In a dossier to Pakistan, India has mentioned nearly 30 instances in the past four years when Sikh pilgrims visiting the neighbouring country were subjected to “anti-India propaganda” such as espousing the Khalistani cause.
The 23-page dossier was handed over to the Pakistani delegation during the Kartarpur corridor talks held at Wagah last week.
Gopal Singh Chawla, a key “Khalistani element”, instigated the Sikh community to support Kashmiris for the formation of “Azad Kashmir”, says the dossier accessed by The Hindu .
In April, Chawla, president of the Punjabi Sikh Sangat (PSS), “raised the demand of liberation of Punjab and Kashmir from India” during a function at Panja Sahib in Pakistan’s Attock where Indian pilgrims were present, the dossier says.
The dossier contains a photograph of Chawla with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed.
Under a 1974 bilateral protocol, four Sikh jathas visit important gurdwaras in Pakistan every year. The Kartarpur corridor will link two revered Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan and is expected to be operational before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November.
India said that Chawla was a well-known “Khalistani element who often spews venom against India in his speeches and supports militancy in Punjab”. The paper also contained a “pictorial catalogue of his anti-India activities on social media”.
Facebook evidence
Eleven photographs culled out from Mr. Chawla’s Facebook account include posters of J.S. Bhindranwale, a Sikh separatist killed in 1984 during the anti-Sikh militancy raids in Amritsar, and “Referendum 2020”.
Jagroop Singh Rupa, who went with a jatha to Pakistan in 2016, was imparted arms training by two fugitive Sikh militants Lakhbir Singh Rode and Harmeet Singh, alias PhD, to “carry out terror attacks in India.” India said the recently banned Sikhs for Justice was given a free hand to promote secessionism during visits of pilgrims.
In 2016, Sardar Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Harmony, while addressing a function at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, “eulogised Burhan Wani a Kashmiri militant and alleged that the Sikhs and Kashmiris are treated like ‘slaves’ by the Indian government,” India said.
In 2016, “attempts were made to instigate the Sikh pilgrims against the Indian Government over the issues like demonetisation of Indian currency.”
It also mentioned names of others like Tara Singh, Bishan Singh and Maninder Singh were named in the dossier for displaying Khalistani propaganda and leading a protest against India at Wagah border in July 2017.
A page of the Indian dossier that was handed over to Pakistan during a bilateral meeting on Kartarpur Corridor, which was held at Wagah on July 14, 2019.
In 2018, U.K and U.S based pro-Khalistani elements Avtar Singh Sanghera and Pritpal Singh were allowed to campaign openly for Khalistan at Panja Sahi Gurudwara in Attock.
In 2017, another U.K based pro-Khalistan element Manmohan Singh Bajaj. was allowed to address the gathering at Gurdwara Panja Sahib where he raised pro-Khalistan slogans, and unequivocally stated that he was fighting for the cause of Khalistan, the dossier said.
Published - July 18, 2019 10:29 pm IST
