Pro-Khalistani SFJ chief Pannun offers $100K for arrest of Indian High Commissioner to Canada

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), has made yet another controversial comment targeting Indian diplomats in Canada by offering to pay cash reward of $100K for arresting Sanjay Verma, the Indian High Commissioner to Canada.

The pro-Khalistani separatist accused Verma of "maliciously" fabricating a terror threat against Air India in order to justify the "reward."

A video that Pannun recently shared threatened travellers on Air India planes on November 19, the day of the Ahmedabad ICC World Cup final. It was previously announced by the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that they are looking into a potential terror threat.

Pannun has charged Verma with fabricating a terror threat against Air India in order to "divert attention" away from the inquiry into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist. 

SFJ chief's threat follows Trudeau 's fresh statement

Pannun's threat came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a fresh statement stated that Ottawa does not desire a "fight" with India.

Since Justin Trudeau's charges in September about the June shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the Canadian town of Surrey, diplomatic ties between Canada and India have been strained.

Days following Trudeau's charges, India issued a temporary suspension of visa issuance to Canadian citizens and asked that Ottawa reduce its diplomatic personnel in India in order to achieve parity. Since then, India has started issuing four categories of visas to Canadians. Canada has already removed 41 diplomats and their families from India.

"From the very beginning when we learned of credible allegations that agents of the Indian govt were involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, we reached out to India to ask them to work with us in getting to the bottom of this matter. We also reached out to our friends and allies like the US and others to work on this really serious violation of international law and of sovereignty of a democracy. This is something that we are taking very seriously,” Trudeau told local reporters in Ottawa. “We will continue to work with all partners as law enforcement and investigative agencies continue to do their work. Canada is a country that will always stand up for the rule of law because if might start to make right again, if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences, then the whole world gets more dangerous for everyone,” he added.

Source: https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/canada/pr-khalistani-sfj-chief-pannun-offers-100k-for-arrest-of-indian-high-commissioner-to-canada.news