KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR

According to reports in Pakistan, the gold-plated kalash that used to rest atop the dome of the Palki Sahib (palanquin) installed at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartapur Sahib, in Pakistan, has gone missing, leading to suspicion that it had been stolen from the Sikh shrine.

Pakistan government has appointed a senior officer of its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Project Management Unit (PMU) that manages the affairs of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib on the Pakistan side of Kartarpur Corridor. According to highly placed sources, the Deputy Secretary (Administration), Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had on January 11 issued a notification number 212 for the appointment of Muhammad Abu Bakar Aftab Qureshi, Deputy Director General, Directorate General ISI as CEO, PMU, Kartapur Sahib for a period of three years. The appointment of an ISI officer as well as a non-Sikh as head of PMU is being criticized by the international Sikh community who are of the view that a non-Sikh couldn’t take ‘correct’ decisions with regards to the religious affairs of Sikhs besides being an official of ISI, he could use the platform of PMU to further anti-India agenda.

According to reports, Pakistan issued visas to nearly 3,000 Indian pilgrims under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974 to participate in celebrations in several cities in the bordering nation on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak from November 6-15.

According to intelligence sources, pro-Khalistan terrorist groups have infiltrated gurudwaras in Pakistan’s Lahore under a “new game plan” by Pakistan in a bid to promote extremism in the Indian Sikh community against Hindus and the Indian government. The intelligence inputs said that the alleged hijacker of the Srinagar-Lahore flight in 1984 was seen meeting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh in Panja Sahib Gurdwara in Lahore. Pakistan’s game plan as such is to keep Khalistani extremists in gurudwaras in Lahore so that they can “radicalize” Sikh devotees, sources said. Intelligence sources further said the alleged flight hijacker Ravinder Singh Pinka and his associates were meeting Sikh devotees from India, who have gone to Pakistan to observe the 100th anniversary of Saka Panja Sahib. Pinka deliberately clicked a photo with Giani Harpreet Singh. Later, however, when officials of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) were informed about Pinka, the video was immediately taken down from the SGPC website. Sources also said the Jathedar belonged to the entire community and nobody was prohibited from meeting him, and that Giani Harpreet Singh might not even know or recognize Pinka.

The Indian Embassy in Canada has conveyed its serious concerns over the defacing of a Hindu Gauri Shankar temple in Brampton, Greater Toronto, by suspected so-called Khalistani separatists and has separately asked the local law enforcement agencies to act against the perpetrators. The Indian concerns were conveyed in the form of note verbale to the Justin Trudeau government on January 31 in Canada.

Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly condemned the defacing of the Hindu temple in Brampton. Melanie, in a tweet, said, “Everyone should be able to practice their faith in peace, free from violence and intimidation.” “I stand with Hindu communities in denouncing the vandalism at Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton,” she said, adding, “We have a collective responsibility to denounce hateful acts”, which have no place in Canada.

A Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the Gauri Shankar Mandir, was desecrated as pro-Khalistan and anti-India graffiti was spray-painted on a wall in the early hours on January 30. According to reports, the vandalisation occurred deep in the night and was discovered by temple authorities on January 30 morning following which they informed the Peel Regional Police (PRP). This is the third such instance of a temple in the Toronto region being desecrated within the past nine months, while similar instances have also been reported from the United States, and more recently, in Australia.

According to reports, scores of Indian students, especially from Punjab, have reportedly died of ‘heart attack’ (read drug overdose) in Canada in recent years, but the Indian High Commission in Canada has little data on such deaths. While there have been media reports of international students dying from drug overdose at an alarming rate in the North American country, they have failed to set the alarm bells ringing both in Canada and at home (India). Parents of the victims too are afraid to come clean about it because of the stigma attached to drug abuse. RTI activist Harmilap Grewal, who had sought the data related to such deaths from the Indian High Commission in Canada for the period 2017-22, said, “There are reports of such deaths of Punjab students in Canada. But these deaths are not reflected in the RTI reply by the Indian High Commission in Canada. Either the high commission is not keeping the data or it is trying to downplay the deaths.”

According to reports, anti-India demonstrations were held outside Indian High Commission in London and the Indian Consulate in Birmingham. The protesters termed India’s Republic Day as Black Day and asked the British government to intervene and halt the ongoing genocide in “Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.

