Khalistani terrorist Pannun says India planning to kill him the way US eliminated Qassem Soleimani
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has claimed that he is still being targeted, hinting towards the Indian government, even as New Delhi conducts investigation into the alleged "assassination plot" claim made by the US security agencies.Pannun added that New Delhi may have been planning to kill him in the wayIranian general Qassem Soleimani was eliminated.
In a phone interview with theGuardian, Pannun, a Sikh-American, designated a terrorist by India, said he is getting hundreds of threats a day.
“They want me dead. I know that because I am organising a Khalistan referendum to liberate Punjab from the Indian occupation,” said Pannun.
Pannun, who leads the proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) organisation said he is being compared on social media posts with Soleimani who was killed in an airstrike, ordered by former president Donald Trump.
“They are saying if the US can kill him, why can’t India kill me?” he added.
Pannun has been harbouring dreams of balkanisation of the northern Indian state of Punjab. He has been the driving force behind several failed referendums outside India for the Khalistani cause. On numerous occasions, he has threatened terrorist attacks on India, including on the Indian Parliament.
Despite his flagrant anarchy plans regarding India, the US has provided a safe haven to him and the Khalistani terrorist has been spewing venom from there.
Last month, US media reports claimed that Washington had thwarted a plot to kill Pannun, allegedly at the behest of the Indian government.
Afterwards, the Justice Department said an Indian man, identified as Nikhil Gupta, arrested by Czech authorities in June, who worked with an Indian government employee was behind the killing plot,
"The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a US citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs," Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement.
Since Washington first levelled the accusations, the relations between the two countries have seemingly taken a hit. Earlier this month, it was reported that President Joe Biden will not take up Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to attend the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi next month.
Additionally, Biden's refusal means that the highly-anticipated Quad Summit will have to be pushed which was previously scheduled on January 27.
The allegations by the US came in the backdrop of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming he had 'credible allegations' that New Delhi was involved in the killing of Khalistani leader named Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
After Trudeau's allegations concerning Nijjar, diplomatic animosity reached a tipping point between the two nations, with a series of mutual expulsions of diplomats taking place.
(With inputs from agencies)