KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
15-Feb-2022
According to reports, separatist Sikh body, Dal Khalsa decided to boycott the February 20 Punjab assembly polls, stating that it believes that the resolution to the state’s problems lies in referendum under the United Nations (UN) and not elections under the Indian dispensation. The president of Dal Khalsa, Harpal Singh Cheema said that despite Sikhs forming governments in Punjab and sending members to the Parliament, the Punjab problem has remained the same even after 40 years. Party leaders also urged the people to think before casting their vote, saying Punjab does not have its own capital city, the waters of Punjab unabatedly flow to Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan without royalty to the riparian state.
14-Feb-2022
According to reports, amid threats from Khalistani and Pakistan supported terror outfits, the Union Government has decided to deploy a large number of security forces in Punjab for the forthcoming Assembly elections scheduled on February 20. Sources revealed that around 455 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) will be deployed in the border state, and the process of deployment has already begun. This would be in addition to Punjab police personnel who will be responsible for managing the law-and-order situation in the state. The sources also said that over 200 companies have already reached Punjab for election duty, while the rest of the forces will be deployed in the state latest by February 16.
14-Feb-2022
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three persons, identified as Sarbjeet Singh, Shamsher Singh and Baldev Singh, allegedly involved in the smuggling of 33kg heroin recovered by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the India-Pakistan border in Tarn Taran in December 2021. According to NCB, all the three smugglers were detained from Khemkaran area of the Tarn Taran district.
13-Feb-2022
Issuing a warning to concerned judges of the Karnataka High Court (HC) that have prescribed a student dress code, the chief of the banned extremist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) threatened that it would start a 'hijab referendum' similar to the 'Khalistan referendum'. In the audio message, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said, "This message is for Karnataka High Court judges... do not ban the hijab. this message is from Sikhs For Justice general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, from Washington DC." After Pannun warned against bad consequences, the pro-Khalistan terror group referred to the reaction of Rashad Hussain, US Ambassador of Advance Religious Freedom worldwide. Referring to Hussain's tweet, the SFJ chief said, "The Biden administration has also condemned the ban on hijab." Further, he said, "Karnataka High Court judges, remember! Do not ban the hijab. It is against the freedom of the Muslim community. If you do ban hijab, like Khalistan referendum which we are doing to liberate Punjab. We will start the hijab referendum for Muslim states. Do not ban the hijab."
12-Feb-2022
Intel inputs warned that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is trying to fuel the hijab controversy in India, through banned Khalistani outfit Sikhs For Justice (SJF). The Intel note said, "ISI is pushing the concept of hijab referendum in India." The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has also warned police forces and law enforcement agencies to keep a close watch on the 'Hijab Refrendum' being pushed by the ISI through terror group SFJ. "Some anti-India elements might join the chorus of Sikhs for Justice chief Gurupatwanr Singh Pannun in organising the hijab referendum and celebrating the concept of urduistan," the intel inputs warned. It also said that the SFJ has called upon Muslims in India to start a 'Hijab Refrendum' movement to carve out 'Urduistan' in areas of Rajasthan, Delhi, UP, Bihar and West Bengal.
12-Feb-2022
According to reports, there has been a huge recovery of narcotics in the run-up to the Punjab elections, beating the 2012 record when drugs emerged as a major issue for the first time. Since the imposition of the model code of conduct in the state, security forces under the command of the Election Commission have seized 33 kg of heroin and 4,707 kg of poppy husk. During the 2017 elections, 11.92 kg of heroin and 2,342 kg of poppy husk were seized and in 2012, the quantity was 23.54 kg and 2,707 kg.
11-Feb-2022
Using the ongoing Hijab controversy as an opportunity, the banned pro-Khalistan outfit, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) provoked the Muslim community in India and appealed them to protest. SFJ, in its message, asked the people of India to ‘learn from Pakistan’ that created a Muslim country. SFJ led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun asks Muslims in the country to use the row as an opportunity for the Balkanisation of India. Furthermore, the group has also stated that the group will fund the movement for Hijabs and fight for creating a separate country. The pro-Khalistan terror group has allegedly provoked the people of the Muslim community over Hijab row and said that the Modi government will ban Aazan and Quran after Hijabs.
