India Alleges Rogue Sikh Agent

On 20 Mar Bloomberg reported India’s investigation into US claims of attempted murder of Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York in June 2023. India says rogue operatives not authorized by the govt. were involved. Since the trial begun by the US on 29 Nov 2023 is still on in a New York court, the operative cannot be named (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 12, Story 1). He is still employed by the Indian Research and Analysis Wing and the Indian govt. has not pursued criminal action against him. New Delhi has informed US authorities about the findings from the govt.-appointed panel set up to probe the allegations. US prosecutors alleged the Indian govt. agent — a ‘senior field officer’ in security management and intelligence — instructed Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national with ties to criminal networks, to organize the assassination. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and is awaiting extradition to the US. The revelation poses more questions than it answers. First, is India admitting its top intelligence agency has one or more rogue agents? This is a serious security breach. Second, if such an agent has been identified, why has the Indian govt. not taken action? On the other hand, if India is dodging US prosecutors’ queries by blaming an unnamed rogue operative, then it is a serious breach in international relations and transparency among governments. India has not made public any details of the high-level committee set up to investigate the US allegations.

Since 20 Mar, as many as 20 people aged 25-70 have died from consuming spurious liquor, also known as hooch, in Panjab’s Sangrur district. Gujjran village in Dirba constituency, one of the hotspots of spurious liquor deaths, is represented by senior AAP leader and state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Later deaths were reported from the block’s Tibbi Ravidaspura and Dhandoli Khurd villages. Initially, AAP leader Aman Arora said, ‘The government is not responsible because those who died did not buy liquor from government outlets.’ Opposition SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said, ‘AAP legislators are sheltering drug traffickers and even taking monthlies from them. The latest hooch tragedy reveals how deep the rot has set in.’ As the toll has increased, the state govt. announced a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an Additional Director General of Police to probe the case. On 25 Mar, CM Bhagwant Mann visited the affected. The SIT preliminary investigations found Methanol, a fatal chemical used in industrial products, in the liquor. On 25 Mar, Panjab police recovered 32K liters of raw material used to prepare illicit liquor from several villages on the banks of river Satluj in Ferozepur district. The Sangrur hooch tragedy is the worst hooch tragedy in Panjab since 2020 when 112 people died upon consuming poisonous liquor. Then in the opposition, the AAP repeatedly claimed it would eradicate the hooch mafia if given a chance to rule the state.

Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and CM of Delhi, was detained on 21 Mar by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) — India's financial crimes agency. Kejriwal had earlier skipped nine ED summons and was detained from his home. Kejriwal has denied any wrongdoing and opposition leaders say his arrest is politically motivated. The nationally ruling BJP has denied the allegation. Kejriwal's arrest by a financial crimes agency comes as a blow to the opposition just weeks before India's general elections. AAP is part of the 27-party INDIA alliance aiming to challenge the BJP. AAP leader and Delhi finance minister Atishi said, ‘This is a way to steal elections. Kejriwal has been arrested to stop him from campaigning in the general elections.’ Kejriwal was produced in a Delhi trial court and remanded in custody until 28 Mar. In November 2021, the Delhi government introduced a new excise policy. In July 2022, Delhi's Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar reported violations in the policy to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena who recommended a probe. The ED alleged that the ‘scam’ involved giving wholesale liquor businesses to private entities with a fixed margin of 12%, for a 6% kickback, and caused loss of $70M to the state treasury. This is the same case under which earlier Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha (Upper House) member Sanjay Singh had been arrested. The recent Electoral Bonds revelations point towards a businessman Sarat Chandra Reddy, director of Aurobindo Pharma, who was probed by ED, donated $7M to BJP, and has turned approver in the case. On 20 Mar, the union government froze the INC accounts. Now AAP claims its main office is sealed. This does not bode well for democracy.

