In recent weeks, many of you might have received calls from unknown numbers from places like Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia. Once you receive the call, you get a recorded message from someone claiming to be from an organization Sikhs for Justice, and calling for referendum for Khalistan, for which ardaas (prayer) should be performed in gurudwaras on July 19.
Thousands of people have got such calls in recent weeks and FIRs have been filed in Haryana and Punjab. In Kurukshetra, Haryana, a gurudwara had to call a meeting asking people not to respond to such messages meant to foment violence and separatism in Punjab.
Let me tell you the story behind this. A separatist organization based in the US, Sikhs for Justice, has given a call for ‘referendum’ on Khalistan for which it has asked all Sikhs to go to Gurudwara Sisganj and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi for ‘ardaas’ (prayers) on July 19. The call has been given by a separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who works as legal counsel for this outfit. He has already been declared a terrorist by the Indian government.
On Thursday, Manjit Singh GK of Jaago Party led a demonstration outside Pakistan High Commission in Delhi alleging that Pakistani spy agency ISI was behind this conspiracy to rake up the Khalistan issue. Police stopped the demonstrators near Chanakyapuri police station.
Pakistan has been helping Pannu and another Khalistani separatist Gopal Chawla to raise the Khalistan issue. Gopal Chawla is a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiyaba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. In a video, Gopal Chawla has supported the call for referendum on Khalistan and has threatened to eliminate all those who are opposed to his idea.
Sikhs for Justice outfit, led by Pannu, follows the game plan set by its political masters in the ISI. The Home Ministry, on Thursday, revealed that it has blocked nearly 40 websites promoting Sikh separatism. Official sources said that it was difficult to keep a watch on recorded messages being sent from unknown numbers from different places, though the US authorities have been told about this.
It is a known fact that Khalistani separatists like Pannu and Gopal Chawla not only send provocative messages, but also send terrorists and weapons from across the border with direct help from Pakistan’s ISI. They are part of a greater insidious plan to create mayhem in Punjab. Both the Punjab Police and the Centre are on high alert to foil the machinations of these terrorists.
Intelligence agencies in India are also trying to identify people who are providing covert support to these separatists. The most satisfactory thing is that the Sikh community in India has openly snubbed these Khalistani separatists. One has to be on constant vigil against the machinations of these terrorists.
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