Sikh leader unfazed after Indian plot to assassinate him on American soil exposed

LONDON: Pro-Khalistan Sikh leader and Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has said that India has directly challenged America’s sovereignty and national security by plotting to kill him on American soil through its death squads.

In his first reaction after the Financial Times (FT) exposed that the US authorities foiled at last minute an Indian state plot to kill the Khalistani leader on the American soil, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said he was not scared and will not be deterred by the Indian state’s plots against him. And the US govt said in a statement that it has taken up the issue of India’s attempts to kill Pannun “at the senior most levels” with the Narendra Modi govt.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a New York based Attorney at Law said: “India’s transnational terrorism has become a direct challenge to the sovereignty of the United States, so I will let the US government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives.

“My concern is that the Sikh Community is facing existential threat at the hands of successive Indian regimes from 1984 Operation Blue Star, November 1984 Genocide, decade long (1984-97) extra judicial killings of Sikhs to suppress the movement for right to self-determination and now the forced suicide of farmers of Punjab. At this time my focus is not threats to my life but to organise the American Phase of Khalistan Referendum which is scheduled to start from San Francisco CA on January 28, 2024 under the supervision of Punjab Referendum Commission, a panel of independent experts on direct democracy.

“Believing that independence from Indian occupation and establishment of Khalistan is the only solution, Sikh sovereignists have launched the global Khalistan Referendum initiative to peacefully advance the cause of liberating the Indian held Punjab. Being General Counsel of SFJ my responsibility is to organise the secessionist Khalistan Referendum for liberation of Indian held Punjab and to follow UN Charter and domestic laws of the countries where voting is being organized to ensure compliance with the democratic norms.

“Just like Canadian Citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s assassination by the Indian agents on Canadian soil was a challenge to Canada’s sovereignty, the threat to an American citizen on American soil is a Challenge to America’s sovereignty, and I trust that the Biden Administration is more than capable to handle any such challenge.”

In a statement after the kill plot was exposed, the White House said in a statement it was “treating this issue with utmost seriousness”. Adrienne Watson, the NSC spokesman, said the US had raised the issue with News Delhi “at the senior most levels”.

Adrienne Watson said: “We understand the Indian government is further investigating this issue and will have more to say about it in the coming days. We have conveyed our expectation that anyone deemed responsible should be held accountable.”