KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
28-Feb-2018
An ex-Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) member, Gurdev Singh Tanda—who was deported by Thailand Government, was produced before the Court in Amritsar and send to five days Police custody. Gurdev Singh had been active in propagating anti-India activities and was wanted in a terrorism related case of 2010. He was in Thailand since 2007, said an unnamed official.
28-Feb-2018
Former Khalistani militant, Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian Sikh had an e-visa to India. Jaspal Atwal raised the controversy by attending an event in Mumbai during the visit of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India concluded on February 24. As Atwal’s name had been removed from the UMHA’s list of prohibited Sikh militant in 2016, there was no clause that would hinder him to obtain an e-visa to India. Like other Canadian citizens, Atwal has a privilege to acquire an e-visa, but it shall not meant that Indian Government had any role in him being in India or extending an invitation to him to the event hosted to honour the Canadian PM Trudeau.
26-Feb-2018
The Sikh radical groups based out of India had put forward their demands which includes a ‘Vatican-like’ status for Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab and Akal Takht (a Sikh authoritarian institution), and an apology from Indian PM Narendra Modi at a global forum for the 1984 Military-led Operation Blue Star. The contact related to the matter was established by the UK based Sikh groups via Jasdev Singh Rai, Director of the Sikh Human Rights Forum, before the visit of PM Modi to London in November 2015, which results to the initiation of formal talks on the matter between PM Modi and 30 Sikh members during their meeting. The interests of talks were highlighted in previous Indian Government too, but with Modi-led Government, the talk process picked up speed, said an unnamed person related to the developments.
22-Feb-2018
Attending the inaguration of a Gurdwara build in the memory of slain Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in his village, the representatives of major Sikh organisations described Bhindranwale as a ‘Martyr’ of 1984’s Operation Blue Star. The Gurdwara is located in Bhindranwale’s native village of Moga in Moga District of Punjab. The inauguration ceremony was attended by the heads of SGPC, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC), the Damdami Taksal and the Jathedars (leaders of Akal Takht) of five Takhts (seat of authority). The event was dominated by the discussions over the storming of the Sikh Holy Shrine—the Sri Harmandir Sahib or mostly known as the Golden Temple, and killing of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in Amritsar in June 1984. The representative accused the Indian Government led by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the incidents.
21-Feb-2018
During their official meeting, the Punjab’s CM Captain Amarinder Singh handed-over a list to Canada’s Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau, with details of active handlers, based in Canada, of Khalistani militants operating in Punjab. Most of the operatives in the list belongs to the banned outfit—International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). The details about operatives included their last visit to India, how the funding for firearms managed and how these groups received terror funding from Pakistan. Out of the nine, the list included five most-wanted operatives namely, Gurjeet Singh Cheema, Gurpreet Singh, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Gurjinder Singh Pannu, and Malkeet Singh alias ‘Fauji’.
21-Feb-2018
The Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said that his country [Canada] did not support any Sikh separatist movement in India or elsewhere. During his 40-minutes meeting with the CM of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh, Trudeau assured the CM Amarinder Singh that Canada does not believe in Sikh separatism, even though the latter handed-over the list of nine Canada-resident operatives alleged for promoting radicalism. Amarinder Singh urged Canadian PM’s cooperation in dealing with separatism and hate crimes caused by a tiny proportion of Canada’s population. The Punjab CM also handed over to Trudeau a list of nine Canada-based operatives of Category “A”— allegedly involved in hate crimes in Punjab by financing and supplying weapons for terrorist activities, and also engaged in radicalising youth here.
20-Feb-2018
In a joint operation carried-out by the BSF and the STF of Amritsar on early hours of February 20, an unidentified Pakistani smuggler was killed and 10 kilograms of heroin was recovered from his possession at India-Pakistan border outpost at Ferozepur Sector in Ferozepur District of Punjab.
19-Feb-2018
The NIA spread-out its investigation to the UK, Australia, the UAE, Italy and Pakistan, in the cases related to the revival of Khalistan movement in Punjab. Upon the request made from the Government of Punjab, the UMHA on November 30, 2017, handed-over the investigation of homicide case of RSS member Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana, to NIA.
16-Feb-2018
The slain Sikh militant and important leader of Khalistan movement—Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s home at his ancestral village in Baghapurana sub-Division of Moga District in Punjab has been converted into a ‘Gurdwara’ (Sikh temple) and opened for general public. The Gurdwara is dedicated to his [Bhindranwale] martyrdom and named as ‘Gurdwara Sant Khalsa’. His home condition was in shambles therefore it was decided to convert into a ‘place of worship’. The Gurdwara was built by the Damdami Taksal with no financial assistance from the previous Punjab Government led by the coalition of SAD-BJP, said Head of Damdami Taksal Harnam Singh Dhuma. No one in village opposed the construction of the Gurdwara and it was highly supported by the youths as they remember him [Bhindranwale] fondly, said a village resident Jaswinder Singh Brar.
08-Feb-2018
In a joint operation based on Intelligence inputs, the BSF and Punjab Police arrested Hans Singh—resident of Gajniwala Village, with two Kilograms of heroin, packed in four packets, worth INR 10 crores in international market, from nearby of India-Pakistan border outpost of Dona Raja Dina Nath, Amritsar Sector. The SFs also recovered a Pakistani mobile SIM card along with heroin buried under the soil
06-Feb-2018
Reacting to the recent edition of the Outlook India that featured a photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the headline ‘Khalistan-II: Made in Canada’, the Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and a fellow Minister Amarjit Sohi—called the magazine’s heading ‘ridiculous’ and ‘offensive’ for accusing Canada for its involvement in the rise of Sikh terrorism. The published article depicts several alleged connections between the Canada and Khalistan movement along with accusing Sikh-Canadians exploiting Canada’s political system. “I have been a Police Officer and served my country [Canada] and such allegations are absolutely ridiculous and extremely offensive, said Harjit Sajjan.
