This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(June 2023) |
Abbreviation | SFJ |
---|---|
Formation | October 2007 |
Founder | Gurpatwant Singh Pannun |
Founded at | United States |
Type | NGO |
Legal status | Banned in India |
Purpose | Secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan |
Headquarters | New York, United States |
Official languages | Punjabi, English |
Legal advisor | Gurpatwant Singh Pannun |
International policy director | Jatinder Singh Grewal |
Website | sikhsforjustice |
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a US-based secessionist group that supports the formation of Khalistan. Founded and primarily headed by lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in 2009, the organization was created in response to the lack of litigation to convict the murders and massacres of Sikhs after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. [1]
Sikhs For Justice was banned in India in 2019 as an unlawful association. It held an unsanctioned referendum for creation of Khalistan in October 2021. [2] [3]
In 2011, Sikhs For Justice moved to the US court Kamal Nath and a few other leaders of Indian National Congress for their alleged role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, [4] [5] however, the court dismissed the case, saying that the case does not sufficiently "touch and concern" the US. [6] In September 2013, the group filed an amended class action complaint against Sonia Gandhi for protecting members of her party who were involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, but in June 2014, the case was dismissed due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. [7] SFJ were going to subpoena Rahul Gandhi as he stated 'some Congressmen were probably involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots and they have been punished for it. [8]
In February 2014, the group filed human rights violation case against then 13th Indian prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (a Sikh himself) for his role as finance minister of India in 1990s accusing him of "funding crimes against humanity perpetrated upon the Sikh community in India". [9] They also submitted a report to United Nations Commission on Human Rights on 1984 anti-Sikh riots. [10]
SFJ started organizing the Referendum 2020 campaign, calling for a referendum on whether Punjab should secede from India. The first phase of the unofficial and non-binding referendum started in London on 31 October 2021. [3] [11] Gurpatwant Singh Pannun announced in November 2018 that the SFJ will establish a permanent office in Lahore for facilitating the registration of voters and giving information to Sikhs about it. He also stated that banners regarding the referendum and images of a militant, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had been posted around Nankana Sahib. [12] The group also has at times expressed support for a greater Khalistan with its headquarters at Punjab province of Pakistan and has invited non-Sikhs to register for voting. [13]
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA of Punjab Legislative Assembly and the Leader of Opposition at the time, said, "Sikh Referendum 2020 was a result of consistent policy of bias, discrimination and persecution towards the Sikhs by successive governments in India", though he clarified that he did not support the referendum. Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh rebuked him. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bhartiya Janata Party also criticized Khaira for his statement, with former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal asking the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to act against the Punjab LoP. [14] The Sikh delegation in the United States of America also met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit in September 2019, to highlight their support of India as one country. [15]
On October 31, 2021, it held the first round of its referendum in London for those of Indian Sikh ethnicity above the age of 18, and announced plans to expand the voting to other cities of the United Kingdom. [16] However, only 2,000 people were reported to have taken part. [17] In Switzerland, the referendum was held in Geneva on December 10, 2021, with over 6,000 Sikhs reported to have taken part. [18] In 2022, it held a referendum in Italy, with the first phase taking place in Brescia sometime in May, and the second phase in Rome in July. Over 57,000 Sikhs were reported to have taken part. [19]
On June 10, 2022, the group released a map for the proposed territory of Khalistan before the press in Lahore. Along with the Indian Punjab, it also included Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Pannun stated that Shimla would be the capital of the proposed nation, and requested the Government of Pakistan for assistance in its creation. [20]
The referendum held in Canada started on September 19, 2022, with the first phase being held in Brampton. [21] The second phase was held in Mississauga in November. [22] Around 185,000 Sikhs were reported to have participated in both phases. [23]
In Australia, it was held in Canberra in January 29, 2023. The vote led to clashes between pro-Khalistani and pro-Indian groups. [24] On 10 September 2023, another round of referendum was held at Surrey, British Columbia, [25] followed by another on 29 October 2023 in Surrey. [26]
On 28 January 2024, about 127,000 people participated in the referendum held at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, California. [27] On 31 March 2024, the second phase of thereferendum was held in Sacramento, California where around 61,000 people participated. [28]
Kartarpur Corridor is a religious corridor, backed by the Indian and Pakistani governments, that allows Indian Sikhs to visit holy sites in Pakistan without getting a visa. SFJ members have used the corridor to promote Referendum 2020, with pilgrims traveling across it having been urged to attend workshops and seminars on the Pakistani side. [29] [30] [31] [32] This, alongside alleged terrorist camps built in the region, resulted in increased security surrounding the corridor. [33]
