US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called US Justice Department’s indictment of an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, US-based leader of Sikhs For Justice, a Sikh separatist movement, an ongoing legal matter and termed the Indian government’s decision to investigate the matter as “good and appropriate”. He said the US looked forward to seeing the results.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on the Indian government to cooperate with Canada in the investigation of the killing of India designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar after the United States Justice Department filed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a US-based leader of the Sikh Separatist Movement in New York, CBC News reported.
Calling the foiled attempt on his life ‘transnational terrorism’ and threat to US sovereignty, Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said on Thursday that he will let the American government respond to it. The New York-based Pannun’s remarks came a day after Financial Times reported that authorities in the US thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate him and issued a warning to India over concerns that it was involved in the plot.
Pro-Khalistan leader and designated terrorist in India Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) released a fresh video on Wednesday giving a call to “picket” Air India flights on December 1 at Toronto and Vancouver international airports in Canada.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) — the country’s counter-terrorism law enforcement agency — has registered a case against ‘listed individual terrorist’ Gurpatwant Singh Pannun over a video in which he threatened passengers flying Air India, the airlines with a global blockade, and the closure of its operations from November 19.
The US Department of State has termed the call by the Khalistani group Sikh for Justice (SFJ) to all Sikhs to boycott Air India as “unacceptable.” On November 5, SFJ founder and its legal counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist in India, asked the global Sikh community to “stop flying Air India” from November 19.
After Canada, banned terrorist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced the American phase of Khalistan referendum, beginning January 28, 2024. The SFJ made the announcement on Sunday at the 44th annual Sikh parade in Yuba City, California. It made the “America Votes” declaration with a float celebrating former Indian Army Chief General A.S. Vaidya’s killing by Sikh separatists Sukhdeo Singh and Harjinder Singh in 1986.
At the conclusion of the second phase of “Khalistan referendum” on October 29, the radical Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group announced $100,000 for the arrest of High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and released a new map with Delhi as part of Khalistan. The outlawed extremist group holds Verma responsible for the “assassination” of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was gunned down on June 18 this year outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in British Columbia province.
On behalf of the Indian community in Canada, a non-profit Hindu group has urged the Justin Trudeau government to take swift action against pro-Khalistan hardliner Gurpatwant Singh Pannun for threatening Indian diplomats and consulates in G7 nations. Pannun, legal counsel of outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and a designated terrorist in India, issued fresh threats this week after Indians turned up in huge numbers for a rally at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto on Monday, condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Stating that pro-Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of radical Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), threatened Indo-Canadian Hindus and asked them to leave the country in a video which went viral on Wednesday. The emboldened dare from Pannun, legal counsel of SFJ, which is a banned terror outfit in India, comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, resulting in tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats.
