TORONTO: Stating that pro-Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada, Gurpatwant Pannun, leader of radical Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), threatened Indo-Canadian Hindus and asked them to leave the country in a video which went viral on Wednesday.
The emboldened dare from Gurpatwant Pannun, legal counsel of SFJ, which is a banned terror outfit in India, comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, resulting in tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats.
“Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and Canadian constitution. Your destination is India. Leave Canada, go to India,” Pannun, who faces 22 criminal cases in Punjab, said in the 45 seconds video clip.
“Pro Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada. They have always sided with Canada and have upholded the laws and the constitution,” Pannun said.
Pannun announced in the video that another referendum to weigh support for Khalistan will be held in Canada on October 29, and it will be asking voters whether Indian high commissioner Sanjay Verma was responsible for Nijjar’s killing in June.
Responding to the threatening video, Ottawa-based researcher and commentator Rupa Subramanya wrote on X: “If a white supremacist had threatened saying all people of colour must leave Canada, imagine the uproar. Yet when a Khalistani threatens Hindus in Canada at an event in Canada, everyone bats their eyelid and looks the other way.”
On Tuesday, Pannun told Vancouver-based Global News that protests are slated to take place outside Indian consulates in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver on September 25.
“We will not allow the Indian consulates to function and we’re going to push the Canadian government to name the individuals who are responsible for assassinating and giving the orders to hit Nijjar,” Pannun told the news channel.
The SFJ has reportedly said that it will also be calling for the expulsion of High Commissioner Verma.
Pro-Khalistan leader Nijjar, who was declared a “wanted terrorist” by the Indian government, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on the premises of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, of which he was the head, in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city on June 18.
The police in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have registered separate FIRs against Pannun, a law graduate from Panjab University in Chandigarh, over threats and attempting to disturb peace, stability and communal harmony, IANS reported earlier.
Countries like Canada, the UK and the US, with a sizable Sikh diaspora, have allowed the outlawed group to conduct anti-India activities, including holding illegal referendums to building a campaign for secession of Punjab.
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