KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
United States 01-May-2022
The Indian World Forum raised concern over the US State provocation of pro-Khalistani groups. The forum stated that the resolution passed by the US State of Connecticut influences and promotes Khalistan and thereby challenging the sovereignty of India. The Indian World Forum President, Puneet Singh Chandhok condemned the resolution and said, "The Sikhs living in India are the law-abiding citizens who even have any differences or grievances with the government still remain within the system and seek their demands within the judicial system. Unfortunately, Anti-India elements sitting outside the country and working at the behest of different countries and security agencies have been again and again trying to sabotage and disturb the communal harmony in the state of Punjab in particular". "With such resolution being passed by the state of Connecticut in the US, it will be clearly influencing a separatist ideology that Sikhs of India don't advocate. There were certain differences during the 1984 riots, certain resolutions were passed. Sikhs always thrive for a progressive and prosperous India and never strive to disrupt the peace of any country. It's shocking to know that the state of Connecticut's general assembly has passed an official citation and the Mayor has tendered his resignation. Such activities clearly instigate a separatist ideology that we don't advocate. I was brutally attacked on August 25, 2018, by the Khalistan agents working at the behest of ISI Pakistan and by the activists of Sikhs for justice. To date, I have not received justice from the US authorities instead they are more interested in passing such a kind of resolution which indirectly promotes Khalistani ideologies," said Indian World Forum President.
India 01-May-2022
The Punjab School Education Board banned three books for allegedly distorting facts related to Sikh history. Punjab Education Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on May 1 said that action will be taken against writers and publishers for allegedly distorting facts related to Sikh history in the books.
India 01-May-2022
Border Security Force (BSF) on May 1 arrested a farmer, identified as Dilbag Singh with two packets of suspected heroin weighing approximately 1.2 kg near the international border in Amritsar sector in Amritsar district. According to sources, alert BSF troops arrested the farmer, while he was trying to conceal suspicious narcotic packets when he had gone ahead of the fence for farming.
India 01-May-2022
The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police on May 1 arrested three aides of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Canada-based outlaw Goldy Brar from Bathinda in Bathinda District. Those arrested, identified as Lovepreet Singh, alias Sachin, Himmatveer Singh Gill and Balkaran, alias Vicky, were planning to target a prominent businessman of the Malwa region for extortion. The police have recovered four pistols and 20 cartridges, besides an i20 car from their possession.
India 02-May-2022
A politician from Himachal Pradesh, Harpreet Singh Bedi, supported the demand for a separate Sikh homeland 'Khalistan' in his social media posts. Bedi shared several tweets in support of Khalistan on microblogging site Twitter and then deleted the account. "According to the constitution, Sikh can demand for Khalistan, then how it is wrong if you want to stop this issue, try to change the act otherwise shut the...," one tweet read. He also shared pictures of the currency of the 'Republic of Khalistan'. The Mandi-based politician deleted his Twitter account after he was criticised for supporting Khalistan. Bedi was formerly associated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but is no longer with the party.
India 02-May-2022
India on May 2 condemned the “official citation” made in the General Assembly in the state of Connecticut in the United States (US), recognising the 36th anniversary of the declaration of ‘Khalistan’, saying “vested interests seek to divide communities and promote bigotry and hatred. Their agenda of violence has no place in democratic societies like the US and India”. The Consulate General of India at New York tweeted a statement, saying the Embassy of India in Washington DC and the Consulate General of India in New York would take up this issue appropriately with US lawmakers.
India 02-May-2022
The Khalistani terrorist outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) warned Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann and Director General Police (DGP) Viresh Bhawra against taking action against the Khalistan supporters who are accused in the April 29 Patiala violence case. In a video, SFJ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was heard inciting communal tensions by claiming that Sikhs gave a fitting response to the "Hindu extremists" in Patiala. He also cautioned Mann and Bhawra against following a policy pursued by the late CM Beant Singh failing which they will have to face consequences. Beant Singh was assassinated in a bomb blast on August 31, 1995. In the video, Pannun also asked the police to not disrespect family members of the Sikhs named in connection with the Patiala clash. Moreover, he warned that the children of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and police officials studying in Australia, the UK, Canada and the US will be forced by SFJ to return back home if the children of the accused are harassed.
