Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned as “unacceptable” violence at a Hindu temple near Toronto on Sunday, following skirmishes blamed by some leaders on Sikh activists.

Local police in the city of Brampton, roughly 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto, said they had deployed heavily outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in order to maintain calm during a protest.

A spokesman for the Peel Regional Police told AFP that no arrests had been made. Police have also declined to assign blame for the reported violence.

“The acts of violence at the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton today are unacceptable. Every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely,” Trudeau wrote on X.

A federal lawmaker and member of Trudeau’s Liberal Party, Chandra Arya, blamed the incident on “Khalistanis,” a reference to supporters of the fringe separatist movement for an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab state.

Relations between Canada and India have nosedived after Ottawa accused the Indian government of orchestrating the 2023 killing in Vancouver of a 45-year-old naturalised Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistan activist.

Beyond Nijjar’s killing, Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign targeting Sikh activists on Canadian soil, which Ottawa says has included intimidation, threats and violence.

“A red line has been crossed by Canadian Khalistani extremists today,” Arya, who is Hindu, posted on X.

“The attack by Khalistanis on the Hindu-Canadian devotees inside the premises of the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton shows how deep and brazen has Khalistani violent extremism has become in Canada,” he said.

Video circulating on social media appears to show individuals carrying yellow Khalistan flags clashing with a rival group, including people holding Indian flags. There were also isolated fist fights, according to the videos.

Trudeau charged the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with violating Canadian sovereignty.

India has rejected the allegations.

Delhi and Ottawa earlier this month each expelled the other’s ambassador and other senior diplomats.

Canada has accused Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah of being behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh activists, in a move likely to extend a recent diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison confirmed to the members of the national security committee late on Tuesday that the government considers Shah – considered India’s second-highest leader and a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the architect of the campaign against Sikh separatists in Canada, which has included the assassination of an activist.

India has not so far responded, however, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that government officials had rejected the accusation.

Morrison told committee members that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which had earlier reported the allegations.

“The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee. He did not reveal the evidence behind Canada’s allegation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously said Canada has credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.

Canada expelled Indian diplomats that it linked to the campaign it claims has targeted Sikhs. India responded with its own expulsion of Canadian officials.

The United States also charged a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen and Indian critic in New York City.

Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security adviser, told the security committee on Tuesday that Canada had evidence the Indian government had been gathering information on Indian nationals and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.

Canadian authorities have in the past said that they have shared evidence with India, but officials in New Delhi have repeatedly denied that and called the allegations absurd.

India did not immediately comment on the accusation against Shah. However, Reuters quoted unnamed government sources who said that New Delhi considers Canada’s evidence to be “very weak” and “flimsy” and that it does not expect it to cause any trouble for the powerful interior minister.