Gurpreet Singh, a 26-year-old pro-Khalistan Sikh activist who pleaded guilty to causing injury to two Indian-origin men and a female police officer at an Indian Independence Day related community event in Southall in 2023, has been sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment. Gurpreet appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on 20 Mar after pleading guilty in January to the unlawful wounding of victims Aashish Sharma and Nanak Singh and causing actual bodily harm to police constable Justine Nicolle Farrell. Gurpreet caused the injuries with his kirpan (traditional sword) and used it as a ‘weapon of offense.’ ‘I recognise the enormous concern this incident will have caused, both in Southall and in the Sikh communities…We are aware of footage circulating on social media, with people also commenting on what they think happened. We would urge people to avoid echoing or adding to speculation,’ said Metropolitan Police Superintendent Sean Lynch. Gurpreet could face deportation to India at the end of his sentence. Meanwhile, in Australia, Samar Kohli — a Sikh activist in western Sydney involved in the Khalistan Referendum — told the Foreign Correspondent that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was in touch with him weeks before and after Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in Canada. This is when there were allegations of Hindu temples being vandalized by Sikhs which later the Australian authorities refuted, suggesting closure of cases. ASIO agents have been monitoring the safety of Australian Sikh activists. ASIO has not responded to the ABC's questions, saying ‘consistent with long-standing practice, ASIO does not comment on individuals, operations, and investigations.’

On 17 Mar, Sikh groups gathered at Heritage Street in Amritsar to demand transfer of Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh and his nine associates to a Panjab jail. Since March 2023, WPD members have been detained in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail. In the gathering, a man allegedly from a national security agency was roughed up for filming the proceedings. Sukhchain Singh, uncle of Amritpal Singh, refuted the reports. In February this year, Amritpal and associates went on a hunger strike (with water allowed) over the same demand. Three of his associates had taken ill and been hospitalized (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Updates). Two days later, the Panjab govt. informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that fresh orders are being passed concerning the National Security Act (NSA). Under the NSA Act, the Indian govt. can detain individuals for up to 12 months without pressing charges. However, the operation of an NSA order is limited to one year, necessitating the issuance of fresh orders. On 21 Mar, on the Akal Takht’s directions, a delegation of five Sikhs met Amritpal Singh and nine other detainees at Dibrugarh jail. The detainees ended their hunger strike with traditional offerings brought from Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) by delegation members. It is strange that for a whole year the government has not been able to press charges on the WPD members and now even their request for transfer to a Panjab jail has been turned down. Dibrugarh is 2,750 kms from Amritsar and the travel by families of WPD members has been expensive and time consuming.

Haryana-based media house the Gaon Savera Trust has filed a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) challenging the alleged withholding of its X and YouTube accounts. Journalist-Editor Mandeep Singh has stated this was retribution for covering the Farmers' Protest. As per the plea, the accounts were blocked on the request of the Indian govt., citing national security and public order concerns. The petitioners submitted that on 16 Feb, their X and YouTube accounts were withheld for disseminating information on the ongoing Farmers' Protest. A notice was sent by X stating that the accounts have been withheld on ‘legal removal demand’ from the Indian govt. claiming the content violates the Information Technology Act, 2000. The govt. has shut down over 100 social media handles. (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Story 4). While the Trust has gone ahead with its case, the other activists and journalists whose accounts have been banned on X plan to file another petition just for the X handles. As the Farmers’ Protest enters Day 42, the farmers stand resilient on the Panjab and Haryana interstate borders at Shambu, Khanauri, and now Dabwali. Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) presented their 2023-24 annual report at the start of a three-day meeting of All-India Pratinidhi Sabha. The RSS’ highest decision-making body in Nagpur said separatist tendencies were raising their head in Panjab under the garb of the farmers’ agitation and flagged ‘disruptive tendencies at play in Panjab and Haryana.’ It said, ‘Especially in Punjab, attempts are being made to spread anarchy just two months before the General Elections.’

In the upcoming Indian General elections, Panjab goes to polls on 1 Jun. Panjab has 21.2M eligible voters, including 5,195 centenarian voters and 0.49M first-time voters in the 18-19 age-group. In the last five years since the 2019 parliamentary elections, there has been an increase of 94,891 (first-time) voters. In 2019, 4,654 voters were of 100 years and above. This time, 85-years plus voters, including centenarians, have seen an increase from 175K in 2019 to 190K. The final electoral rolls have been published based on the data till 1 Mar; the Election Commission of India (ECI) will continue to update the rolls until 10 days before the last day of filing nominations on 14 May. On 21 Mar, the ECI ordered the transfer of Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of five districts in Panjab. Bathinda SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill is the brother of INC MP from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, Jasbir Singh Gill (Dimpa). SSPs from Fazilka, Jalandhar (Rural), Pathankot, and Malerkotla were also changed owing to their kinship with elected representatives. The ECI has decided 2,416 polling stations, at least 10% of the total 24,433 polling stations in Panjab, are critical and would warrant extra security measures. It is not clear why these polling stations have been declared critical. Panjab Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said the objective of Is Vaar 70 Paar (Over 70% voter turnout). Sibin informed that the election commission has removed 24,433 wall writings, 15,653 posters, 7,511 banners, and 23,916 defacements of property in the state since the imposition of the model code of conduct.

