KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
India 01-Feb-2022
The Punjab and Haryana high court on February 1 deferred the hearing on a suo motu plea on Punjab drug menace post assembly polls for March 24.
India 01-Feb-2022
Amid threats from the Pakistan-based terrorists, Afghan Mujahideen, insurgency in the Northeast states, and the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), the Central government has enhanced the budget for the Intelligence Bureau (IB) by 13.43 percent with an allocation of INR 3,168.36 crore. The government has increased the budget so that its intelligence wing is technologically equipped.
India 01-Feb-2022
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) carried out a raid and arrested a person, who was allegedly involved in terror funding, identified as Jaideep Dhawan on February 1 night in Amritsar. Sources claimed that the J&K Police had seized Rs 42 lakh hawala money from Nagrota on November 16, 2021. According to police, the money was being pumped in the Valley for militants. The SIA got the transit remand of Jaideep from the Mohkampura police station. The SIA also reportedly carried out raids in other two locations of Punjab and Haryana and nabbed two more persons.
United Kingdom 02-Feb-2022
United Kingdom (UK) home secretary Priti Patel has been accused of smearing Sikhs after she referred to Sikh separatist extremism as a “shared security threat” the UK had with the US in a speech she gave on November 19, 2021. In the speech in Washington DC to the Heritage Foundation, a think tank which promotes Conservative public policies and values, Patel spoke about “the global picture and the various threats” that the UK and US face as allies, all of which “endanger our shared freedom and prosperity”. While discussing Islamist extremism, Daesh and extreme right-wing terror groups, she said, “Sikh separatist extremism has also caused considerable tensions in recent years. While we stoutly defend freedom of expression, it must always be within the law. We have expanded our disruptions capability to better address those people who seek to radicalize but who operate, often intentionally, below legal thresholds.” Meanwhile, Dabinderjit Singh, principal adviser of the Sikh Federation (UK), said that he had been raising this “quietly” with ministers ever since November asking them to explain her comments. He said, “No one has been able to. This is not just a speech but a speech on the UK government website. If Sikhs had carried out a bomb blast in Britain, it may have been legitimate to say that. We are shocked the home secretary has made such remarks… What incident in Britain would make the home secretary start saying she is worried about Sikh separatist extremists? Is it on the back of the 2020 Khalistan referendum in Britain? She says she has banned the political wing of Hamas and the undertone is that is why she is mentioning Sikhs.”
India 02-Feb-2022
A Pakistani youth was shot dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) as he intruded into the Indian territory crossing over the International Border (IB) in Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur district on February 2 night.
United Kingdom 03-Feb-2022
A peer in the House of Lords and chairman of the British Sikh Association, Lord Rami Ranger, said that United Kingdom (UK) home secretary Priti Patel was “right” to say during a speech to a United States (US) think tank that "Sikh separatist extremism has caused considerable tensions in recent years”. He said that as home secretary of the UK, Patel “is right to ensure Britain never becomes a launchpad for terrorists”. “Every British citizen who has taken an oath of alignment to Her Majesty the Queen must be loyal and work hard to become an asset to the nation. Engaging in criminal activities against any nation is punishable by law. With the new nationality bill, they could be removed from the country and stripped of their citizenship,” he said. Ranger urged “anti-India Sikhs” to be like the Sikh Gurus who “were committed to their Mother India and paid supreme sacrifices to preserve India’s ancient civilization”. “Anti-India Sikhs should learn from the Kashmiri militants who have been terrorizing their fellow Kashmiris for three decades and have gained nothing except to hinder the progress of Kashmiris along with causing death and destruction to their fellow citizens,” Ranger added.
India 03-Feb-2022
The Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on February 3 said in Rajya Sabha that a small fringe group of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada is spreading anti-India feelings and the government remained closely engaged with that country over the issue. He said that both governments have recognized the fundamental principle of respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India and Canada as the basis of bilateral ties. "The vast majority of people of Indian origin in Canada share a warm emotional bond with India and have worked for the betterment of relations between India and Canada…. There is a small fringe group of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada who spread anti-India feelings through their extremist statements and activities," the Minister said. "The government of India remains closely engaged with the Government of Canada to address our concerns relating to anti-India activities by the extremist elements," he added.
Pakistan 04-Feb-2022
The Sikh community around the world condemned Pakistan for removing the statue of great Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa in Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.
India 04-Feb-2022
According to a report prepared by the Hudson Institute, Pakistan is reviving its previous tactics to spread hatred, disrupt communal harmony and promote extremism in India as Islamabad has been supporting jihadi activities against New Delhi to disrupt peace in the country. Pakistan's security apparatus has for decades supported jihadi and Khalistani groups that have targeted India, and a revival of this activity should be a source of concern to the American national security apparatus as well as India's, said the report. The Institute’s report further stated that Jaswinder Singh Multani, who was arrested in Germany for allegedly masterminding a blast at Ludhiana court in December 2021, is reportedly a leading member of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) movement. The SFJ's public face, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has apparently confirmed this fact, revealing a close relationship with Multani. Over the years, Sikhs for Justice has written public letters to the prime minister of Pakistan and the presidents of Russia and China, seeking their support against India. The Hudson Institute report, Pakistan's Destabilization Playbook: Khalistan Separatism within the US, which was authored by a group, emphasizes the need for law enforcement in Western countries to be vigilant with respect to Pakistan-backed extremist groups.
