KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
The Punjab Police on Thursday registered two separate cases against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and his associates on charges of sedition and secessionism. The two cases were registered at Amritsar and Kapurthala.
An active Sikhs for Justice member, Joginder Singh Gujjar, was also booked on similar charges.
US-based Pannun was among nine wanted men who were designated as terrorists under the provisions of the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Centre on Wednesday.
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The Ministry of Home Affairs designated Pannun a terrorist for actively running a secessionist campaign against India and motivating Sikh young men from his home state Punjab to revive militancy in the state.
The others designated as individual terrorists under UAPA include - Paramjit Singh of Babbar Khalsa International, Hardeep Singh Nijjar of Khalistan Tiger Force, Gurmit Singh Bagga of Khalistan Zindabad Force and Ranjeet Singh from the same outfit, among others.
The Dalit Suraksha Sena (DSS) had filed a complaint against Pannun and his associates, and a case was registered against him at a police station in Amritsar for allegedly burning the Indian Constitution and the National Flag besides instigating others to do something similar.
In its complaint, the Dalit Suraksha Sena said Pannun, the self-styled legal advisor of the US-based the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and his accomplices were seen dishonouring the Indian Constitution and the National Flag in a video. They were seen setting a copy of the Constitution and the flag on fire, while shouting slogans of Khalistan Zindabad, they said.
Pannun was also seen inciting the entire Sikh community against the Indian Constitution and in favour of the Referendum 2020, according to the complaint.
The second FIR registered at Bhulath in Kapurthala is based on inputs of the entry of Joginder Singh Gujjar, alias Goga, into the country in February 2020, a police spokesperson said, adding that Pannun and his associates had been charged with seditious and secessionist activities in the case.
The spokesperson said that Joginder Singh is a prominent and active member of the banned SFJ.
Joginder Singh in collaboration with Pannun, with whom he is in regular contact for promoting the activities of the SFJ, was reportedly providing financial help to the organization and to members based in Punjab and abroad, the spokesperson said.