According to reports, after the refusal by Canadian government to recognize Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)’s Referendum 2020 campaign, there is likelihood that Pakistan government could also rebuff SFJ to continue with its anti-India agenda from its soil. Pakistan has earlier declined SFJ’s request to hold registration for Referendum 2020 among Indian Sikhs who had gone there with Sikh jatha to celebrate Baisakhi last year (2019). The President of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) Satwant Singh disassociated himself with SFJ, its Referendum 2020 campaign and its legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and said that PSGPC had not received any request to hold any function with regards to Referendum 2020 in any of the gurdwaras. “Let the request come then we will discuss in the meeting and take appropriate decisions”, he said. Another senior Sikh leader from Lahore who didn’t wish to give his name said that “We will not allow SFJ to hold any function or the voters registration for Sikhs of Pakistan, we (Pakistani Sikhs) will not be the part of his personal agenda, even our local Pakistani friends have started asking us whether we will betray with Pakistan for Khalistan”.

Sikhs in Pakistan want the Imran Khan government to deal with those staking claim over the historical Gurdwara Shaheedi Asthan in Lahore at its own level and restore confidence among minorities. Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Satwant Singh said, that “Sikhs across the world are sad to hear the news about Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh. The vision of the Pakistan government, especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, is to promote peace and brotherhood. The incident that happened at Shaheedi Asthan is the act of an individual. There is a plot behind the gurdwara, which is a property of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBP). They plan to grab that plot. This is wrong and can’t be tolerated.” Meanwhile, the ETPB, a Pakistan government body under which the PSGPC works, has lodged a complaint against Suhail Butt Attari, who is seen intimidating the Sikh community in Pakistan.

An activist of Dawat-e-Islami (Beraillwi), who is also a caretaker of Mazar of Muslim prophet Hazrat Shah Kaku Chesti in Lahore has threatened the minority Sikh community saying that Pakistan is an Islamic nation that belongs to Muslims. In a video, Sohail Butt, who also runs a shop in Landa Bazar, along with some local activists have occupied the land of Gurudwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh and has threatened Gopal Singh Chawla, the former chief of Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PGPC) who hoisted Shri Nishan Sahib (a Sikh symbol) at the Gurudwara last year. Sohail claims that the land on which Gurudwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh and its adjoining 4-5 kanals of Gurudwara land belong to Mazar of Muslim prophet Hazrat Shah Kaku Chesti and adjoining Masjid Shaheed Ganj.

The Baluchistan government handed over a 200-year-old Gurudwara to the Sikh community. The Siri Guru Singh Gurdwara located on Masjid Road in the centre of the city has been used as APWA Government High Girls School for 73 years since the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

The Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) attacked the Justin Trudeau’s government for its stand against referendum 2020 campaign and asserted it will go ahead with its plans in Canada and elsewhere. Its general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun in a statement said, “Canadian Sikhs will not let the Trudeau regime trump their right to peacefully express and propagate the political opinion of Khalistan by holding Referendum 2020. Trudeau government should find some other way to please India.”

According to sources, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is camping in Canada's capital Ottawa to coordinate the August 15 voter registration camps in front of Indian Consulates in Canada and other western countries. Recently, the SFJ, headed by Pannun in Canada, burnt the Indian tricolour in Canada and mailed the remains to the Indian High Commissioner in Ottawa. The group has claimed that "remains of Indian tricolour have been mailed to Ajay Bisaria, Indian High Commissioner in Ottawa as a symbolic gesture to remind India that Canada considers Khalistan as a political opinion unlike India where Referendum 2020 campaigners are being charged under UAPA and sedition". Article 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms declares the freedom to express political opinion as a fundamental right of the people, the SFJ claims in the mail. However, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Canada last week rejected the SFJ's 'Referendum 2020' campaign and said, "Canada respects the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India, and the government of Canada will not recognise the referendum."

Twenty-five Canadian Member of Parliaments (MP) have written to Canadian immigration minister Marco Mendicino calling for a special program for Afghan Sikh and Hindu refugees so that they can be brought back safely to Canada. The letter written by 16 Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), 6 New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) and 3 Green Party expresses “concern about the existential threat to religious minorities in Afghanistan, specifically, the Sikhs and Hindus.”

The Justin Trudeau Government will not recognise the results of the Punjab 2020 Referendum being organised by the pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). A spokesperson of Canada’s Foreign Ministry, stated in an email response to the queries of Canada’s stand on the referendum scheduled for November this year: “Canada respects the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India, and the Government of Canada will not recognize the referendum.” The spokesperson also said that the bilateral relationship between Canada and India “is a priority for the Government of Canada.” However, Indian officials did not want to comment on this development on record, though one described it as “significant” that this was put in writing and a change from the earlier stance that the referendum was protected by freedom of speech and expression rights in Canada.

