James PHEBY
Tue, November 14, 2023
Expatriate Sikhs are concerned about India's crackdown on the separatist Khalistan movement
(Oli SCARFF)
Britain's Sikh population, whose ancestors first migrated from the Punjab more than a century ago, have long been admired as a model of integration and for maintaining a strong identity.
Lauded in their country of origin and beyond for their valour, industriousness and charity, Sikhs took those values to Britain, which during the country's imperial past praised them as a martial race.
They won accolades for standing up to rioters in London in 2011, for charity work during the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently for feeding the hungry during the cost-of-living crisis.
"We don't often complain," Jas Singh, adviser to the Sikh Federation UK, which represents some 500,000 Sikhs in the UK, told AFP at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, near Birmingham in central England.
But the tight-knit community is now appealing for help to address long-term issues such as racism and a lack of representation in politics and culture.
"We still need help just like everybody else," said Kulbinder Kaur Gakhal, an education administrator at the Smethwick gurdwara, one of the oldest and largest in Europe.
"The fact that we only have two Sikh MPs. Given our numbers, we should have maybe six or seven. Across the civil service, there's very low Sikh representation -- in the police, in education," added Jas Singh.
"This is a wall of discrimination that we face," he added.
Despite official figures showing a 169 percent rise in attacks on Sikhs in 2021/22, there is no approved definition for anti-Sikh hate crimes in the UK.
- Fresh worries -
A statue outside the gurdwara paying tribute to the many Sikhs who fought with the UK in the world wars is frequently vandalised, said Gakhal.
"They have security cameras and information that's led them to know who's done it. But the authorities aren't able to pinpoint, so it's a shame," she added.
But it is an Indian crackdown on the Khalistan movement, which wants an independent Sikh state in India, and its wider global fallout that has left many in the community particularly concerned.
New Delhi has banned the movement as a security threat and taken a particular interest in those close to Amritpal Singh, a firebrand Sikh leader who was arrested in April in India after a month-long manhunt.
In February, hundreds of his supporters, some carrying swords and guns, had pushed past barricades outside a police station near Amritsar, demanding the release of an aide held inside.
Protests were held around the world over the manhunt, including in London, where Avtar Singh Khanda -- a friend of Amritpal Singh -- was accused by Indian media of pulling down an Indian flag.
The 35-year-old activist, who was never named by UK police as a suspect, died on June 15 after suddenly falling ill with blood cancer.
His funeral at the Smethwick temple, which has pro-Khalistan flags flying outside, was attended by thousands.
- Shockwaves -
The announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September that there were "credible allegations" linking India to the killing of another pro-Khalistan activist in Toronto on June 18 sent shockwaves through the Sikh diaspora.
India strenuously denies any links, but the announcement prompted Khanda's family and friends to demand a coroner's inquest into his death.
"I don't know what investigation they did, but it would have only taken a few hours," Amit Singh, a volunteer at Smethwick-based Punjab broadcaster PBC, told AFP.
"The community feels that they definitely didn't take anything seriously. Until an investigation occurs, doubt will remain," added Singh, who was with Khanda shortly before he was taken to hospital.
The High Commission of India in London did not reply to an AFP request for comment on the case.
According to Jas Singh, more broadly there was now "a high level of apprehension and fear" among Britain's Sikhs, "especially those who travel back to India".
"There is extra security at the gurdwara. It's disappointing that the police and the authorities have not reached out to the community," he added.
He believes the UK government's desire to secure a trade deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has led them to ignore the community's concerns.
"Not only do we have their silence, but we also have them going the other way with (UK Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak announcing pro-Khalistan extremism as an issue.
"Sikhs have no arrests, no pending cases, no threat or risk to British interests," he added.
jwp/phz/fg/smw
India and Canada investigating ‘threat’ to Air India flights by Sikh separatist group
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Wed, November 15, 2023
Indian and Canadian authorities were investigating alleged threats against Air India flights after a Sikh separatist leader warned against flying with the airline.
Ties between the two G20 nations plummeted to the lowest ever in September after Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of being involved in the killing of a Canadian national linked to the secessionist Khalistan movement.
