Chandigarh: A day after Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun appeared to issue a death threat against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, the state BJP has urged the Ministry of External Affairs to urgently take up the matter with the US.
In a video released Tuesday, Pannun compared Mann to former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in a bomb blast on 31 August 1995 by Sikh terrorists, and asked gangsters to come together to “prevent Mann from hoisting the Tricolour on Republic Day”.
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, in a post on social media portal X Wednesday, asked Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to contact the US administration to ensure that they act against Pannun — a dual Canadian-American citizen — in light of the threats .
MEA Shri Jaishankar must tell the US administration to act fast
against the likes of Pannu for blatantly issuing threats to Chief Minister and DGP of Punjab.
At a time when US and the ‘Five Eyes’ are accusing others of using “unconstitutional” measures against terrorists…— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) January 16, 2024
While the Punjab Police has enhanced the chief minister’s security, Mann told a news channel Tuesday that he did not take such threats seriously.
The latest threat from Pannun comes at a time when the US is investigating an alleged plot to kill him. The indictment filed in the matter in a US court has alleged the involvement of an unnamed “Indian government employee”.
Pannun, who has been designated a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), routinely issues threats with respect to India and its leaders.
In another video released Tuesday, Pannun said his organisation — the banned ‘Sikhs for Justice’ — would raise the Khalistani flag on India’s Republic Day .
He also “dared” PM Narendra Modi to come to Delhi without security on Republic Day, and said the act of raising the Khalistan flag will be meant to “avenge” the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force in Canada last year.
The killing, carried out by unnamed assailants, stoked a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Delhi over Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s claim that they were looking into “credible allegations” of a potential link between the murder and Indian government agents. India has denied the allegations.
Also Read: First ‘Pannun plot’ indictment filed by US only mentioned Nikhil Gupta, not ‘Indian govt employee’
Series of threats
Earlier this month, Pannun declared a “Khalistan Mission 2024” to destroy “Nazi India economically”, including by targeting the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 12 March 2024, the anniversary of the 1993 blasts in the city.
A few days later, he asked Indian Muslims to oppose the “Ram Mandir ceremony”, adding that 22 January — the day of the event — was an “Operation Blue Star against Muslims”.
On 12 January, Pannun hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron for “assisting and aiding ‘Hitler Modi’ who is using transnational terrorism to stop and suppress the freedom of speech and expression of pro-Khalistan Sikhs”.
“People of Delhi, SFJ have nothing against you. The fight and the war is between pro-Khalistan Sikhs and Modi regime, and, yes, we challenge the territorial integrity of India,” he said.
Last month, Pannun released a video threatening to “shake the very foundation of Parliament” on 13 December, the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack. In November, he issued threats against Air India.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: India sets up high-level panel on Pannun ‘assassination’ attempt, says ‘will take necessary action’