KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of the Sikh Empire in India, has beaten competition from around the world to be named the "Greatest Leader of All Time" in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine’.
Over 5,000 readers voted in the poll. Polling more than 38 per cent of the vote, Singh was praised for creating a new tolerant empire.
In second place, with 25 per cent of the vote, is African Independence Fighter Amílcar Cabral, who united more than 1 million Guineans to free themselves from Portuguese occupation and in turn propelled many other colonised African countries to rise and fight for independence.
Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and its parent body Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) recently honoured pro-Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla. Chawla was removed from PSGPC last year, after India had exerted pressure on Pakistan over his links with 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The move had come as India had refused to sign the agreement on Kartarpur corridor if Chawla continued to be a member of the committee.
Chawla
posted a picture on his Facebook account of his being honoured by ETPB
additional secretary Tariq Wazir and PSGPC president Satwant Singh.
A source in intelligence said the move showed that Chawla was still an integral part of PSGPC and ETPB, as he was still being honoured by the two bodies.
Life has been disorienting for Khalid Awan since he was deported to Canada from the United States, where he served a 14-year sentence for transferring money to a Sikh extremist group in Pakistan.Cell phones confound him. Police cars frighten him. Although pushing 60, he had to go back to college to make himself employable again. And where have all the video stores gone?“It’s very hard,” he said.
Awan is among a handful of Canadians who’ve come home after having been imprisoned abroad for terrorism-related offences — in his case “providing money and financial services” to the Khalistan Commando Force.
Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/6574295/canadian-comes-home-after-imprisoned-abroad/
Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said that DGP Dinkar Gupta's remarks on the Kartarpur corridor "could have been avoided." He also said that the corridor would not be allowed to shut down “at any cost” and that the Punjab government had left no stone unturned to make the corridor a "success".
Replying to the opposition demand to dismiss DGP Dinkar Gupta, over his purported statements on Kartarpur Sahib, the CM said the DGP had already apologised and the opposition was milking the issue for political capital.
In a major embarrassment for Punjab cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, suspended Punjab Police DSP Balwinder Singh Sekhon on Sunday accused him of masterminding a bomb blast at Gur Mandi area of Ludhiana in 1992. Balwinder Singh Sekhon alleged Ashu is a former Khalistani terrorist who worked with Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK) and demanded his removal for involvement in anti-national and heinous crimes.
"The statements given by Ashu to the police in 1992 say he was part of Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK) that used to harbour arms and ammunition provided logistics support to Khalistani terrorists and was involved in the murder of three people including a lady Home Guard, Constable Shyam Sundar and his uncle. He is a very dangerous person and can kill me. He should be removed as a minister," Balwinder Singh Sekhon said.
Raising questions over Pakistan’s intent in agreeing to throw open the Kartarpur Corridor, the Punjab Police chief, Dinkar Gupta, Friday said the visa-free passage cleared for Sikh pilgrims was “a huge security challenge from terrorism point of view”. Claiming that there were reasons why the Corridor was not opened all these years, Director General of Punjab Police said that some elements based in the neighbouring country were “trying to woo the pilgrims and making overtures to them”. “Kartarpur offers a potential that you send somebody in the morning as an ordinary chap and by evening he comes back as trained terrorist actually. You are there for six hours, you can be taken to a firing range, you can be taught to make an IED,” Gupta said.
Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s maiden visit to India, White House officials met members of pro-Khalistani group 'Sikhs For Justice' (SFJ), which has been banned by India as an unlawful association for supporting militancy and secessionism in Punjab.
Hours after Trump announced that the trade-deal between India and the United States will not be taking place during his India visit, a delegation of the ‘Sikhs For Justice,’ a proscribed group in India, met with White House officials on Thursday.
The arrest of several members of an international gang of drug smugglers operating from Canada, Jalandhar in Punjab and Sydney in Australia has shed light on the possible links of some of them to the Khalistan movement, according to police sources here. Nine members of the gang, including some foreigners, had been arrested last year from different parts of North India, including Punjab, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Five of the arrested were Indians of whom two are from Jalandhar, according to a statement put out by the Narcotics Control Bureau last December. Two Nigerians, an Indonesian woman and an American were also among those arrested.
The Punjab Police probing the drugs trail after the arrest of gangster Sukhpreet Singh alias Budha have traced the links of other gangsters to a powerful nexus leading to Pakistan. After the arrest of Budha, the Punjab Police have traced further links of Jagdeep Singh alias Jagga and Gurvinder Singh alias Pehalwan, who were arrested three days ago.
A special NIA court in Mohali has issued NBWs against two terrorists belonging to the Khalistan Zindabad Force in a case related to dropping of arms and ammunition in Punjab by drones originating from Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday. Non-bailable warrants have been issued against Ranjeet Singh Neeta, who is based in Pakistan at present and Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga, who is based in Germany now, an NIA spokesperson said.