Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 27: “You got Hardeep Singh Nijjar murdered, You plotted to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.” Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was Monday heckled by pro-Khalistani elements with such charges during his visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York.
The Ambassador had gone to the Gurdwara to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab. According to a purported video shared on various social media accounts, a group of pro-Khalistani elements can be seen confronting Sandhu and accusing him of plotting to kill Khalistani terrorists Pannun and getting Canada-based Nijjar killed.
Soon after, Sandhu left the premises in his car while a man raised Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara. The Khalistani protesters accused him of plotting the assassination of Nijjar and also conspiring to get Pannun murdered.
A video of the exchange between Mr Sandhu and the Khalistani protesters has now gone viral. The video starts with the envoy telling the protesters that he was visiting the gurdwara for seva (service). A protester is heard shouting in Punjabi, “You are responsible for the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. You plotted to kill Pannun.”
Others in the video are seen trying to defuse the situation. The protesters follow Mr Sandhu and are heard asking, “Why don’t you answer?” “Khalistanees tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with baseless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign,” BJP’s national spokesperson RP Singh wrote in a video post on X.
Mr Singh said the protest was led by Himmat Singh. “Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanees at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused ambassador Sandhu for India’s role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum.”
Mr Sandhu later posted on X about his visit to the gurdwara but did not mention the heckling he faced. “Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak’s everlasting message of togetherness, unity, and equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all,” he wrote.
Khalistani terrorist Nijjar was shot dead by masked men at a parking lot in Canada’s British Columbia. Months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the role of Indian agents in the killing, sparking a massive diplomatic row. India has trashed the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”. In recent remarks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India is not ruling out an investigation but wants Canada to provide evidence backing its allegations.
Earlier this month, Financial Times reported that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill Pannun, leader of Khalistani organisation “Sikhs for Justice,” on American soil. Asked about the report, the White House said the US was “treating a reported plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil with utmost seriousness” and has raised the issue with the Indian government “at the senior-most levels”. White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Indian authorities had “expressed surprise and concern” in the matter and “stated that activity of this nature was not their policy.”
“We understand the Indian government is further investigating this issue and will have more to say about it in the coming days. We have conveyed our expectation that anyone deemed responsible should be held accountable,” Watson said.
This comes just two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Ottawa has evidence of “credible allegations” linking agents of Indian government to the murder of another Canadian Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June early this year.
Responding to questions, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told the media, “India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well. Issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments.”