03-Feb-2018
The BSF recovered seven kilograms of heroin from an unidentified area near the border outpost New Dona Rai Dina Nath (DRDN) at the India-Pakistan border in Forezepur Sector, Ferozepur District in Punjab. The heroin was wrapped in seven packets, each of a kilogram, of polythene and was concealed under the grass near the International border.
25-Jan-2018
Acting upon an Intelligence input from the Military Intelligence (MI) unit in J&K, the Punjab Police in Batala of Gurdaspur District arrested a man identified as Gian Singh as a part of an espionage ring that supplied the sensitive Military information to Pakistan’s ISI. The Police have recovered a mobile phone and two SIM cards from Gian Singh. The preliminary interrogation has revealed that Gian Singh was in contact with an ISI agent based in Pakistan and his task was to provide photos and videos of the Indian Army and the BSF deployment and movement along with India-Pakistan border. Gian Singh also revealed that Shamsher Singh alias Shera introduced him with an ISI agent. The Punjab Police of Batala is in close pursuit of Shamsher Singh.
25-Jan-2018
Putting forward ‘the facts’—a letter about the 1984 Sikh riots, the Indo-Canadians formed a group in December 2017 named as the Harmony Committee to counter the propaganda disseminated by pro-Khalistan groups active in Canada and mailed that letter to every elected representatives of the Canada’s Parliament and members of Provincial Assemblies across Canada. The letter highlights that then-Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who is a Sikh, had offered an apology on the issue in the Parliament. It also gives details of the different commissions of inquiry that examined the violence following the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “The total number of Police officers indicted by the two committees was 147. In all, 3170 people were arrested out of which 442 people were convicted for their participation in the riots in Delhi. In Haryana, 15 people were convicted, and in other states, 13 were convicted,” as stated in the letter.
23-Jan-2018
Investigation has revealed the involvement of pro-Khalistan module in the target killings of religious-political leaders over the past two years in Punjab. The module had paid more than INR 40 lakh to the alleged killers—Hardeep Singh alias Shera and Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian, to carry out the killings. When Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) visits India, other NRIs from their country hand-over some money and other things to give to relatives or friends in India. In their modus-operandi, instead of using direct transfer to bank accounts, the handlers paid to killers through such NRIs. We are trying to reach the NRIs,” said an officer on the basis of anonymity. These handlers were supported by the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and used to communicate the addresses of those NRIs through a messaging application—Signal, said another unnamed senior officer.
19-Jan-2018
The pro-Khalistan movement posters with the slogans of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ (Long live Khalistan) and ‘Khalistan Referendum 2020’ were spotted on in Banga town and its adjacent villages of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District of Punjab. The ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogan was written in Punjabi language whereas ‘Khalistan Referendum 2020’ was in English language. The state Police has removed many such posters and reached-out to the CCTV footage of nearby areas to trace the persons involved in this activity.
09-Jan-2018
According to unidentified sources in Punjab Police, the foreign-based pro-Khalistani groups are luring the young, educated, suave men and women from families with no prior links with Khalistan movement and radicalising the ‘new brand’ of Sikh militancy in Punjab. This is a new medium of spreading terrorist propaganda. The young men and women are getting radicalised via cyberspace. All investigations in such cases are handed over to the NIA. It is unclear as of how many such pro-Khalistani modules have been prepared for further anti-national activities, said Punjab’s DGP Suresh Arora. A British citizen—Jagtar Singh alias Jaggi Johal was arrested by Punjab Police on November 4, 2017 and during preliminary interrogation he revealed that top leaders of the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF)—Harminder Singh Mintoo and Harmeet Singh alias PHD, are recruiting young Sikhs with support of Pakistan’s ISI to revive the Sikh militancy and other anti-India activities, said an unnamed Punjab Police official.
07-Jan-2018
The BSF had recovered 20 kilograms of heroin worth INR 100 crores along with the Adhain India-Pakistan border outpost in Gurdaspur District of Punjab.
06-Jan-2018
The NIA will seek support from the Interpol in providing information regarding Pakistan’s ISI involvement in the ‘targeted’ killings of Hindu leaders at various places in Punjab during the last two years., The ongoing investigation and interrogation of gangsters and Sikh radical group members had revealed that the financial support was routed from Pakistan to various members of radical groups based in the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, the US, and UAE in a proposal to revive Sikh militancy in the state of Punjab, said an unnamed official of Punjab Police. Some specific intelligence input does support that ISI was keen to establish allegiance between Khalistani outfits and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The NIA had confirmed that Harmeet Singh alias PHD— who is based in Pakistan, was an essential link between ISI and Sikh militant outfits, said unidentified sources.
04-Jan-2018
Addressing the threat of ongoing radicalisation and to interact directly with the citizens, the Punjab Police has aspired to launch its own Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts in the month of January, said Punjab DGP Suresh Arora. Providing the details of Punjab Police’s achievements of 2017 and further plans in 2018, the Punjab Police had dismantled eight terror modules with the arrests of 47 persons and seizure of 43 different weapons. Around 21 foreign nationals were accused of providing logistics and financial assistance to these terror modules, said DGP Suresh Arora