By Tariq Khan Tareen
For years, Pakistan has insisted that India is not a victim of terrorism but a chief sponsor of it. Those claims, once dismissed as political rhetoric, are now being validated on the global stage. After the United States designated the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, as terrorist entities, Canada has taken an equally consequential step: declaring the Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate a terrorist organization. The move shatters India’s carefully cultivated image as a besieged democracy and exposes its complicity in exporting instability abroad.
The Bishnoi gang is not just another mafia outfit. It has operated across continents, running drug trafficking, arms smuggling, extortion, and contract killings with military-like precision. From inside prison walls, Bishnoi has directed operations spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East. By outlawing the syndicate, Ottawa has unmasked more than a criminal empire—it has exposed the underworld architecture linked to Indian intelligence.
For decades, South Asian governments have accused India of cultivating proxies to destabilize neighbors while hiding behind a victim narrative. The Bishnoi verdict lends credibility to those warnings. What India once used as a smear tactic against its neighbors has circled back: New Delhi itself is now implicated in the very practices it denounces.
The cases piling up are hard to dismiss. In the United States, federal prosecutors linked Indian intelligence to failed assassination plots against Sikh activists. In Australia, RAW spies were caught stealing sensitive defense information and expelled. In Qatar, eight Indian operatives were convicted for espionage in collaboration with Mossad. These revelations highlight a consistent strategy—India relies on criminals, spies, and gangs to do its bidding, while maintaining plausible deniability.
This is not an isolated trend but a methodical playbook. History shows that states with expansionist ambitions often outsource violence to criminal networks to maintain diplomatic cover. India has mastered this art. The Bishnoi network is just one cog in a machine designed to silence dissent, intimidate diasporas, and project influence beyond its borders.
The danger extends far beyond South Asia. By merging organized crime with state policy, India has blurred the line between governance and terrorism. Mafia-style economics now intersect with geopolitics, threatening trade routes, diaspora safety, and collective counterterrorism efforts. What begins as extortion or targeted killings easily escalates into transnational threats undermining global security.
Canada’s action is therefore historic—it is the first time a Western government has formally linked Indian-backed cartels with terrorism. This precedent could reshape international approaches: from freezing financial pipelines and targeting assets to recalibrating intelligence cooperation with New Delhi. For years, India shielded itself with the mantle of democracy. The Bishnoi designation pierces that shield.
The most telling aspect is that Bishnoi’s syndicate was not destabilizing India itself, but targeting communities abroad. Sikh activists, Gulf-based Muslims, and marginalized South Asians became its victims. This reveals a systemic pattern: export chaos, preserve a sanitized image at home.
The cost of silence is too great. If India’s model of outsourcing violence is left unchecked, other states may follow, replacing diplomacy with mafias, envoys with traffickers, and negotiations with assassins. Such normalization would corrode international law and dismantle collective security.
Canada has struck the first blow against this duplicity, but the burden cannot fall on Ottawa alone. Selective morality—punishing some states while excusing India—will only embolden New Delhi’s hybrid terror networks. Holding India accountable is no longer a regional necessity; it is a global responsibility.
Ultimately, Canada’s designation is not just about Bishnoi. It is a mirror held up to India. And in that mirror, the reflection is not of the world’s largest democracy under attack, but of a state exporting instability to others. Unless impunity gives way to accountability, India’s terror nexus will remain one of the most dangerous threats to international peace.
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