LONDON: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s factually truthful statement in Washington DC acknowledging that Sikhs are facing existential threat in India will serve as catalyst for Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) Khalistan Referendum campaign and will amplify and bolster the support for independence of Punjab, the group’s Counsel General Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has said.
Pannun said that extremist Hindutva groups such as BJP, RSS and Jana Sangh members who are condemning Rahul Gandhi for acknowledging the facts are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan. Rahul Gandhi has also briefed members of the Congress about the persecution that Sikhs are facing in Modi’s India, he said.
Pannun said in a statement, “Rahul Gandhi’s statement not only justifies Khalistan referendum for independence of Punjab, but it is also reflects a realisation by the Congress party, by the opposition leader, that Punjab is on the verge of seceding from the Union of India to become an independent Sikh country, a new neighbour of Pakistan and India. That is why the opposition leader has launched his diplomatic move to build rapport with future neighbour Khalistan. Gandhi has signalled to the US that the Congress Party has accepted that Punjab will be an independent country, because Sikhs are facing existential threat in Modi’s India.
The New York based lawyer said, “These BJP, RSS, Jana Sangh leaders such as Manjinder Sirsa and Iqbal Lalpura are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan and they will be held accountable. Prime Minister Modi, this is high time you realize that the people of Punjab are seeking independence from the Union of India through global Khalistan referendum.”
Mr Pannun referred to Mr Gandhi’s address to a gathering of Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on September 9, 2024, in which the Congress leader accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of considering some religions, languages, and communities of being inferior to others and said that the fight in India is about this and not about politics.
When asking the name of a turbaned person in the gathering, Gandhi said, “The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions.”