US authorities have uncovered plans to assassinate Sikhs for Justice chief lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and issued a warning to India over suspected involvement in the plan, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
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Founded in 2007, Sikhs for Justice is a predominantly American organization that demands the secession of parts of Punjab from India as a separate Sikh state, called Khalistan. The organization was banned by the Indian government in 2019 for promoting the secession of Punjab.
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“US authorities have uncovered a plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil and issued a warning to the Indian government due to suspicions of his involvement in the plan,” the newspaper writes.
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The publication’s sources did not specify at what stage of execution the plan was disrupted. One of them noted that the US protest was transferred to India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June.
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Pannun himself, who has American-Canadian citizenship, told the Financial Times that the threat to US citizens on American soil poses a challenge to the sovereignty of the United States.
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According to one of the publication’s sources, US federal prosecutors have filed charges against at least one alleged participant in the conspiracy in New York District Court, but one of the defendants has already left the United States. The publication emphasizes that the US Department of Justice is discussing whether the charges should be made public or wait for the results of the investigation in Canada.
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At the end of September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that police suspect Indian authorities of involvement in the murder of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nizhar in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Soon after, Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat who, according to media reports, was involved in Indian foreign intelligence. New Delhi responded with similar steps.