India 02-May-2022
Police arrested a Tanzanian woman, identified as Rahma and recovered 300 gm of heroin from her possession in Zirakpur in Mohali district.
United States 02-May-2022
The Chairman of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Thomas Abraham said that the group's Connecticut chapter will meet the legislators behind the General Assembly's pro-Khalistan statement and explain the situation. He deplored the statement calling it "terrible". Abraham, who is based in Connecticut, said that a "fringe group got it adopted at the tail-end of the Assembly session without the knowledge of most elected officials". GOPIO's Connecticut chapter "deplores such act by Connecticut legislators who initiated and/or endorsed this legislation and will meet them personally to correct the situation", he said.
India 02-May-2022
According to reports, Akal Takht is all set to initiate action against US-based Thaminder Singh Anand for allegedly distorting the Gurbani while printing the saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in an unauthorised manner. Thaminder, who runs SikhBookClub.com, has been accused of not only getting published the copies of the ‘saroop’, but also uploading its PDF on the website.
India 02-May-2022
Punjab police on May 2 identified the key accused in the smuggling of drugs at the India-Pakistan border, a day after the Border Security Force (BSF) arrested a farmer with 1 kg heroin when he was returning back after tilling his fields between the barbed wire fence and the zero line. Pooran Singh of Hardo Rattan village situated near the Attari border, who owns around five acres of agricultural land on both sides of the barbed wire fence, was identified after police got inputs from Dilbagh Singh of the same village, who was arrested on May 1. “Dilbagh has told us that he was clearing the consignment of heroin from his field at the instance of one Pooran Singh of his village. We have found that Pooran also owns around five acres of agricultural land on both sides of the barbed wire fence,” an unnamed senior Punjab police official said.
India 02-May-2022
According to reports, the Khanna police gave cash awards of just Rs 1,350 to 36 police personnel involved in the ongoing anti-drug drive. Each police personnel got Rs 20 to Rs 60. Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravi Kumar said that as per the Punjab Police Rules, an SSP can distribute maximum Rs 150 in each case. If five police personnel are involved in nabbing the smugglers, the SSP has to divide Rs 150 among all of them. The copy of the order reveals that on May 2, Khanna SSP Ravi Kumar approved cash awards for 36 police personnel who apprehended at least 10 smugglers and seized heroin, poppy husk and opium from their possession. An Assistant of sub-inspector (ASI) -rank officer said, “I got Rs 30 for my efforts in nabbing a heroin smuggler, one of my juniors got Rs 20, while my senior got Rs 35. This amount has no relevance in present times. Instead of encouraging the policemen, this ridiculous amount may discourage them.”
India 03-May-2022
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 2.98 kg of heroin worth Rs 15 crore (international market) adjacent to the border fence near Jodhewala village in Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka district on May 3. According to sources, jawans of the 52 Battalion noticed suspicious movement and challenged the suspect who fled on a bike. During search, two bottles filled with heroin and wrapped in green cloth were recovered near the fence.
India 03-May-2022
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on May 3 said that hatemongers have no place in Punjab and seeds of hatred don't bloom on this land.Anything can be planted in the fertile land of Punjab but not the seeds of hatred, he said addressing a gathering in Malerkotla in Malerkotla district after offering prayers at the local Idgah on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. The CM said, "Punjab's social bonding is very strong. We live in brotherhood and those who spread hatred find no place here". "Punjab is the land of gurus, pir, fakirs, poets and martyrs, seeds of hatred don't bloom here," he said giving a stern warning to elements trying to disturb peace and harmony of the State.
United States 03-May-2022
The Akal Takht on May 3 declared a United States (US)-based Sikh publisher, Thaminder Singh Anand, a “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) for making distortions in the Gurbani (hymns) and asked the community to boycott him till he appears before the Takht to apologise for his offence.
