The United States recently “thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate” Khalistani separatist and designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and reportedly issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns of being involved in the plot, several reports claimed.
The allegations come days after the National Investigating Agency (NIA) registered a case against Pannun for threatening people flying Air India and the airline with the closure of operations from November 19.
Pannun, a designated terrorist in India, is a leader leader of Khalistani separatist organisation Sikhs for Justice Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
The report of the foiled murder plot comes after the killing of another Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June this year, where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing.
Responding to the allegations, India said it is examining the US inputs on the “nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others” and added that it takes such inputs seriously.
“India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well. Issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
Who is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun?
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, works as the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice. He was born in Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar and is the son of a former Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board employee named Mahinder Singh.
He graduated from Punjab University in the 1990s and reportedly founded the SFJ in 2007. He was a senior systems analyst at finance firm Merrill Lynch while attending law college in New York from 1997 to 2002, after a master’s in business administration.
The pro-Khalistan lawyer has been a key organizer of nonbinding referendums that seek a separate Sikh state – held in countries with large Indian diasporas such as Canada, the UK and Australia.
Pannun is frequently spotted at pro-Khalistan functions and gatherings in Canada. He is known for his video messages shared on social media, often threatening Indian leaders and the government, mostly pictured in dark formalwear and white-bearded.
What Actions Indian Govt Has Taken?
Pannun has been under the NIA’s lens since 2019 when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September this year, the NIA confiscated his share of a house and land in Amritsar in Punjab and Chandigarh.
Non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Pannun by an NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021, and he was declared a “Proclaimed Offender” on November 29 last year. In July 2020, Pannun was also declared an “individual terrorist” under the UAPA for promoting secessionism and allegedly encouraging Punjabi Sikh youth to take up arms.
The NIA on Monday said it registered a case against Pannun for threatening people flying Air India under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In video messages, released on November 4, Pannun had asked Sikhs to stop flying on Air India planes on and after November 19, citing a potential threat to their lives.
What is Sikhs for Justice?
Pannun is the self-proclaimed general counsel of the outlawed organisation Sikhs for Justice, an organisation banned by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for its anti-India activities.
The New York-based organisation, formed in 2007, advocates for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan to be carved out of India. The SFJ calls itself a human rights advocacy group, with offices in Washington, London and Toronto. Pannun’s law firm says it has offices in Queens, New York, and Fremont, California.
Its website states that the organisation was formed “with the express intent of achieving self-determination for the Sikh people in their historic homeland in the region of Indian-held Punjab and establishing a sovereign state, popularly known as Khalistan.”
The Indian government banned the SFJ in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for its anti-India activities.
Though Pannun’s movement gets little traction in Punjab and among the Sikh diaspora abroad, the organisation recently gained popularity for its so-called “Referendum 2020,” which was conducted among the Sikh diaspora in multiple cities in Britain, Italy, Australia and Canada.
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