KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
India 01-Jul-2019
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh strongly condemned the sharing of a morphed picture of Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on social media platforms. The Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan leader and member of Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Gopal Singh Chawla has shared the Sidhu's morphed image sporting green turban with a star and crescent on his Facebook page. The photo was shared by many on social media platforms including Twitter.
India 01-Jul-2019
A mega exercise to fortify the ‘anti-infiltration grid’ along the Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) has been launched by the Border Security Force (BSF). The operation, code named Sudarshan, was launched on July 1, 2019, and will cover the entire over 1,000-kms length of the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Punjab and Jammu. While Jammu shares about 485-kms of the IB with Pakistan, about 553-kms of the front is in Punjab.
India 02-Jul-2019
India and Pakistan will have a second round of meeting to finalise the Kartarpur corridor modalities at Wagah on the Pakistan side of the border, on July 14. India had last week proposed that the meeting be held between July 11 and 14. Confirming the date, Pakistan asked the Indian side to convey the composition of its delegation. Pakistan also said it remained committed to expediting progress on the matter to ensure that the corridor is operationalised in time for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak in November 2019.
United Kingdom 03-Jul-2019
The UK counter-terrorism Police arrested two British Sikhs in connection with ongoing investigations into ‘allegations of extremist activity in India and fraud offences’ in Birmingham. The arrested individuals were identified as 38-year-old Deepa Singh, who runs the group Sikh Youth UK (SYUK), and a 49-year-old female relative of his.However, the two arrestees were released on bail and will either be charged within 28 days or released pending further investigations.
India 04-Jul-2019
Indian intelligence agencies apprehend that Pakistan is more concerned and interested in opening of the Kartarpur Corridor because it wants to exploit Sikh sentiments to support the Khalistani agenda in India. The security agencies also apprehend that after opening of the corridor, Sikh radicalization will be increased manifold in the State of Punjab.
India 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.
India 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.
India 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.
United Kingdom 09-Jul-2019
A group of Sikh protesters sporting with "Punjab Referendum 2020" T-shirts and chanting pro-Khalistan slogans were evicted from the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester in United Kingdom (UK) during the World Cup Cricket semi-final match between India and New Zealand. Greater Manchester Police arrested the two of them who were causing disruption and later released.
Malaysia 09-Jul-2019
Malaysia detained four foreigners, including a 24-year-old Indian national who had allegedly acted as a facilitator to a senior member of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) - a Khalistani separatist group. The other arrestees were identified as two ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar (detained for providing support to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army [ARSA], the insurgent group) and a 54-year-old Philippine national with alleged ties to Abu Sayyaf, a militant organisation aligned with the Islamic State (IS).
India 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.
India 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.
India 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.
India 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.
India 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”.
Pakistan 12-Jul-2019
Ahead of the India-Pakistan talks over Kartarpur corridor, Pakistan removed the name of pro-Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla from the committee. The development was confirmed through an official statement, which said, “The Federal Government (Federal Cabinet) has been pleased to re-constitute the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).” Gopal Singh Chawla is a close associate of Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and resides in Pakistan. He is also suspected of planning terrorist attacks in India. And even said to hold meetings with global terrorist Masood Azhar.
India 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.
India 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.
India 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.
India 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.