On 18 September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian Intelligence agencies were "pursuing credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Following this, a video began circulating on social media in which Pannun warned Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave Canada and "go to India", further alleging that they were disloyal to Canada. Numerous Canadian politicians, including federal party leaders Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh, along with ministers in the federal cabinet, denounced the video. Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc described the video as "offensive and hateful". [34] [35] [36] [37]
As of July 2019, [update] there were 12 criminal cases that were being pursued by Indian agencies namely National Investigation Agency (NIA), Punjab Police and Uttarakhand Police who have also arrested 39 people associated with the SFJ in India. [38] According to the former Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, SFJ "had unleashed a wave of terror in Punjab in recent years" and deserved to be called a terrorist organisation. [38]
A member of the group was arrested in Malaysia in September 2019 among others for allegedly planning to attack leaders of local parties. [39] A member of the Khalistan Zindabad Force, detained that same month for a bombing in Tarn Taran, claimed that the group had ordered him to kill dera leaders. [40]
SFJ activist Jaswinder Singh Multani was detained and questioned in Germany in December 2021 for his alleged role in the bombing of a court in Ludhiana. [41] In January 2022, the NIA registered a case against him and announced a ₹10,00,000 reward for information leading to his capture. [42] A purported audio message of Pannun claiming responsibility for the 2022 Mohali blast was released after the attack. [43]
According to audio recordings of Pannun obtained by the Punjab Police from two SFJ members in July 2022, the group tried to arrange shelter for killers of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, planned to target Ambala Cantonment Junction railway station and Ambala City railway station, and disrupt Independence Day celebrations in Delhi and Punjab. [44] Pannun has been booked in 22 cases in Punjab from 2017 to 2022. India requested Interpol to issue a red notice against him in October 2022, but it was rejected. [45]
Purported audio from the group was released in December 2022 of them claiming responsibility for the recent attack on a Tarn Taran police station. [46] Pannun however later stated that the organisation only engaged in a peaceful struggle and would provide legal aid to the suspects who he said were falsely accused. [47]
On December 13 2023, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, responding to alleged attempts to kill him, Pannun released a video threatening to attack the Parliament of India. The video also contained the photo of executed Islamist mastermind of the 2001 attack, Afzal Guru. [48]
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi V. K. Saxena in May 2024 recommended a NIA probe against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over allegations of receiving US$16 million funding from Sikh separatist groups for attempting to facilitate the release of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and espousing pro-Khalistan sentiments, based on a complaint using a video released by Pannun claiming that the AAP had received the money from 2014 to 2022 as evidence. [49]
Access to the group's Facebook page was blocked in India by Facebook in 2015. [50]
SFJ was banned on 10 July 2019 for five years by the Government of India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for its alleged anti-India activities. [51] An app created by SFJ for people to register for 'Referendum 2020' was reported and removed from the Google Play Store in November 2019. [52] [53] The ban was extended for five more years in July 2024. [54]
In January 2020, the UAPA tribunal chaired by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.N. Patel sustained the decision of the ban on the group. Citing the evidence presented, the committee said that since the activities of the group were "unlawful", "disruptive" and "threaten the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India" and SFJ was "working in collusion with anti-India entities and forces", therefore: "[T]he Central Government had sufficient cause to take action under UAPA for declaring Sikhs For Justice as an unlawful association." [55]
On July 1, 2020, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was declared as an "individual terrorist" under the UAPA for promoting secessionism and allegedly encouraging Punjabi Sikh youth to take up arms. [56] On July 5, 2020, the central government, via an order of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs, banned 40 websites belonging to the group. [57] [58]
Sikhs are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya, meaning 'seeker', 'disciple' or 'student'.
The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups; some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.
Babbar Khalsa also known as Babbar Khalsa International, better known as Babbar Khalsa, is a Khalistani militant organisation that aims to create an independent Sikh nation‐state of Khalistan in the Indian and Pakistani states of Punjab. It has used armed attacks, assassinations and bombings in aid of that goal, and is deemed to be a terrorist entity by various governments. Besides India, it operates in North America and Europe, including Scandinavia.
Talwinder Singh Parmar was a Sikh militant and the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, which killed 329 people. It was the worst single incident of aviation terrorism in history until the September 11 attacks in the United States. In addition, another bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301 in Japan the same day, but it exploded while the plane was still grounded, killing two people. Parmar was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.
Dal Khalsa is a radical Sikh organisation, based in the city of Amritsar. The outfit was formed in 1978 by Gajinder Singh, the hijacker of Indian Airlines Flight 423. It came to prominence during Insurgency in Punjab along with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1981. Members of the Dal Khalsa have also been accused of the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain. The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to form a Punjabi Sikh nation state called Khalistan.