According to reports, Khalistani supporters of Jaggi Johal (34) who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, have launched a fresh worldwide campaign to get him freed from India. Johal is a citizen of the United Kingdom (UK). Jaggi Johal alias Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested by Punjab police on November 4, 2017, in Jalandhar under the arms Act. Under the campaign christened “Free Jaggi Now” the Khalistani activists have announced holding protests on November 4, in 5 cities of the United States (US) including New York and California. The Canadian radicals will gather in two cities, Toronto and Vancouver while In the UK protests will be held in four main cities including London and Manchester. The free Jaggi protests are now directed toward the British – earlier they were targeting India – as a recent BBC report revealed that Jaggi was arrested in India on the basis of information provided by the intelligence agencies of the UK. According to the BBC Johal’s activities in the UK as a fundraiser for Sikh separatists active in Punjab were in the knowledge of the British intelligence agencies. He was also involved in translating pro-Khalistan Punjabi literature into English for publication in newspapers and on websites. This information was passed over to the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) following which Johal was arrested by the Punjab police. Jaggi has been named as an accused in seven cases, five of those being murder charges (targeted killings) and two being attempt to murder charges (attempted targeted killings). Activists and members of right-wing Hindu outfits, the Dera Sirsa followers, and even a Christian activist (a pastor) were targeted in these killings.

United Kingdom (UK) regulator Ofcom suspended the license of Khalsa Television Limited which broadcasts to the Sikh diaspora on its pro-Khalistan Punjabi TV channel KTV after one of its programmes called on UK-based Sikhs to travel to Punjab to engage in violent crime and disorder to achieve a separate Khalistan state. The license was suspended with immediate effect on March 31 when UK foreign secretary Liz Truss landed in Delhi. “The presenter of the programme made a number of statements throughout the programme which, taken together, promoted violent action, including murder, as an acceptable and necessary form of action to further the Khalistani cause. This was a serious breach of our rules on incitement of crime and disorder,” Ofcom said in its written decision.

According to intelligence sources, the banned “Punjab Politics TV” operating from the United Kingdom (UK) had been spreading hate against India and propagating pro-Khalistani sentiments in the country and in Punjab for the last one year. Sources confirmed that this social media channel and application was launched by pro-Khalistan sympathisers just ahead of the Punjab elections, and was being widely circulated in the hinterlands of Punjab with the agenda of keeping some political party out of power in the state and to spread Khalistani sentiments among the people of Punjab. The digital platform “Punjab Politics TV” bears the company name “Politics Punjab Broadcasting Ltd” and is registered in the UK with the Companies House, under the government of the United Kingdom. The company was incorporated in March 2021 and since then, it has been active both in the UK and in Punjab. Intelligence agencies have said that they were tracking the activities of this digital media since the last six months when it became quite active in Punjab, keeping in mind the recently held Assembly elections in the state. The intelligence agencies had shared a detailed report with the Ministry of Home Affairs about the activities of this media company and how they had been propagating hate, fake news against Sikhs in India.

The United States’ (US) Republican politician, Robert Bob Lancia said that the US need to be more vigilant for its borders given the fact that Pakistan has a history of supporting terror activities. He said that the law enforcement agencies of the US state of Rhode Island need to be vigilant to counter any threat. "For many decades, Pakistan has been the epicenter of terrorism, harboring the most UN designated terrorists in the world within its borders. Besides supporting Jihadi terror groups, Pakistan also leaked sensitive nuclear secrets at least to Iran and North Korea, the other two sponsors of terrorism and oppression in the world. Pakistan has also been actively involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in India - not just Jihadi terrorism but also Khalistani terrorist activities, which are mostly based outside of India," said Lancia, who is a former US Navy chaplain. He claimed that Pakistan-supported Khalistan militants may be active in the US state of Connecticut. "In fact, it looks like Pakistan-supported Khalistan militants even may be active in Connecticut! A Khalistani terrorist group was responsible for the bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985. It was a Boeing 747 jumbo jet carrying 329 passengers & crew members, with citizens from Canada, England, and India aboard. They were all killed in the worst terrorist attack in Canada's history," he said. Lancia further said that knowing the background of Khalistan, and Rhode Island's porous border with Connecticut, 'it’s extremely important that law enforcement agencies remain vigilant'.