11-Feb-2022
The state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr S Karuna Raju said that various Enforcement Agencies have recovered 1.18 lakh litre of licit liquor, 34,650 litre of illicit liquor, 15.53 lakh litre of lahan (raw material used to make liquor), 4170 kg of poppy husk, 32.70 kg of opium, 164 kg ganja, 33,141 grams of heroin, 263 grams of smack, 7456 grams of charas, 10,784 capsules, 479 vials of syrup, and 4,73,733 tablets till February 11.
10-Feb-2022
During the fourth India- United Kingdom (UK) home affairs dialogue held via virtual mode, India raised concerns with the UK on anti-India activities being carried out by certain extremist and radical elements from its soil, and urged the UK authorities to keep vigil over such activities and take appropriate proactive action. The home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla led the Indian side and UK permanent secretary, home office, Mathey Rycroft, headed the UK delegation.
10-Feb-2022
The Election Commission of India (ECI) told Punjab and Haryana high court that drugs worth Rs 312.8 crore (3,999 kg) have been seized in Punjab since poll code was enforced on January 8, 2022.
10-Feb-2022
Punjab Police’s special task force (STF) busted an international drug racket with the arrest of three people, including a former deputy superintendent of police, an NRI kabaddi player and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in Mohali in SAS Nagar district. The key accused, NRI kabaddi player Ranjeet Singh, alias Jeeta Maur, was allegedly running the drug racket in connivance with police officials and politicians and was parking the drug money in the real estate business. STF also recovered 100-gram heroin and a weapon from Ranjeet. Besides Ranjeet Singh, other accused are his wife Rajinder Kaur, former DSP Vimal Kant, Canada-based NRI Davinder Singh, two ASIs Munish Kumar and Jagdish Singh, Gurjant Singh and Bhupinder Singh of Tarn Taran, Simranjit Singh of Phagwara, Jalandhar-based chartered accountants (CAs) Dinesh Sarna and Manoj Sarna and Arendeep Singh of Kapurthala.
09-Feb-2022
According to reports, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has requested concerned agencies to issue a lookout circular and blue corner notice against Jaswinder Singh Multani, an alleged Khalistani operative linked to the recent bomb blast in a Ludhiana court and for attempts to “foment trouble” in poll-bound Punjab. NIA sources revealed that it has requested Interpol to issue a ‘blue corner’ notice against Multani, who is allegedly a close aide of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun wanted in multiple cases registered by central agencies and Punjab Police. Central agencies request Interpol to issue ‘blue corner’ notice to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities with relation to a crime. Similarly, a Look Out Circular (LOC) will help NIA to track Multani’s movement in case he visits India through his passport. The agencies deployed at the airport will alert NIA and stop him from travelling further. The NIA has also announced Rs 10-lakh reward on the Germany-based Multani.
09-Feb-2022
The Border Security Force (BSF) on February 9 recovered over 4 kg of RDX, a pistol and bomb-making items dropped in two packets by a drone that flew from Pakistan into an Indian farm along the border in Ajnala sub-division of Amritsar district of Punjab. According to BSF spokesperson, troops fired after they heard a "buzzing sound of a suspected flying object coming from the Pakistani side to the Indian side" around 1 am in the Panjgrain area of Gurdaspur sector. A search was later conducted and the BSF party recovered two yellow-coloured packets, lying about 20 m apart embedded in the wet soil, which contained about 4.7 kg RDX, a China-made pistol, two magazines with 22 bullets, three electronic detonators, timer device, detonating cord (cordtex wire), splinters, cells, steel container, nylon thread, plastic pipe, packing material and ₹ 1 lakh cash. The drone that dropped the packets about 2.7 km into the Indian side from the border fence is suspected to have escaped to the Pakistani side.
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.
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.
08-Feb-2022
Police recovered narcotics, sharp-edged weapons and mobile phones, from gangsters lodged at Bathinda Central Jail in Bathinda district during a special search operation. Bathinda SSP Amneet Kaundal said that “a smartphone was recovered from gangster Baljinder Singh Billa. Ganja and tobacco were recovered from gangster Kirpal Singh. Apart from this, some iron material was recovered.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.