India's Envoy Visits New York Gurdwara, Khalistan Supporters Heckle Him

On 26 Nov, India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, offered prayers at a Gurdwara in Long Island, New York on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. His visit came in the wake of the Financial Times report that – at that point – an unspecified while back US authorities thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate Pannu on American soil and issued a warning to India’s government over concerns that it was involved in the plot. On his visit, Sandhu was accompanied by the Consul General in New York Randhir Jaiswal and Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph. Jeph highlighted the growth in the India-US partnership, whether in the healthcare, energy, IT, new emerging technologies, semiconductor, or education sectors. However, most Sikhs in the US work in trucking, taxi services, petrol pumps, motels, security, and other blue-collar jobs. This reveals the gap between the elite Sikhs and ordinary Sikhs. On Sandhu’s visit, a group of Khalistani supporters heckled him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community. These hecklers were raising the issue of Pannu being targeted. This affected the decorum of the Gurdwara. However, later developments – the US bringing charges against Nikhil Gupta – show us that what the hecklers were saying was not wrong, though their method could have been better. Meanwhile, Indian media went on to propagate that Sikhs for Justice had fabricated the heckling video. The next day, former US President Trump-aligned group Sikhs of America issued a statement saying ‘Gurdwaras are places of worship and should be free from personal political views.’ Perhaps they forget that being principled in both spiritual and political struggles is part of the foundation of the Sikh religion.