India    01-Mar-2022

A study conducted by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGI), Chandigarh, revealed that every seventh person in Punjab is consuming one or the other kind of drug, which makes up 15.4% of the population in Punjab. The study was done by the Department of community medicine of PGI.

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Pakistan    01-Mar-2022

According to reports, Pakistani authorities have set up a joint committee to decide on the handing over of an over 100-year-old gurudwara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) for its restoration and proper preservation. Officials said that the team constituted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would visit Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurudwara in Mansehra district before finalising its report and submitting it to the authorities.

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India    01-Mar-2022

The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the states of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Union Territory of Chandigarh, to file status reports on the disposal of case properties in drug matters under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The direction came after Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Sandeep Moudgil issued notice to Haryana Advocate-General and UT Senior Standing Counsel for May third week. The case revolves around the disposal of contraband in a timely manner as per the directions already issued by the Supreme Court (SC)/ Government of India.

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India    01-Mar-2022

The Crime Investigation Agency arrested a person, identified as Ravinder Singh (23) and recovered 1.57 kg heroin worth Rs 7.87 crore from his possession in Ferozepur district. Two of his accomplices, Shiva and Anmol, were on the run.

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India    02-Mar-2022

Police arrested five drug peddlers and seized 55-kg poppy husk and 600 intoxicating pills from them in Abohar in Fazilka district.

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Ukraine    02-Mar-2022

Pro-Khalistani outfit, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) announced its support for Ukraine and urged Khalistanis to raise an army of ‘foreign fighters to defend Ukraine. SFJ released a video message and a letter supporting Ukraine. In the letter, SFJ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun urged the Ukrainian President to raise a Sikh Regiment as part of the international legion of foreign fighters. Pannun said in the letter that, unlike India, is supporting Russia in the conflict by abstaining from voting at UNSC, Khalistani Sikhs were ready to “defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. He further claimed that this was the right time for Sikhs to “liberate Punjab” by siding with the “anti-India block at international level”.

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Australia    28-Mar-2022

A video surfaced on YouTube in which a group of pro-Khalistani Sikhs accused the Craigieburn Gurudwara committee members of calling the Police on them. According to the reports, the committee members had called the Police as they felt threatened by the behavior of the pro-Khalistani group that was scheduled to hold a function inside Gurudwara premises. Australian Hindu Media (AHM), the media wing of the Australian Hindu Association, identified a few of the people in the video as Gurbax Singh Bains, Charanjit Singh, Kuldip Singh and Gurvinder Singh Randhawa. A man armed with a sword accused the committee members of committing sacrilege against the Gurus and weapons of Sikhism.

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United Kingdom    31-Mar-2022

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.

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