India 03-May-2022
The Hoshiarpur district police arrested four smugglers by recovering a huge quantity of narcotics from them from different places on May 3. Police arrested Amandeep Singh alias Aman, a resident of Jagatpura, and recovered 78 grams of intoxicating powder from him. Gurpreet Singh alias Guru a resident Basant Bihar, was arrested by the police and 22 grams of heroin was seized from him. During a naka in the area, Mehtiana police arrested Jatinder Singh Jimmy and Lakhwinder Singh and recovered a large number of sedative capsules from them.
India 04-May-2022
Seven drug peddlers were arrested and 300g of heroin was recovered from them after a video was shared widely on social media of a man selling drugs to addicts on a rail track in Faridkot in Faridkot district on May 4. The accused were identified as Shivam, Ravi, Deepak, Baljeet Singh, Hira Singh, Amritpal Singh Jinda and Pardeep Kumar, all residents of Faridkot. Police rounded up the alleged drug supplier, Jagdeep Singh and impounded three two-wheelers of the accused.
India 04-May-2022
The Special Task Force (STF) of the Punjab Police arrested two gangsters, identified as David alias Laddi Shooter and Lovepreet Sandhu alias Akash and recovered two pistols, three magazines, 12 rounds, 60-gm heroin and Rs 6.3 lakh drug money from their possession in Ferozepur district.
India 05-May-2022
According to report, the recent probe into pro-Khalistan modules busted in Punjab has revealed that foreign-based terrorists and their local handlers are using money to lure the state’s youth, who in fact lack ideological conviction. According to an internal analysis of the intelligence wing of Punjab Police, most of those arrested in these cases belong to non-Sikh families with poor financial backgrounds. A senior official of the internal security wing, which deals with such cases, said the arrested youths were mostly unemployed and had been promised money or a future abroad. The recent arrests and recoveries pertain to grenade attacks at an army camp in Pathankot and a similar attack on a CIA police station in SBS Nagar, both in November 2021, besides another grenade attack on a police post in Rupnagar on March 9, the eve of assembly election results in Punjab. Among the six suspects identified by the SBS Nagar police in the Pathankot grenade blast — in which International Youth Sikh Federation (IYSF) chief Lakhbir Singh Rode, who is based in Pakistan, has been identified as the mastermind —four belong to very poor families. Police officials who have quizzed these suspects claim that while one Gurwinder Singh of Kharal village in Gurdaspur was promised a job in Dubai and free travel from India, another Raman Kumar (19), was a drug addict and was paid a meagre amount of Rs 12,000 to join the module. Similarly, in the CIA police station case, the module members were ordinary youths apart from one Kuldeep Kumar alias Sunny, from Ludhiana who had motivated them to carry out the grenade attack in SBS Nagar on November 7, 2021. Sunny lured the local youth having petty criminal record using personal links or distant friendships and would allocate money as per their role, found the police probe. Sandeep Sharma, senior superintendent of police (SSP), SBS Nagar, said those who performed the task under the guidance of their masters are neither radical nor they know much about Khalistan. “Sunny lured them with money on behalf of Rinda. The money involved ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 1 lakh,” said the SSP.
India 05-May-2022
According to reports, after a major Pakistan-Khalistan terror plot was thwarted in Karnal on May 5, with the arrest of four terror suspects, the banned pro-Khalistan outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has warned Haryana Chief Minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar against branding the arrested accused as Pakistan terror suspects. SFJ issued a warning against CM Khattar and Home Minister Anil Vij against labelling Khalistan activists as an “ISI backed-terrorist”. The group has also claimed to provide legal aid to the arrested terrorists. The SFJ has now issued an open warning against Haryana CM over branding the arrested accused in Karnal as Pakistan terror suspects. In a video message released by SFJ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, under its “Haryana BanayGa Khalistan” campaign, the group issued a warning to the Haryana CM against the Pak-Khalistan terror nexus. SFJ also informed that it will provide legal aid to the four terror suspects arrested in Karnal.