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – a designated terrorist in India – kicked off a diplomatic row between the nations and triggered multiple protests by separatist Sikh groups in Canada.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Canada-based separatist leader, released a video earlier this month where he repeated multiple threats of danger to those travelling by the Indian state carrier on 19 November.
“We are asking the Sikh people to not fly via Air India on 19 November. There will be a global blockade. Do not travel by Air India or your life will be in danger,” he said.
“It is my warning to the government of India,” added Mr Singh Pannun, who is also a designated terrorist in India.
Canadian transport minister Pablo Rodriguez in a social media post said the Trudeau administration "takes any threat to aviation extremely seriously".
"We are investigating recent threats circulating online closely and with our security partners. We will do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe," he added.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was reportedly working with its domestic and international partners as part of an investigation into the “threats” against the Air India flights.
The Canadian government had previously denounced an online hate video that was widely circulated during the initial days of the spat between the two countries.
Following the threats, authorities in India beefed up security at the capital New Delhi and neighbouring Punjab airports. All Air India passengers at Delhi and Punjab airports will be put through a “secondary ladder point check”, according to an order issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The process involves an extra round of frisking of passengers and checking their bags at the aerobridge as they enter the aircraft.
Additionally, a pre-existing security alert issued for the festive season in October for all civil aviation installations has been extended till 30 November.
New Delhi said it would take up the threat against Air India flights originating from and terminating in Canada with concerned Canadian authorities.
However, Mr Singh Pannun told The Guardian that the video "clearly states I’m asking the global Sikh community to boycott Air India and instead Sikhs should fly Air Canada and British Airways".
"Where is the threat? There is none."
In 1985 an Air India flight was bombed in a terrorist attack orchestrated by Khalistan leaders. The Air India flight 182 from Montreal exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 people on board.
"RCMP have every right to investigate a terror threat. And if they consider calls for boycott an act of civil disobedience, if that is terror, then so be it, let them investigate,” Mr Singh Pannun said.
“We are simply asking Sikhs not to make the decision to direct their money towards countries like India.”
Britain's Sikh population, whose ancestors first migrated from the Punjab more than a century ago, have long been admired as a model of integration and for maintaining a strong identity.
Lauded in their country of origin and beyond for their valour, industriousness and charity, Sikhs took those values to Britain, which during the country's imperial past praised them as a martial race.
They won accolades for standing up to rioters in London in 2011, for charity work during the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently for feeding the hungry during the cost-of-living crisis.
"We don't often complain," Jas Singh, adviser to the Sikh Federation UK, which represents some 500,000 Sikhs in the UK, told AFP at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, near Birmingham in central England.
But the tight-knit community is now appealing for help to address long-term issues such as racism and a lack of representation in politics and culture.
"We still need help just like everybody else," said Kulbinder Kaur Gakhal, an education administrator at the Smethwick gurdwara, one of the oldest and largest in Europe.
"The fact that we only have two Sikh MPs. Given our numbers, we should have maybe six or seven. Across the civil service, there's very low Sikh representation -- in the police, in education," added Jas Singh.
"This is a wall of discrimination that we face," he added.
Despite official figures showing a 169 percent rise in attacks on Sikhs in 2021/22, there is no approved definition for anti-Sikh hate crimes in the UK.
- Fresh worries -
A statue outside the gurdwara paying tribute to the many Sikhs who fought with the UK in the world wars is frequently vandalised, said Gakhal.
"They have security cameras and information that's led them to know who's done it. But the authorities aren't able to pinpoint, so it's a shame," she added.
But it is an Indian crackdown on the Khalistan movement, which wants an independent Sikh state in India, and its wider global fallout that has left many in the community particularly concerned.
New Delhi has banned the movement as a security threat and taken a particular interest in those close to Amritpal Singh, a firebrand Sikh leader who was arrested in April in India after a month-long manhunt.
In February, hundreds of his supporters, some carrying swords and guns, had pushed past barricades outside a police station near Amritsar, demanding the release of an aide held inside.
