going to ambush and kill Indian Prime Minister Modi’s politics at the G7. I asked them are you going to kill his politics the same way you killed Indira Gandhi’s politics? Because they refer to the assassins as their forefathers. They say we are the descendants of the killers of Indira Gandhi, and they are glorifying these acts of violence…," he said.

India has consistently voiced concerns about Canada’s alleged leniency toward Khalistani extremists and their supporters. Ties between the two nations have reached a new low recently, primarily due to Ottawa’s perceived failure to address the issue and its accusations that New Delhi is targeting pro-Khalistani elements in Canada