Guwahati: Almost a dozen journalists in Assam recently experienced an unprecedented incident when they heard a recorded voice call warning Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly torturing pro-Khalistani sympathisers detained in the Dibrugarh jail. The message’s speaker identified himself as Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a group that is accused of engaging in separatist operations against India.
The caller, who identified himself as a supporter of pro-Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh, said: “Pro-Khalistan supporters Sikhs imprisoned in Assam have been tortured. Listen very carefully CM Sarma, the fight is between Pro-Khalistan Sikhs and the Indian regime and Modi. Sarma do not fall prey to this violence. We are seeking liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation through a peaceful democratic process of Khalistan referendum. Sharma, if your government is going to torture and harass the six, you will be held accountable. Message is from Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, General Counsel of Sikhs for Justice (sic)”
The Punjab Police arrested 78 people connected to Amritpal Singh and his organisation Waris Punjab De on March 18 as part of a significant operation against the pro-Khalistan propagandist and his sympathisers (WPD). But, Amritpal managed to escape, and the search for him is still ongoing. Meanwhile, eight of the detained, including Amritpal’s uncle Harjeet Singh, have been sent to the high-security Dibrugarh jail in Assam. Varinder Singh, Amritpal’s bodyguard, has been named as the most recent to be sent to Dibrugarh. The individuals arrested in the Dibrugarh jail were mentioned by the voice in the phone call that threatened the Assam CM.
Lawyer Pannun, who now resides in New York, is a native of Khankot village, which is close to Amritsar. He received a law degree from Panjab University. He was the inspiration behind the “Referendum 2020” initiative, which aimed to determine whether Punjabis in at least 20 different nations desired their own state. Several pro-Khalistani groups, including Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Tiger Force, and International Sikh Youth Federation, are all said to have been in communication with him. He has urged young people and gang members in Punjab to fight for Khalistan’s independence. He has demanded the creation of a distinct Sikh state modelled after Catalonia, Spain. In addition, he went to Spain to do research on the 2017 Catalan vote for independence.
Pannun was one of the founding members of the SFJ, a self-described “international advocacy and human rights group” with headquarters in the US. Aiming to attain “self-determination for the Sikh people in their historic homeland in the region of Indian-held Punjab and establishing a sovereign state, widely known as Khalistan,” it was founded in 2007. In 2019, the Union government banned SFJ. In Punjab, around 20 FIRs have been filed against Pannun. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a Khalistani separatist, and India requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice against him last year. However, Interpol denied the request, stating that Indian authorities had not submitted enough evidence on him.