KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
20-Feb-2020
A delegation of the pro-Khalistani group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a proscribed group in India,met with White House officials ahead of the US President Donald Trump’s visit to India. The meeting was held hours after Trump announced that the trade-deal between India and the United States will not be taking place during his India visit. Though, Government of India has not made any official statement regarding this, top Government sources revealed that India is definitely disappointed by the meeting between the secessionist group leaders and the White House officials. It would have been better if the US administration had called off the meet at such a crucial time, because it can strengthen the anti-India forces.
16-Feb-2020
A group of Sikhs residing in US celebrated the 73rd birthday of the Khalistani extremist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale at Gurudwara Sikh Cultural Society of Richmond Hill in New York, US. Pro-Khalistani leaders like Amarjit Singh (SAD-Amritsar), Sarabjit Singh, Amandeep Singh (Youth Akali Dal America’s president), Dr. Amarjit Singh etc. were present on the occasion.
26-Jan-2020
The followers of poet-saint Guru Ravidas staged a protest outside the office of the pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) in New York on January 26 against the alleged burning of the Indian Constitution and demands for a referendum in Punjab. The protesters raised slogans against the SFJ and burnt the effigy of its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. The president of Guru Ravidas temple in New York, Ashok Kumar Mahi, who had called for the protest said that "Our protest is against them burning the sacred Constitution. They provoked us by sending this video." Earlier, SFJ sent a video of tearing a copy of the Indian Constitution and burning it. The Dalit leader, Ashok Kumar Mahi, also told the local media India America Today that they were offended by Pannu’s move and had reached out to his organisation also to underscore their “strong feelings” associated with the Constitution and Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution. However, SFJ went ahead with its attempted burning of the Indian Constitution, which has hurt the feelings of the community, he said.
20-Jan-2020
The US-based Sikh bodies, Sikh Coordination Committee East Coast (SCCEC) and American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC), held a meeting to condemn the installation of Punjabi cultural statues on Heritage Street and demanded cancellation of cases against the Sikh youths arrested for vandalizing the statue. SCCEC coordinator Himmat Singh said that the SCCEC and AGPC had held a teleconference on the issue and there was unanimity among them over it being a grave mistake to install these statues near Golden Temple.
30-Sep-2019
The Sikh community in the US, led by its front-line organization Sikhs of America Inc, welcomed the decision of the Government of India to release Sikh prisoners lodged in jails under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for the last three decades. The Chairman of Sikhs of America Inc, Jesse Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
19-Sep-2019
According to reports, a group of pro-Khalistan outfits, Pakistani migrants and Kashmir sympathizers are planning to disrupt the ‘Howdy Modi’ event which is scheduled to be held in a week in Houston. Houston has a large population of Pakistanis, Kashmiri separatists, and Khalistanis.
18-Sep-2019
According to reports, the organizers of Howdy Modi event in Houston on September 22, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend, said that they have averted the protesters backed by Khalistani activists, Kashmiri separatist and Pakistani groups’ plan to picket outside the NRG stadium venue. However, several groups including ‘Friends of Kashmir’, ‘Sikhs For Justice’ and “International Humanitarian Foundation” have reportedly hired buses and trucks and plan to drive around close to the venue, and are offering “tickets” for the protest on an online events management website.
15-Sep-2019
Pro-Khalistani Sikhs joined by Pakistani community members held a protest in Houston in US, demanding the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and against Indian Government for committing gross human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. To express support for the cause of Kashmir and demanding a separate land for Sikhs, the Sikh community members and Pakistanis, with Kashmir and Khalistan flags mounted on their cars, moved through the roads and streets while chanting slogans against the Narendra Modi Government.The protesters raised slogans of “Modi’s tour of the U.S. unacceptable.”
25-Aug-2019
Hundreds of American Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Sikhs staged a demonstration in front of the United Nations (UN) office in New York, calling on the world body to play its role to protect the Kashmiri people suffering under the tight Indian military siege. During the protest, Sikh leader, Sardar Amarjit Singh, voiced support for the cause of Kashmir and reaffirmed his call for the establishment of Khalistan.
15-Aug-2019
400 including pro-Khalistani protesters marched from India’s United Nations (UN) mission to a cordoned-off area opposite the UN building in New York in USA. They shouted slogans for Khalistan and Kashmir, holding flags of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and yellow Khalistani and blue “referendum” banners.
