KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
06-Aug-2019
Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa accepted in the State Legislative Assembly that drugs and mobile phones were being smuggled into prisons in the State. The Minister informed the assembly that his department was taking this "seriously" and seized 576 cellphones from various jails and suspended 20 jail staffers in six months. Six jail employees of the Patiala jail have been dismissed and Ferozpur jail superintendent has been demoted to the post of deputy jail superintendent, said the Minister.
05-Aug-2019
The recent seizures of over 1,100 kg of heroin in the Indian subcontinent have left the investigating agencies worried about a spurt in the activities of Pakistan-based drug-trafficking syndicates in the region. A case in point is the seizure by the Customs at the Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Amritsar District of Punjab in June of 532 kg of heroin and 52 kg of other drugs. They had been declared rock salt. The alleged kingpin, Tariq Ahmed Lone of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested, along with importer Gurpinder Singh. “The consignment was booked in the name of Global Vision Impex, a front for Pakistan’s ISI, in Lahore,” the official said.
04-Aug-2019
Unprecedented security measures have been made at IB with Pakistan, especially in Pathankot District of Punjab. Punjab’s border zone IGP S P S Parmar said that high alert had been sounded in all border districts of the state following which they had upgraded the security. He added that special officers had been deputed in the border districts who would be monitoring the situation round the clock.
02-Aug-2019
Maheshinder Singh Grewal, a senior spokesperson of the Akali Dal, accused Pakistan of working at the instructions of the ISI of hatching conspiracies to create a rift between the Sikh communities in both countries by floating religion-based narratives. Grewal added that Pakistan’s peace gestures were merely an eyewash and Islamabad had no Sikh-welfare in mind.
02-Aug-2019
In a joint operation, Ludhiana Special Task Force (STF) and Ludhiana Rural Police recovered over 4.5-kilogram heroin, worth crores in the international market, at Mamdot in Ferozepur District of Punjab near the India-Pakistan border.
31-Jul-2019
The former DGP, Punjab, Shashi Kant claimed that Pakistan-backed pro-Khalistani Sikhs are trying to set up their new bases in the UK, especially in Birmingham city. He said, "Now, they are trying to get a good foothold in Birmingham where they have been organising rallies.""There have been demands from India that the Khalistani activists abroad, should not be permitted to hold rallies but the British government has been taking up a different stand citing that as long as they do not indulge in violence, they are unable to take action," he added. He also underlined the key role of Pakistan's spy agency, ISI in fanning anti-India sentiments.
29-Jul-2019
According to sources, many Khalistan terrorists in Punjab prisons have been found to be inciting the other jailbirds against the country and brainwashing them. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) decided that soon all the states will be asked to separate the terrorists from the inmates and create a separate jail for the terrorists who are being punished in different jails across the country.
29-Jul-2019
The NIA special court in Mohali in Punjab sent all the four ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) module members to judicial custody. The accused were initially arrested by Amritsar Police on charges of disturbing the state’s communal harmony, during the Ghalughara (massacre) week.
27-Jul-2019
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in connection with the narcotics terror case in Amritsar in Punjab, visited the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari-Wagah border between India and Pakistan. A team formed of NIA officials, Customs officers and Punjab Police interrogated the importers at the ICP and asked for the list which contained the list of the goods which are being transported from across the border.
25-Jul-2019
The Government of India has empowered eight states, including Punjab and Delhi, with a “sizeable presence of Sikh population” to take action against Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) if they try “to brainwash Sikh community in favour of Khalistan movement”. In its order, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) noted, “..In exercise of the powers conferred by section 42 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government hereby directs that all powers exercisable by it under section 7 and section 8 of the said act shall be exercised also by the state governments of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and Chandigarh administration”. “Centre doesn't have the wherewithal or jurisdiction to implement the notification in these states. This notification deals with only those states which have a sizeable Sikh population and where the organisations like SFJ can play foul and try to brainwash Sikh community in favor of the Khalistan movement, through various means,” a senior UMHA official said.
23-Jul-2019
Pakistan, which has sabotaged the previous peace initiatives between the two countries, must be hatching anti-Indian conspiracies around the Kartarpur Corridor too, warns the Indian security expert and senior professor at the Jammu University, Dipankar Sengupta. Pakistan has nothing to do with the welfare of any minority community and its diabolic gestures will be exposed in coming times, he said. He further said that Pakistan was taking advantage of the fact that there were more Sikh shrines inside its territory.
22-Jul-2019
The NIA court remanded four Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorists, Ravinder Pal Singh, Jagdev Singh, Nishan Singh and Harcharan Singh, till July 29, 2019. NIA took custody of the four, who were part of Amritsar module of BKI, from Punjab Police.
21-Jul-2019
Nainital Police launched an investigation after 52 Haldwani residents (Nainital District of Uttarakhand) were found to be the members of a pro-Khalistan Facebook group. Police said that the Facebook group named “Hindustan Vs Khalistan” is a private group and the posts of the members cannot be viewed by any non-group member. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Nainital District, Sunil Kumar Meena said that "Nothing can be said conclusively as the matter is presently being looked into."
16-Jul-2019
The Special Task Force (STF) of Punjab Police recovered about 10 lakh tramadol tablets from Bathinda in Bathinda District.The opioid-based tablets are a schedule H drug under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and used as a pain-killer. According to the reports, The kingpin, Pradeep Goyal, had supplied about 70 lakh tablets in the past few months.
