Oshawa Liberal candidate slammed for controversial posts on Nijjar’s killing, Sikhs
The Ontario Liberal candidate for Oshawa is facing backlash over past social media posts indicating support for the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the assassination of Khalistani...
Author: Noah Jarvis
The Ontario Liberal candidate for Oshawa is facing backlash over past social media posts indicating support for the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the assassination of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.
Viresh Bansal, the Liberal candidate in the upcoming provincial election, replied to a post on X by federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who vowed to hold the Indian government accountable for Nijjar’s killing. In his reply, Bansal insulted Singh, falsely claiming he was in an intimate relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
That same year, Bansal replied to a post by deputy Conservative leader Tim Uppal, who had expressed concern over internet restrictions and limits on freedom of assembly in India’s Punjab region.
Bansal dismissed Uppal’s concerns and issued what appeared to be a threat, saying: “It’s Indian (sic) internal matter. You better take care of your own,” in English. In Punjab, he added “Watch out kitten, you might get beaten up too,” in Punjabi.
Bansal, a Hindu Canadian, previously worked as an IT professional for governments and businesses before starting VENTii HealthTech in 2024.
The World Sikh Organization’s President, Danish Singh, called on the Liberal party to withdraw Bansal’s candidacy, saying that anything less would be “a failure of leadership.”
“Bansal’s post is a disgusting endorsement of an extrajudicial killing by India and a homophobic attack on Canada’s Prime Minister,” said Singh.
“There is no place in Canadian politics for candidates who celebrate state-sponsored killings and use hateful, homophobic rhetoric. Bansal has shown a pattern of anti-Sikh hate targeting Sikh politicians. Bansal’s words are not just offensive—they are dangerous and legitimize violence against minorities in Canada.”
In response, Bansal published an apology to the Sikh and LGBTQ communities but did not commit to withdrawing from the race.
“I deeply regret the hurtful and thoughtless comments I posted on Twitter in the heat of the moment,” said Bansal.
“Sikhs have long faced discrimination and violence, and my comments only added to that pain. That kind of language should never be used anywhere, let alone in the context of a Canadian’s murder.”
Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie also condemned Bansal’s comments at a campaign stop on Tuesday.
“I understand that people can post some really terrible things on their social media, but I want to say that I condemn those statements. I don’t stand for them, they don’t reflect who I am,” said Crombie.
It's too late for possibly hundreds of thousands of immigrants to Canada over the years to ask them if they support Canadian values or if they intend to import a war from elsewhere on the globe to the streets and, as we are now discovering to the parliament and legislatures of Canada. Do I exaggerate? Just add the votes together of all elected officials who are promoting one side or the other of conflicts outside, and sometimes now inside, the country and there you have it.