The Akal Takht on May 3 declared a United States (US)-based Sikh publisher, Thaminder Singh Anand, a “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) for making distortions in the Gurbani (hymns) and asked the community to boycott him till he appears before the Takht to apologise for his offence.

The Chairman of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Thomas Abraham said that the group's Connecticut chapter will meet the legislators behind the General Assembly's pro-Khalistan statement and explain the situation. He deplored the statement calling it "terrible". Abraham, who is based in Connecticut, said that a "fringe group got it adopted at the tail-end of the Assembly session without the knowledge of most elected officials". GOPIO's Connecticut chapter "deplores such act by Connecticut legislators who initiated and/or endorsed this legislation and will meet them personally to correct the situation", he said.

The Indian World Forum raised concern over the US State provocation of pro-Khalistani groups. The forum stated that the resolution passed by the US State of Connecticut influences and promotes Khalistan and thereby challenging the sovereignty of India. The Indian World Forum President, Puneet Singh Chandhok condemned the resolution and said, "The Sikhs living in India are the law-abiding citizens who even have any differences or grievances with the government still remain within the system and seek their demands within the judicial system. Unfortunately, Anti-India elements sitting outside the country and working at the behest of different countries and security agencies have been again and again trying to sabotage and disturb the communal harmony in the state of Punjab in particular". "With such resolution being passed by the state of Connecticut in the US, it will be clearly influencing a separatist ideology that Sikhs of India don't advocate. There were certain differences during the 1984 riots, certain resolutions were passed. Sikhs always thrive for a progressive and prosperous India and never strive to disrupt the peace of any country. It's shocking to know that the state of Connecticut's general assembly has passed an official citation and the Mayor has tendered his resignation. Such activities clearly instigate a separatist ideology that we don't advocate. I was brutally attacked on August 25, 2018, by the Khalistan agents working at the behest of ISI Pakistan and by the activists of Sikhs for justice. To date, I have not received justice from the US authorities instead they are more interested in passing such a kind of resolution which indirectly promotes Khalistani ideologies," said Indian World Forum President.

India's high commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, on January 30 visited temples vandalised by alleged Khalistan supporters, in the second-largest city of Melbourne. According to reports, Vohra offered prayers at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Temple and ISKCON Krishna Temple in the city, two of the three sites where anti-India graffiti was painted, allegedly by Khalistan supporters, in recent days.

A video shared on social media showed a group of men waving the Khalistani flag and attacking Indians carrying the Indian national flag, leaving five injured in Australia. The pro-Khalistani forces are also seen carrying rods and attacking the men carrying the Indian flag in the video. Condemning the attack, the Victoria Police informed that as of now two people have been arrested following the violent attack. The two arrested men are in their 30s and have been issued a penalty notice for "riotous behaviour". They said the five injured people have been admitted to the hospital.

India on January 30 lodged a protest with Australian authorities over attacks by Khalistani activists on people of Indian origin who were protesting against a so-called “Khalistan referendum” organised by the outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) over the weekend. Indian high commissioner Manpreet Vohra took up the violent incidents in central Melbourne on January 29 with the premier of Victoria state, Daniel Andrews, at a meeting on January 30. Meanwhile, Australian high commissioner Barry O’Farrell, in New Delhi, said he was “appalled” by the incidents and that Victoria police are investigating a number of people for “criminal acts of violence”. According to reports, scuffles between Khalistani activists and pro-India groups occurred at Federation Square in Melbourne on January 29 afternoon amid the non-binding referendum on creating an “independent Khalistan”, which has already been denounced by India. SFJ organised the referendum in Australia after similar polls in Canada, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).

According to reports, the pro-Khalistani outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced that voting for their Australian chapter of “Khalistan independence referendum” will be held at Federation Square in Melbourne on January 29. Melbourne’s Ravi Inder Singh, a representative of the Miri Piri Gurudwara said that the voting exercise, known as the “Khalistan referendum”, would be a significant step towards self-determination for millions of Sikhs around the world.