Pannun threatens India with 'Hamas-like Attack'
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of the banned Sikhs for Justice group, has made threats and advocated for the Khalistan movement, causing tensions between India and Canada.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun leader of the banned group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Pannun is part of the Khalistan movement, which wants to create a separate Sikh country away from India. While the violence in India reduced in the 1990s, the movement still has support from some people living outside India. Amritsar-born Pannun has been under the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) investigation since 2019 when the agency filed its first case against him. Pannun, who lives in Canada, was named as a wanted terrorist in 2020. He is facing more than 20 criminal counts in Punjab. He has threatened Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on numerous occasions. He is accused of being a key figure in promoting and organizing terrorist actions, as well as causing fear and terror in Punjab and other regions of India through threats and intimidation strategies. He has been called a Khalistani terrorist.
You all may know that there are severe problems between India and Canada. Incase you have missed it, you can watch this video for the full story. Last month, Gurpatwant Pannun had published a video asking Indians to leave Canada. In the video, Pannun was heard saying, “Indo-Hindu leave Canada; go to India. You not only support India but you are also supporting the suppression of speech and expression of pro-Khalistan Sikhs". In recent months, there have been several attacks on Hindu temples and Sikh leaders in Punjab. The Indian government has blamed the SFJ for these attacks. The Ahmedabad police recently registered an FIR against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun over his threat to disrupt a World Cup match between India and Pakistan to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat. Now just days before the scheduled India-Pakistan ICC World Cup 2023 match in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Pannun released a video. In the video, he warns Prime Minister Narendra Modi to watch and learn from the Israel-Palestine conflict, other he will plan a Hamas like attack in India. Pannun stated that people in areas under illegal control, like Punjab and Palestine, will respond, and violence can lead to more violence. Pannun also mentioned that if India keeps what he considers as "occupying" Punjab, there will be a response, and he holds India and PM Modi responsible for it. He mentioned that SFJ supports the idea of "voting and elections" and believes that the "liberation of Punjab" is possible. "India, the choice is yours: ballot or bullet", Pannun says in the video while making a shooting gesture at the camera. The message also stated that SFJ would seek "revenge" for the killing of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijar in Canada. According to the Cyber Crime DCP of Ahmedabad, Ajit Rajian, pre-recorded threatening messages from Pannun were distributed on various social media accounts.