After the British government dismissed its referendum 2020, the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) stated that, “One we establish consensus on the question of independence, we will then present the case to the United Nations for re-establishing the country of Punjab. Punjab Referendum 2020 is an unofficial referendum where the outcome is not legally binding on India. Yet with an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote this unofficial referendum will start the process through which we will eventually conduct an official legally binding referendum in Punjab, thereby peacefully establishing Khalistan.” “Today UK believes in India’s territorial integrity but tomorrow when they will see an overwhelming Sikhs supporting the independence of Punjab, I am sure they will reconsider the position,” it added.

The British government rejected the Khalistani extremist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)'s Referendum 2020 which seeks the separation of Punjab from rest of India saying that it considers Punjab as part of India. A British High Commission spokesperson said, “This is a matter for the government and people of India, not foreign countries or overseas organisations. While we support the right of anyone to voice their opinion, the UK government is not involved in any way with this unofficial and non-binding referendum," he said, adding, "We consider the Indian Punjab to be a part of India.” The development comes, days after Canada dismissed support for Khalistani separatism.

The Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) is celebrating a ‘victory’ in its campaign to get a Sikh ethnic tick-box added to the 2021 UK census after Scottish ministers agreed to put a prompt for Sikhs in the ‘other’ part of the ethnicity response options. They also assured to ‘monitor Sikhs as an ethnic group as well as religion’ going forwards.

According to media reports, Khalistani organizations have not only increased significantly in the UK recently, but they have also emerged as a profitable business venture for those who do not have any other source to earn a living. Most of these organizations have joined hands with umbrella organizations of Federation of Sikh Organizations (FSO), Sikh Council UK (SCUK) or World Sikh Parliament (WSP) to remain in the limelight, report said. Though these organizations may not have the support of most of the Sikh population in the UK, they keep on competing among each other to wrest the control of the management of Gurudwaras in the UK. An officer working in a security establishment said that "It serves them multiple purposes like easy funding in name of sewa and charity, captive audience to listen to their propaganda from the stage, availability of ready-made venues for various meetings and events and the garb of a charitable organization to carry out their ulterior tasks." "Once established, these organizations diversify into media, university unions and politics, to create a larger base for Khalistan cause,” another officer said. "And for the survival of these few individuals and Gurudwaras, the need to keep Khalistan alive is essential for their own benefits. Midland Langar Seva, Sikh2inspire, British Organisation of Sikh Students are few of the benign forms that these tendencies have brought forward and are actively engaged in attracting youth to their perception of Sikh values," the official said.

The American Sikh Council (ASC) expressed extreme concerns about the illegal detention of innocent Sikh youth across the state of Punjab in the past two weeks. ASC mentioned that since late June 2020, over dozen Sikhs have been randomly and illegally arrested around Punjab including Lovepreet Singh of village Kaithal and Iqbalpreet Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib who are from poor working-class families who are not only trying to live honestly but volunteering for the welfare of others.

The Sikh activist based in the United States and the chairman of Punjab Foundation, Sukhi Chahal, said that the pro-Khalistanis who are running a huge nexus in the Western countries are targeting the Sikh youth in the wake of providing them political asylum. Chahal said, "Youth coming from Punjab to the US, who is unemployed and uneducated, fall into their trap as they have run a massive propaganda. They radicalize these youth by luring them of providing help for political asylum". "The Punjabi youth, who have never witnessed the militancy period in Punjab, are being radicalized. These pro-Khalistanis provide them t-shirts of 'Referendum2020' and mislead them about forming Khalistan," he added. Sukhi said as a Sikh, he himself has witnessed that dark period of militancy and do not wish that time to come again in Punjab. "They are running their shops and it is Pakistan's ISI, which is behind them," claimed Chahal.

Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu held a virtual interaction with members of the Sikh community in the United States, during which the participating diaspora leaders pledged to contribute to India’s development with particular focus on Punjab.

The Sikh Coordination Committee East Coast (SCCEC) and American Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (AGPC) at an emergency teleconference in New York decided to boycott the Indian politicians and stop funding them in elections besides continuing ban on Indian diplomats, political leaders and consular staff from speaking engagements in US Gurdwarason in protest against alleged recent arrests of Sikh youth in Punjab under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The European Council decided to renew the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka, along with 20 other organizations including Babar Khalsa, Hizbul Mujahideen’ and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF).

According to reports, Belgium-based Ranjit Singh Nita of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) is recording audio to seek support for “registration” for secessionist “Referendum 2020” from July 19 and these audio records are sent to various people, including journalists in India. In a 1.2-minute audio call having the country code 0032 (Belgium’s ISD code), the caller introduces himself as Nita, resident of Jammu and Kashmir and “mukh sewadar” of KZF, instigating people to register themselves to participate in the campaign.

The wife of a Sikh man abducted in Afghanistan asked for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to have her husband freed and then granting Indian citizenship to her family of six. Attacks on Sikh minorities in Afghanistan have increased ever since India cast its lot with the Kabul regime in the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban. Another threat to the minorities has been the rise of an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-affiliated terrorist outfit. Security analysts believed it was behind the Gurudwara Har Rai Sahib massacre in Kabul to announce its presence.

The Afghan Taliban said that it was not involved in the kidnapping of a leader of the Sikh community who was abducted by unknown persons in Paktia province of Afghanistan and his abductors would face justice from the group.