02-Apr-2018
SFJ, through a video message, threatened Punjab's Minister for Jails Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa over his criticism against its ‘Referendum 2020' campaign. In a video posted on Twitter, the SFJ representative said, “Will you come to Canada or should we handle you in India". Using a foul language against the minister, he further warned that, "Wearing a tag of ‘Referendum 2020', we are roaming openly the world over. If you have guts, spare yourself from bodyguards. You visit any gurudwara without security and our men will teach you a lesson".
07-Mar-2017
Balwinder Singh, a citizen of India, was sentenced, on March 7, to 15 years in a US prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring while living in northern Nevada to plot terror strikes in his home country (India), US. District Judge Larry Hicks in Reno also ordered Balwinder Singh to remain under lifetime federal supervision upon his release from prison after prosecutors argued that Singh has had ties to known terrorist groups in India for more than two decades. FBI Special Agent Aaron Rouse of Las Vegas said the plot was foiled after a co-conspirator was arrested trying to board a flight in San Francisco bound for Bangkok, Thailand, with two sets of night vision goggles purchased by Singh at a Cabela's sporting goods store in Reno. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Sullivan said it's possible Singh still will be extradited to India where he faces criminal charges in connection with a terror attack on a passenger bus that killed three people in India in April 2006. "This isn't somebody who was just recruited like some of the young people who think it's really cool to go get involved with the Jihad," Sullivan said. "Mr. Singh has been involved with terrorism or terrorist organizations for over 20 years."Prosecutors in the Justice Department's counterterrorism section say Singh worked with two terrorist organizations - Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) - to try to establish an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region.
01-Dec-2016
A Khalistan supporter, Balwinder Singh, an Indian citizen holding a green card has admitted in a federal court in the US that he conspired with terrorists to launch attacks in India to target a government official for assassination or maiming, according to officials. BalwinderSingh, made the admission before federal judge Larry R Hicks in Reno (Nevada state) that he provided a co-conspirator with night vision goggles for the planned attack, as a part of their terrorist conspiracy. Singh's conspiracy was part of a movement to create an independent Sikh state in Punjab, according to a statement by the prosecutors. "Singh attempted to provide material support and resources to terrorists to create violence and disruption abroad," said acting assistant attorney General Mary McCord. "Identifying, thwarting, and holding accountable individuals who pursue international terrorism is a top priority of the Department of Justice," she said. Prosecutors said conspirators were to decide on the government official to be targeted after one of them reached India. Singh's co-conspirators in the plot uncovered by US officials in 2013 were not identified.
29-Nov-2016
Forty-two-year-old Balwinder Singh, a resident of Nevada, pleaded guilty before US District Judge Larry Hicks to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, knowing and intending that such support would be used to carry out terrorist attacks overseas, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary McCord said. "Singh attempted to provide material support and resources to terrorists to create violence and disruption abroad," McCord said. "Identifying, thwarting and holding accountable individuals who pursue international terrorism is a top priority of the Department of Justice," she said. Singh communicated with co-conspirators by telephone to discuss these plans and agreed to provide material support by facilitating a co-conspirators travel to and within South Asia, providing funding and materials necessary to carry out an overseas attack. In October 2013, Singh and the co-conspirators agreed that one of them would travel to India in 2013 and carry out "likely an assassination or maiming of an Indian governmental official." The final target would be determined after the co-conspirator arrived in South Asia.
18-Aug-2015
A former Sikh separatist leader - Satwinder Singh Bhola (52), the owner of Griswold Grocery& Liquor in Peoria, was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants outside his apartment in the U.S. city of Illinois. Bhola was parking his car in the parking lot of his apartment complex on August 16 when some unidentified persons attacked him with a knife. Bhola was nominated as Spokesperson of All India Sikh Student Federation at the peak of militancy in Punjab. Following operation Blue Star in Amritsar, he served a two-year jail sentence.
10-Mar-2004
A US court ruled that deputy chief of the KCF, Kulvir Singh Barapind, should be returned to India to stand trial. The Khalistani terrorist, Barapind was accused by India of murdering 52 people and injuring 13 during the time of terrorism in Punjab. Barapind was arrested and detained in Los Angeles in 1993 on charges of having a fake passport.
30-Apr-2001
According to media reports, annoyed over the arrest of Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, chief of the KCF, the foreign-based Sikh terrorist outfits have resolved to observe the 15th anniversary of the declaration of ‘Khalistan’ at Stockton, California (US). The declaration of Khalistan "was made at Akal Takht by the Panthic Committee" on April 29, 1986, to which Zaffarwal was one of the five signatories.