Every year on the onset of summer, the Panjab Canal Irrigation Department stops water supply in the Sirhind Canal which provides water to about 15 canals of the region — Faridkot, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Muktsar, and Fazilka. The canal is closed for about four weeks at the end of March. This year, without giving prior notice, the canal has been closed since 15 Mar for the department to carry out relining work on a 14-km patch of Sirhind feeder from Gurdittawala head to Faridkot. This has caused difficulties for farmers. On 18 Mar, farmers from Fazilka, protesting at the end point of Sukhchain Minor Canal announced they would jump into Gang Canal in Rajasthan to vent their anger. They were detained by cops and taken to the nearest police station, but were released later same day. Sukhchain Minor starts from Lambi area of Muktsar and it goes till Abohar (Fazilka). It too is closed for relining work. There has been no water supply in it for more than six weeks now and the closure of Sirhind feeder canal has only added to the woes of farmers. Farmers are also upset over AAP MLA Amandeep Singh Goldy Musafir on 17 Mar calling them ‘defaulters and blackmailers’ when they questioned the legislator on the shortage of water at an ongoing public function in Bahavwala village, Fazilka district. Farmers say these issues and the fact that the last monsoon Panjab flooded four times but did not release excess water in the Ganga Canal will put the AAP on the back foot when their leaders go for election campaigns in Malwa districts of Panjab, especially the constituencies of Bathinda and Ferozepur. 

After late singer Sidhu Moose Wala's parents had a second son last week, the Indian government has pointed out the age limit for conceiving a child via In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) method. The health ministry letter said, ‘Under the Section 21(g) of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, the age limit prescribed for a woman going under ART services is between 21-50 years and 21-55 years for men.’ The singer's father, Balkaur Singh, said he has followed all legal requirements and will produce all the documents. AAP responded by reacting to the health ministry letter on X. ‘The Central Govt. has sought a report from Govt. of Panjab regarding IVF treatment of Smt. Charan Singh. CM Bhagwant Mann always respects the sentiments and dignity of Panjabis. It is the Central Govt. that has asked for the documents!’ The Panjab govt. has now issued a show cause notice to the State Principal Health Secretary on how he can seek response from the family without bringing it to the attention of the CM or state Health Minister. Advocate HS Phooka has opined on X, ‘Governments have no power to question any couple. Under Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2021 conditions apply only to Clinics.’ The doctor asks, ‘Moosewala’s mother came to me when she was pregnant, how could I have denied her treatment?’ The family has named the baby Shubhdeep after the late singer, their first son. The baby arrived home and the father has urged people to wait for a few days to meet the newborn. Last week the late singer, the baby, and the father were featured on the Times Square billboard. (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 12, Story 10).

In 2012 an advertisement appeared in Panjab newspapers about the availability of farmland in Georgia. Many from Panjab, seeking opportunities abroad, discovered the vast stretches of affordable farmland in Tsnori and other parts of the country. Now, after over a decade, Tsnori bears the testimony of Panjab farmers’ brave effort, sowing the seeds of a change in this distant land and going on to inspire local farmers to do the same. Tsnori is now home to around 30 farmers from Panjab, who cultivate mainly wheat and barley on around 4,000 hectares. In other parts of Georgia, Panjab farmers are also cultivating sunflower, maize, and vegetables. Tarlok Singh Khaira from Panjab’s Deharka village in Ludhiana district shuttles between Deharka and Tsnori, farming at both places. Tarlok has been cultivating wheat on 50 hectares (around 125 acres) he purchased in November 2012 along with his relative Surjit Singh Gill of Mansur Deva village in Faridkot district. Gurpreet Singh Brar, from Faridkot bought 47 hectares in Tsnori the same year. He has been growing wheat since then. Brar said after seeing them working in the fields, many local farmers in Tsnori resumed farming on the fields lying uncultivated. ‘And those who had sold their land to Punjab farmers started asking them if they could sell back their land to them.’ Tsnori is located in the Kakheti region of Georgia, which was part of the erstwhile USSR. Kakheti accounts for 40.1% of Georgia’s farmland. Kakheti is also Georgia’s wine region; vineyards have been grown for the past 8,000 years. Panjab farmers say now they have learned basic Georgian and feel at home in the picturesque Caucasus region.