Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the US on a three-day official visit, the White House met a group of Sikhs supporting the Khalistan movement. The White House assured them of “protection from any international aggression on their soil”.
The White House said it is committed to protecting American citizens from any harm while they are within the borders of the United States.
The development comes amid concerns that Canada and the US are harbouring Khalistani separatists.
Groups associated with the Khalistan separatist movement are banned in India and several of these organisations have carried out terrorist activities in the past few decades.
While the US has not made any official comment on “harboring” such elements, Canada has called it its “freedom of expression”.
In response, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said, “India respects and practises freedom of expression, but freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to support separatism. It does not mean the freedom to threaten foreign diplomats or give political space to elements advocating violence.”
He had said, “In any rule-based society, you would think you would check people’s backgrounds, how they came, what passport they had, etc.”
Jaishankar had said, “If you have people whose presence itself is recorded on very questionable documents, what does that say about you? It actually says that your vote bank is actually more powerful than your rule of law.”
White House meeting
The meeting at the White House took place hours before Prime Minister Modi arrived in the US to attend the Quad summit in Delaware and address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The meeting was held at the official White House complex and was attended by Preetpal Singh of the American Sikh Caucus Committee and representatives from the Sikh Coalition and the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF).
“Yesterday we had the opportunity to thank senior federal government officials for saving the lives of Sikh Americans and for being vigilant in protecting our community. We asked them to do more, and we take their assurances that they will do so,” Preetpal Singh, founder of the American Sikh Caucus Committee, told the Press Trust of India.
In a social media post on X, Pritpal Singh thanked US authorities for their vigilance in protecting Sikh Americans.”
“We will hold on to his assurances to do more to protect our community. Freedom and justice must prevail,” he said.
This is the first time that the US National Security Council has held a meeting with Sikh separatists. No other details of the meeting are available yet.
The surprising thing is that this meeting was initiated by the White House.
America brought a new bill
Earlier this week, US Congressman Adam Schiff introduced the ‘International Repression Reporting Act of 2024’, which requires the Attorney General, in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, to report cases of international repression against people in the United States.
“Through this bill, Congress sends a strong message to both allies and adversaries that violations of Americans’ constitutional rights will not be tolerated,” said SALDEF, a Sikh group that openly supports Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and blames India for his killing.
Case against India and NSA Ajit Doval
This week, Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who has taken refuge in the US, also filed a civil suit against the Indian government and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, following which the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued summons in the case.
The summons name the Indian government, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, former RAW chief Samant Goel, RAW agent Vikram Yadav and an Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who is accused in an indictment unsealed in November 2023 by federal prosecutors of allegedly “working with an Indian government employee” in a foiled plot to assassinate terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.
The summons demands a reply within 21 days.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called it a “totally unjustified case”, adding that “I would like to draw your attention to the person who has filed this case”. He added that Pannu’s “past history is well known” and that he is associated with an illegal organisation.
Pannu heads the radical Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and is known for making inflammatory speeches and threats against Indian leaders and institutions. New Delhi had declared him a terrorist in 2020.
US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has told NDTV that the matter will have no impact on India-US relations.
Who is Gurpatwant Singh Pannu?
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu is a declared Khalistani terrorist. He was born and brought up in Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar.
Pannu has claimed responsibility for several terrorist incidents in India. In April 2023, in a video shared on social media, he openly threatened to harm Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Assam.
He founded the Khalistani separatist group SFJ in 2007. India banned the SFJ in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA for its anti-India activities. Pannu was declared a terrorist in 2020.
Pannun holds dual citizenship of the United States as well as Canada and is currently in the US. His banned separatist organisation operates from New York.