The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a Sikh Khalistani militant organisation operating in the state of Punjab, India with prominent members based in Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of Khalistan through armed struggle. KCF is also responsible for many assassinations in India, including the 1995 assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. It is designated as a Terrorist Organisation by the Government of India.
The Insurgency in Punjab was an armed campaign by the militants of the Khalistan movement from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution prompted calls for Sikh autonomy and separatism. This movement was initially peaceful, but foreign involvement and political pressures drove a heavy handed response from Indian authorities. The demand for a separate Sikh state gained momentum after the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star in 1984 aimed to flush out militants residing in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a holy site for Sikhs. Terrorism, police brutality and corruption of the authorities greatly exacerbated a tense situation. By the mid-1980s, the movement had evolved into a militant secessionist crisis due to the perceived indifference of the Indian state in regards to mutual negotiations. Eventually, more effective police and military operations, combined with a policy of rapprochement by the Indian government and the election loss of separatist sympathizers in the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, largely quelled the rebellion by the mid-1990s.
Simranjit Singh Mann is a former Indian Police Service officer and a former Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, representing the constituency of Sangrur since 2022. He lost elections in 2024 and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer became new member of parliament. He is the president of the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann has served three-times as an MP; once from Taran Tarn between 1989 and 1991, and twice from Sangrur between 1999-2004 and since 2022. He is a known Andhabhabasya and his party is known for their pro-Khalistan stances.
The Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) is a militant group and is part of the Khalistan movement to create a separate country Sikh homeland called Khalistan by carving Punjab and some parts of neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh out of Indian union.
The Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is a Khalistani militant organisation operating in the Punjab with prominent members based in Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a sovereign Sikh nation‐state of Khalistan through armed struggle. It is responsible for numerous assassinations, abductions, and military engagements with the Indian Armed Forces during the Insurgency in Punjab. The KLF is also listed as a designated terrorist group by India.
The Sikh diaspora is the modern Sikh migration from the traditional area of the Punjab region of South Asia. Sikhism is a religion native to this region. The Sikh diaspora is largely a subset of the Punjabi diaspora.
The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) is a proscribed organisation that aims to establish an independent homeland for the Sikhs called Khalistan. It is banned as a terrorist organisation under Australian, Japanese, Indian, Canadian and American counter-terrorism legislation. The Government of India has declared it a terrorist organisation. While banned, the organization continues to receive financial support from many Sikh people based in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Canada–India relations also referred to as Indo-Canadian relations, are the bilateral relations between Canada and India. Canada and India have had longstanding bilateral relations. India has become one of the top source countries for immigration to Canada with Indian diaspora increasing to over one million as of 2022. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data, of the more than 800,000 international students in Canada in 2022, 40 percent were from India, constituting the largest international student group in Canada. Bilateral trade between India and Canada has seen significant growth in recent years, reaching $8.16 billion in 2023. Both Canada and India are member nations of the Commonwealth association, and also part of G20, a group of world's largest economies.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 nationwide, whilst other sources estimate the number of deaths at about 8,000–17,000.
The 2022 Mohali blast was a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the intelligence wing headquarters of the Punjab Police situated in Mohali, Punjab, India. The attack was committed on 10 May 2022. Banned terrorist outfit Sikhs for Justice took responsibility for the attack.
Amritpal Singh Sandhu is a radical Indian pro-Khalistan separatist, a self-styled Sikh preacher and politician. He is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha representing the constituency of Khadoor Sahib since 2024.
The Khalistan Referendum is an unofficial non binding referendum organized by the Sikhs for Justice across multiple countries regarding the potential creation of a separate Sikh state from within the territory of India. The proposed state will include Indian Punjab, as well as Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and several districts of Uttarakhnad, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Its goal is to seek a consensus among diasporic Sikhs for the creation of a nation-state to be called Khalistan.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is one of the main leaders of the Khalistan movement, which advocates for a religion-based separate state to be split out from Punjab and many neighbouring areas in India, to be known as Khalistan. He is the legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which aims to promote the idea of a separate Sikh state. As of July 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India has declared Pannun a terrorist on the grounds of sedition and secessionism, and has requested an Interpol red notice for him.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Canadian Sikh involved with the Khalistan movement, which calls for an independent Sikh state.
Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) is a militant outfit of the Khalistan movement. In February 2023, it was designated as a terrorist organization by the Government of India.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistan organisation banned in India in 2019, has threatened Hindus of Indian origin and asked them to leave Canada for supporting the country of their origin and "promoting violence" by celebrating Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Nijjar's lawyer, questioned Indian Canadians' loyalty to Canada in a video that has gone viral on social media. "Indo-Hindu leave Canada; go to India. You not only support India, but you are also supporting the suppression of speech and expression of pro-Khalistan Sikhs," he says in the video.