On the eve of World Human Rights Day, Dal Khalsa will hold a protest demonstration in Bhatinda in the wake of the recent US indictment implicating Indian agents in a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a pro-Sikh freedom activist of the Sikhs For Justice group. Dal Khalsa asserts that this case exemplifies India’s longstanding and covert strategy of targeting prominent Sikhs abroad, a claim consistently denied by the Indian government. WSN reports.

The US indictment, along with previous statements from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau regarding the assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Hard­eep Singh Nijjar, has intensified concerns within the Sikh diaspora about India’s transnational operations. Dal Khalsa criticized Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on these issues, including recent events in Manipur and the alleged targeting of other Sikh individuals.

Dal Khalsa’s planned protest aims to draw attention not only to these extrajudicial incidents but also to broader issues of human rights abuses and state-sponsored violence against Sikhs, Kashmiris, and Manipuris in India.

India’s response today is no different from its earlier stand of being in denial mode and taking the moral upper ground that “it is not our policy”. Sikhs in Punjab and the world know that India has been using this strategy shamelessly for decades and it is only now that they have been thoroughly exposed.

Dal Khalsa had earlier appreciated the stand of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and has now expressed deep satisfaction at the expose by the  US Justice Department.

“Notwithstanding our disagreement with the perceptions and approach of SFJ leader Pannun, we will not tolerate India’s role to physically harm any Sikh based on his or her ideology,” read the Dal Khalsa statement.

Dal Khalsa has stated, “As has been mentioned in the 15-page well-documented US indictment, there seems to be a hit list on which the Indian government is working. This is true because they first killed prominent Sikh militant Paramjit Singh Panjwar in Pakistan, then Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, and now the US has unearthed the plot to kill Pannun.”

“Notwithstanding our disagreement with the perceptions and approach of SFJ leader Pannun, we will not tolerate India’s role to physically harm any Sikh based on his or her ideology.”

“While we keep our fingers crossed, the Sikh Diaspora lives through a live fear as to who is India’s next target,” said Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh, while speaking to this correspondent.

“We sense the grave need for continued vigilance and resistance against an ongoing assault on the Sikh community’s collective pride and rights,” says party leader and general secretary Paramjit Singh Mand.

“We sense the grave need for continued vigilance and resistance against an ongoing assault on the Sikh community’s collective pride and rights.”

Paramjit Singh Mand, General Secretary, Dal Khalsa

“Given a growing concern amongst Sikhs worldwide over their safety and protection of their rights, we seek more support and exposure against India’s aggression and call upon international governments, particularly the Five Eye countries, to monitor India’s activities more closely,” he added.