Rahat Rao, a businessman who is Canadian-Pakistani, suffered severe burns after an unknown attacker set him on fire in Surrey, British Columbia. The suspect, a man in his 24s or 25s, is said to have carried out the attack on Friday.
Rao, a well-known member of the Canadian community, took an active part in demonstrations after terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar of the Khalistani movement was killed in June 2022.
Nijjar was shot and killed in front of a Surrey gurdwara. Along with forty other people, he had been placed on the Indian government’s list of designated terrorists.
After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September 2022 that Indian government agents might have been involved in Nijjar’s death, the issue led to a diplomatic spat between India and Canada.
