On 16 Jan, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) threatened to assassinate Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Director General Police Gaurav Yadav on Republic Day – 26 Jan. Pannun issued the threat in a video message where he also challenged PM Narendra Modi to participate in the Republic Day function without security cover. He allegedly said, ‘I dare Modi, if you are a popular leader, come to Delhi on Republic Day without security. The SFJ will raise the Khalistani flag and avenge the killing of Shaheed Nijjar.’ Pannun also asked gangsters not to allow CM Mann to unfurl the Indian tricolor in Ludhiana on Republic Day. He said that Mann was a ‘butcher like Beant Singh,’ the former chief minister who was killed in a bomb attack. Pannun said Panjab’s youth were being branded as gangsters and killed in fake encounters. He asked the youth to get in touch with him and register themselves as voters for a referendum on Khalistan on 26 Jan. The next day, CM Mann said such threats are an outcome of their zero-tolerance policy against anti-Panjab forces and that efforts are on to bring back criminals involved in anti-national activities from safe havens abroad to punish them. The statement shows how the AAP government and the Center are aligned in their approach towards Panjab. In a repeat of earlier such instances, Delhi Police found pro-Khalistan graffiti on a wall in West Delhi's Uttam Nagar. Like earlier, a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed but there seems to be no effort to investigate the matter.
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