Protests were held around the world over the manhunt, including in London, where Avtar Singh Khanda -- a friend of Amritpal Singh -- was accused by Indian media of pulling down an Indian flag.
The 35-year-old activist, who was never named by UK police as a suspect, died on June 15 after suddenly falling ill with blood cancer.
His funeral at the Smethwick temple, which has pro-Khalistan flags flying outside, was attended by thousands.
- Shockwaves -
The announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September that there were "credible allegations" linking India to the killing of another pro-Khalistan activist in Toronto on June 18 sent shockwaves through the Sikh diaspora.
India strenuously denies any links, but the announcement prompted Khanda's family and friends to demand a coroner's inquest into his death.
"I don't know what investigation they did, but it would have only taken a few hours," Amit Singh, a volunteer at Smethwick-based Punjab broadcaster PBC, told AFP.
"The community feels that they definitely didn't take anything seriously. Until an investigation occurs, doubt will remain," added Singh, who was with Khanda shortly before he was taken to hospital.
The High Commission of India in London did not reply to an AFP request for comment on the case.
According to Jas Singh, more broadly there was now "a high level of apprehension and fear" among Britain's Sikhs, "especially those who travel back to India".
"There is extra security at the gurdwara. It's disappointing that the police and the authorities have not reached out to the community," he added.
He believes the UK government's desire to secure a trade deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has led them to ignore the community's concerns.
"Not only do we have their silence, but we also have them going the other way with (UK Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak announcing pro-Khalistan extremism as an issue.
"Sikhs have no arrests, no pending cases, no threat or risk to British interests," he added.
jwp/phz/fg/smw
India and Canada investigating ‘threat’ to Air India flights by Sikh separatist group
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Wed, November 15, 2023
Indian and Canadian authorities were investigating alleged threats against Air India flights after a Sikh separatist leader warned against flying with the airline.
Ties between the two G20 nations plummeted to the lowest ever in September after Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of being involved in the killing of a Canadian national linked to the secessionist Khalistan movement.
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – a designated terrorist in India – kicked off a diplomatic row between the nations and triggered multiple protests by separatist Sikh groups in Canada.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Canada-based separatist leader, released a video earlier this month where he repeated multiple threats of danger to those travelling by the Indian state carrier on 19 November.
“We are asking the Sikh people to not fly via Air India on 19 November. There will be a global blockade. Do not travel by Air India or your life will be in danger,” he said.
“It is my warning to the government of India,” added Mr Singh Pannun, who is also a designated terrorist in India.
Canadian transport minister Pablo Rodriguez in a social media post said the Trudeau administration "takes any threat to aviation extremely seriously".
"We are investigating recent threats circulating online closely and with our security partners. We will do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe," he added.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was reportedly working with its domestic and international partners as part of an investigation into the “threats” against the Air India flights.
The Canadian government had previously denounced an online hate video that was widely circulated during the initial days of the spat between the two countries.
Following the threats, authorities in India beefed up security at the capital New Delhi and neighbouring Punjab airports. All Air India passengers at Delhi and Punjab airports will be put through a “secondary ladder point check”, according to an order issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The process involves an extra round of frisking of passengers and checking their bags at the aerobridge as they enter the aircraft.
Additionally, a pre-existing security alert issued for the festive season in October for all civil aviation installations has been extended till 30 November.
New Delhi said it would take up the threat against Air India flights originating from and terminating in Canada with concerned Canadian authorities.
However, Mr Singh Pannun told The Guardian that the video "clearly states I’m asking the global Sikh community to boycott Air India and instead Sikhs should fly Air Canada and British Airways".
"Where is the threat? There is none."
In 1985 an Air India flight was bombed in a terrorist attack orchestrated by Khalistan leaders. The Air India flight 182 from Montreal exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 people on board.
"RCMP have every right to investigate a terror threat. And if they consider calls for boycott an act of civil disobedience, if that is terror, then so be it, let them investigate,” Mr Singh Pannun said.
“We are simply asking Sikhs not to make the decision to direct their money towards countries like India.”
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