15-Jul-2019
After being banned by the Government of India, the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) said the group would now lobby with the United State (US), Canadian, United Kingdom (UK) and European Governments, ‘exposing how India brands mere expression through peaceful means of a peaceful political opinion as ‘terrorism’ and seeks to curb dissent’. Rejecting Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s charge that the Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was backing the SFJ, it’s legal adviser Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said, “We filed defamation charges against Capt when he said it during his visit to the USA and Canada.
14-Jul-2019
The intelligence sources revealed that Pakistan is using Khalistani terrorist and ‘chief’ of Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Paramjit Singh Panjwar to smuggle drugs into India via carpet exports to the west and south-east Asia for fuelling militancy in Punjab. Paramjit Singh Panjwar is based in Lahore since 1994, whereas his wife and two sons live in Frankfurt in Germany. The nexus has been exposed after massive seizures of drugs shipped from Pakistan by the Coast Guards of the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India in recent months.
14-Jul-2019
India, in a dossier to Pakistan, has mentioned nearly 30 instances in the past four years when Sikh pilgrims visiting the neighbouring country were subjected to ‘anti-India propaganda’ such as espousing the Khalistani cause. The 23-page dossier was handed over to the Pakistani delegation during the Kartarpur corridor talks held at Wagah. Gopal Singh Chawla, a key “Khalistani element”, instigated the Sikh community to support Kashmiris for the formation of “Azad Kashmir”, says the dossier. The paper also contained a “pictorial catalogue of his anti-India activities on social media”. India accused that the recently banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was given a free hand to promote secessionism during visits of pilgrims. The dossier also mentioned names of others like Tara Singh, Bishan Singh and Maninder Singh were named in the dossier for displaying Khalistani propaganda and leading a protest against India at Wagah border in July 2017.
11-Jul-2019
Punjab Chief Minister Chief Minister Amarinder Singh described the ban on the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) as the first step towards protecting the nation from the anti-India and secessionist plans and designs of the Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed organisation. He said the association should be declared a terror organisation. Punjab Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have busted several modules of SFJ found indulging in various subversive activities in Punjab. Investigations revealed that the activists were radicalized and funded by abroad based SFJ handlers - Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Harmeet Singh, Paramjit Singh Pamma, etc. Ten cases have been lodged with Punjab Police while one case is with NIA in which 39 accused have been arrested.
11-Jul-2019
The Government of India downplayed the threats by al Qaeda and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) saying, they are not to be taken seriously. Terming the pro-Khalistan group “Sikhs For Justice” a fringe group, External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the organisation has no traction within the mainstream Sikh community and India takes no cognisance of what such fringe elements say.
11-Jul-2019
The legal adviser of the pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had approached the Chinese authorities and claimed that there was ‘suppression of indigenous people's democratic movements of self-determination’ not only in Punjab but also in Kashmir and north-eastern states. According to an intelligence report, SFJ had started new propaganda warfare against India through social media,especially by launching “Burn the tricolour” videos to instigate the Khalistan issue, disrupt peace, social harmony and to create unrest in India. The report says,"Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, attorney of law, New York, legal adviser, SFJ, wrote a letter to Yao Jing, ambassador of China to Pakistan informing them about the role of an Indian intelligence agency in attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 23, 2018”.
10-Jul-2019
The Government of India banned the pro-Khalistan radical group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) for five years and declared it as an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The US-based secessionist outfit with the primary objective of establishing an independent and sovereign country has its top leadership based in US, UK and Canada, with just 8-10 active members and negligible support base in India. SFJ enjoys strong online presence through social media accounts run in its own name or by its leaders — main promoter Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a New York-based attorney, apart from Hardip Singh Nijjar and Paramjit Singh Pamma who are principal proponents of “Referendum 2020” in Canada and UK respectively. A senior Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) official said all the major Sikh bodies consulted ahead of the five-year ban had supported the action and that the Centre had largely relied on the “material” sent by Punjab Government to impose the ban.
10-Jul-2019
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Lucknow convicted five operatives of the ‘Babbar Khalsa’ outfit facing charges under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and also conspiring to assassinate former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2018, apart from supporting the Khalistan movement. The NIA had filed charge sheet against five accused, Gurjant Singh alias Jinta of Saharanpur, Amrit Singh of Haryana, Karam Singh, Karamveer Singh and Jarman Singh, who belong to Shamli. They were lodged in Lucknow District jail.
08-Jul-2019
The incidents of Sikh pilgrims being recruited by Pakistani intelligence agencies for pushing the pro-Khalistan movement have become a matter of concern for Indian security establishment. The issue of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supporting the "Referendum 2020" campaign has come to the fore a week before India meets Pakistan to discuss Kartarpur Corridor operations.
08-Jul-2019
A senior Indian security official revealed that though Pakistan banned the pro-Khalistan activities, the ISI has been promoting the agenda under the guise of Sikh pilgrimage. He revealed that Indian Sikh ‘Jathas’ (pilgrimage groups), who visit Pakistan under the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, are targeted by the separatist organisation. "Sikhs coming directly to Pakistan from Canada, UK and Germany are tutored on the so-called referendum campaign, which is largely funded by Islamabad," he said.
07-Jul-2019
The interrogation details of Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, revealed that Sidhu was recruited by Rawalpindi when he visited the neighbouring country as part of a Jatha from India to visit Sikh holy shrines in Pakistan in November 2015 as part of Guru Parab celebrations. It is seriously concerned over Sikh pilgrims being recruited by Rawalpindi and used for promoting pro-Khalistan campaign “Referendum 2020”, Indian sources said.