Khalistan: American-Canadian “asset” Pannun threatens Air India travelers again
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: America’s Khalistani “asset” against India, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has repeated his last year’s threat, warning passengers not to fly Air India next month.
“Don’t fly Air India from November 1 to 19,” he warned of attacks on the airliner, citing the 40th anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots in the country in 1984 following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security personnel.
On Monday, the Khalistani terrorist warned passengers not to fly from November 1 to 19, asserting Air India flights could be attacked, coinciding with the “40th anniversary of the Sikh genocide.”.
The founder of a Khalistani outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), who holds dual citizenship and is government-protected in Canada and the US, issued a similar threat around the same time last year.
Pannun’s fresh threat comes amid airlines in India receiving multiple threat calls about potential bombings, all of which turned out to be hoaxes.
It also occurred at a time when India and Canada are engaged in a murky diplomatic row following Ottawa’s allegations of New Delhi targeting Khalistani elements in that country, including the murder of another terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June 2023.
In November 2023, Pannun released a video claiming that New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport would be renamed and would remain closed on November 19, warning people against flying on Air India that day. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged him with criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, and various offenses under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In December 2023 also, he threatened to attack Parliament on or before December 13, following reports of an alleged foiled plot to kill him. December 13 marks the anniversary of the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack on Parliament in 2001.
He also threatened to kill Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Director-General of Police Gaurav Yadav on Republic Day this year and urged gangsters to unite and launch an attack on Mann on January 26.
Pannun was designated a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs in July 2020 on charges of sedition and secessionism. In 2019, India banned SFJ as an “unlawful association” for engaging in “anti-national and subversive” activities.
In a related development on October 17, the Khalistan-friendly United States charged a former officer of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder Pannun, a charge New Delhi has rejected as baseless allegations.
