Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Days after the US-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who leads the so-called “Sikhs For Justice” (SFJ) outfit, applauded visiting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the Indian Sikhs, a US court on Wednesday issued summons to India in a “plot to murder” the Khalistani secessionist, designated as a terrorist.
Last week, Pannun, who has been relentlessly threatening India and organizing anti-Indian protests in the West and its allied countries, welcomed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s “bold and pioneering” remarks on whether a Sikh would be allowed to wear a turban or a kada or visit a Gurdwara in India, which, he said, “justified” the demand for a separate Khalistani state.
Reacting sharply to the US court’s move, in a statement, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “As we’ve said earlier, these are completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations. Now that this particular case has been lodged, it doesn’t change our views about the underlying situation. I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known.”
“I would also underline the fact that the organization so-called that this person represents is an unlawful organization, has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and it has been done so on account of its involvement in anti-national and subversive activities aimed at disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” he added.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York named the Government of India, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and former R&AW chief Samant Goel, in the summons. Two persons, Nikhil Gupta and Vikram Yadav, who have been accused in connection with the assassination case, have also been served summons.
Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in 2023 at the ‘request’ of the US on charges of being involved in a plot to assassinate Pannun in New York. He was extradited to the US from the Czech Republic in June this year.
In April 2024, some US media reported that Vikram Yadav, an officer with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), was implicated as the one behind the so-called plot and that then R&AW chief Samant Goel approved the alleged operation.
New Delhi, however, dismissed the media report, saying it makes “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” to claim that Indian agents were involved in the alleged plot to kill Pannun.
In July 2020, New Delhi designated Pannun, born and brought up in Amritsar district in Punjab, as a wanted terrorist. Holding dual citizenship in the US and Canada now, he is a lawyer and Khalistani propagandist. His agricultural land was attached under Section 51A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
He is facing 22 criminal cases, including three of sedition, in Punjab, India. In October 2022, Interpol rejected India’s second request to issue a Red Corner Notice (RNC) on terror charges against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, on the grounds of “insufficient information.”