India 04-Feb-2022
A 13-member committee ‘Political Prisoner Release Committee’ was constituted during the meeting of various Sikh organizations on the issue of the release of Sikh prisoners from various jails. The 13-member committee has been authorized to take up the issue of political prisoners and other Sikh prisoners with government representatives. Sikh organisations led by Dal Khalsa, Alliance of Sikh Organisations and farmer organisations led by BKU (Doaba) constituted the coordination committee for the release of political prisoners. The 13-member committee included Baba Hardeep Singh Mehraj, Baba Hardeep Singh Dibdiba, HS Majhi, Kisan leaders Amarjit Singh Sandhu, Gurpal Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Narien Singh and Jaskaran Singh with Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjpur as its legal adviser.
Canada 05-Feb-2022
Tejinder Singh Sidhu, President, World Sikh Organization of Canada, in his letter to Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, described hardships faced by Canadian Gurdwaras and the Sikh community as a result of restrictive immigration policies. Due to Covid, restrictive immigration policies have frozen the arrival of Sikh parcharaks (religious workers) into Canada for the past two years.
India 05-Feb-2022
According to reports, for Pakistan-based terror outfits, the Indo-Pak border in Punjab is the favoured route when it comes to weapon supply. According to data compiled by Border Security Force (BSF), the Punjab border has recorded 450 per cent more seizures than the Jammu border, which used to be a priority route. Data also points to Pakistan’s intentions towards India as 2021 was the year when the neighbour attempted maximum chances to send weapons across since 2019. The figure has been increasing every year. The total number of weapons seized in 2019 and 2020 was not even half the total seized last year. In 2019 and 2020, BSF seized 49 weapons from the Indo-Pak border in Punjab, but in 2021, the force seized 58. The situation on the Punjab border is more serious, and weapons smuggling witnessed a massive rise. In 2019, BSF seized 247 weapons, while it seized 750 in 2020. These numbers witnessed a rise of 340 per cent in 2021. Last year, 3,322 cases were recorded by BSF. The Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan, which was earlier reporting minor cases, recorded none this year. According to data, BSF seized the largest haul from the Punjab border among other borders where the force is deployed. “Drones and local networks have made Punjab an easy route to smuggle arms into India. It requires no human life to get involved and is an easy way out. There has been a massive rise in such cases detected by BSF, but many were missed by the force and Punjab Police,” a senior BSF official said.
India 05-Feb-2022
The Dal Khalsa, while condemning the arrest of Fahad Shah, editor-in-chief of online news magazine The Kashmir Walla, asked the Government of India to stop gagging the media. Fahad was arrested on February 4, three days after he was questioned by the police along with three other journalists for “incorrect reporting” about a gun battle in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
India 06-Feb-2022
Two Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) were pushed back by Border Security Force (BSF) stationed in Gurdaspur in Punjab in the wee hours on February 6. According to sources, the first attempt was intercepted by BSF personnel at about 1:30 AM while the second drone's entry was hampered at 2:10 AM.
India 07-Feb-2022
The pro-Khalistani outfit, Sikhs For Justice’s (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in his new video, called to block any of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s movement in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections. In the threatening video, Pannun also states that the PM will be reminded of Indira Gandhi. The terror inciting video also calls to the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and claims that the ‘freeing of Punjab’ would pave the way for Kashmir’s freedom as well.
Canada 07-Feb-2022
Several Indian media outlets published a report calling out Jagmeet Singh’s denunciation of trucker’s strike, support of farmers protests as they term it is a hypocritical move. The report said “The Sikh-origin leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) who is now condemning truckers strike in Ottawa, had staunchly supported the farmers' protests in India last year.”
India 07-Feb-2022
The Mehat Pur police arrested a proclaimed offender (PO) absconding for one year in a case of drug peddling, identified as Jasjit Singh alias Jiti in Jalandhar district.
United States 08-Feb-2022
Pro-Khalistan outfit 'Sikhs For Justice' (SFJ) vandalized a life-sized statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Chicago and San Francisco in the United States (US). According to reports, this is the second such incident by the secessionist group SFJ in the past four days. The banned outfit also pasted posters with abusive language that can be read as “I am rapist & father of India: Rape Capital of world.” Earlier SFJ vandalised the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square Park, New York. The 8-foot-high statue, located in Manhattan’s Union Square, was defaced by some unknown persons, the Consulate General of India said. “The Consulate condemns this act of vandalism in the strongest terms. The matter has been taken up with local authorities. The matter has also been taken up with the US State Department for immediate investigation and urged appropriate action against those responsible for this despicable act,” it said.
India 08-Feb-2022
The Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on February 8 informed the Lok Sabha that as many as 47 terror modules related to Khalistani separatist activities were busted in Punjab in the last three years. The Minister also said that eight people died in Khalistani related terror incidents in 2019, 2020 and 2021. “As regards the Khalistani separatist activities, in the year 2019, seven terror or radical modules were busted in Punjab as against 15 such modules in 2020 and 25 modules in 2021. No loss of property was reported during the period,” he said replying to a written question. Rai said two persons died in Punjab during 2019 in Khalistani related terror incidents, as against three persons in 2020 and three persons (one victim and two perpetrators) in 2021.
India 08-Feb-2022
According to official sources, the Delhi Police’s special cell, which is investigating the role of seven men arrested from Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh in September last year for allegedly plotting terror attacks across North India, has already prepared a charge-sheet in the case and is likely to submit it before city court this week. In addition to the alleged roles of the arrested terror suspects, the charge-sheet is expected to contain details on how the RDX, allegedly recovered from them, was smuggled into the country from Pakistan through the Punjab border.