Pro-Khalistani group threatens to wage war against Himanta Biswa Sarma after Assam registers case against its supporters

The state of Assam has been in hot pursuit following a US-based pro-Khalistani group expressing its discomfort for lodging its supporters in Assam's Dibrugarh jail.

Earlier this month, around a dozen journalists in Assam received a recorded voice call, which issued a warning to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from the pro-Khalistani group and alleged that its supporters were being tortured in the Assam jail.

Responding to the threat, the Assam Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh on April 2 informed that central agencies in the country have been alerted pertaining to a threat issued by a pro-khalistani group to state chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and that a case under appropriate sections of the IPC and UAP Act has been registered at STF Police Station of Assam. 

Also Read: US-based pro-Khalistani group issues threat to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

However, this did not go well with the US-based pro-Khalistani group as on April 4, again, journalists in Assam received a similar recorded voice call and said: “By filing a case against the pro-Khalistan Sikhs you have started a war and SFJ will respond back. SFJ believes Assam is not part of India and has written a letter to ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah. We will support Assam's Independence referendum if ULFA (I) agrees to do one. We will support ULFA (I) globally and will provide legal assistance to ULFA (I) chairman Baruah if they decide to go ahead and do Assam's Independence referendum for the separation of Assam from India. Message is from Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, General Counsel of Sikhs for Justice (sic)”.

On March 18, in a major crackdown against pro-Khalistan propagator Amritpal Singh and his supporters, the Punjab police in coordination with the Assam police sent eight of the arrested, who have close links with Amritpal including his uncle Harjeet Singh, to Assam’s high-security Dibrugarh jail for security reasons.

Who is Gurpatwan Singh Pannu?

Gurpatwan Singh Pannu is a New York-based lawyer, in his fifties, originally from Khankot village, near Amritsar. He graduated in law from Panjab University. He was the driving force behind the “Referendum 2020” campaign, which sought to understand if Punjabis across, at least, 20 countries wanted a separate state. He has also allegedly been found in contact with other pro-Khalistani organisations such as Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Tiger Force, and International Sikh Youth Federation. He has issued an appeal to Punjab-based gangsters and youth to fight for Khalistan’s independence. He has called for a separate Sikh state on the model of Catalonia, Spain. He also travelled to Spain to research the 2017 referendum on self-determination in Catalonia, Spain. 

Pannun was among the founders of the US-based SFJ, which claims to be “an international advocacy and human rights group”. Set up in 2007, it seeks to achieve “self-determination for the Sikh people in their historic homeland in the region of Indian-held Punjab and establishing a sovereign state, popularly known as Khalistan”. The Union government imposed a ban on SFJ in 2019. Nearly two dozen FIRs have been lodged against Pannun in Punjab. Last year, Interpol has rejected a request by India to issue a Red Notice against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, saying Indian authorities have not provided sufficient information on him.