LONDON: The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been accused of intimidating and targeting relatives of prominent pro-Khalistan leaders who left India decades ago and hold British and other foreign nationalities.
The Sikh Federation (UK) said that families of its two prominent leaders in India have come under attack by the Indian authorities.
The UK-based pro-Khalistan group said that family homes in India of its leaders Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), and Kuldip Singh Chaheru, the Vice Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), were raided by the NIA and family members were interrogated for many hours. Family members of both British national Sikhs have been ordered to appear before the NIA on 7 August.
The Sikh Federation said that Amrik Singh has not been to India for over 40 years and Kuldip Singh Chaheru, whose father and other close family members were tortured and killed by the Indian police, has not returned to India in over 35 years.
The NIA also last week raided the premises of Khalsa Aid in Patiala. Similarly, families of activists linked to the Federation of Sikh Organisations (FSO), Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and Khalsa Aid have come under attack in India by the government.
The Sikh body said: “This is outrageous. The families of others from the UK belonging to the Federation of Sikh Organisations (FSO) and Sikhs For Justice in the UK, who have been targeted suggests the NIA have recently been given information about who the NIA should focus on from the UK and those who they should leave alone.”
The NIA has increasingly become desperate in recent months to silence Sikh activists abroad who remain influential and vocal in their opposition to the right-wing Indian authorities.
It has been reported the NIA has been increasing pressure on the UK and Canadian governments in particular to take tough actions against Sikh activists opposed to the right-wing Indian government and campaigning for the re-establishment of a Sikh homeland.”
The Sikh Federation said that requests by the NIA to arrest, extradition and deport Sikh activists based on fake news have been firmly rejected by both governments that have warned the Indian authorities to stop interference on their soil.
