SFJ's Pannun takes a u-turn, says never claimed to ‘bomb’ Air India, only called for ‘boycott’

Placing the onus for his protection on the Biden administration, Sikhs for Justice chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been designated as a terrorist in India, alleged that the Indian government wants to kill him because he is running the global Khalistan referendum voting campaign.

“It is a challenge to American sovereignty. It is a threat to freedom of speech and democracy in America itself. But I will let US authorities speak more on this,” Pannun said, in an interview to TIME. 

The United States had last week shared with India inputs related to the nexus between terrorists, gun runners and organised criminals which relevant departments were examining after it was reported by the Financial Times that a plot to kill Pannun on US soil was thwarted by American authorities. 

Speaking about whether he has angered Indian officials by warning Sikhs not to fly on Air India since it would be “life-threatening”, Pannun in the interview said, "I was saying ‘boycott’ Air India, but the whole Indian narrative shifted to ‘bomb’ Air India. Somebody has to be a zombie to not differentiate between boycotting and bombing.”

Also read: India reacts to western media reports of US intel on Pannun's assassination plot

Earlier this month, Pannun had faced charges of terrorism and conspiracy charges for posting the video through which he threatened people against boarding Air India. 

In the interview with TIME, Pannun said, “So they cannot afford for me to be alive as I have achieved a narrative. I'm able to educate, and peacefully and democratically challenge India's narrative of terror and terrorism. There are reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the US Department of State in 1994, and other agencies about what transpired between 1984 to 1995. But we haven’t had a peaceful and democratic resolution to the contentious issue that has never been asked since 1950: should Punjab be an independent country? It was never asked of the people of Punjab in 1947, nor has it ever been put up on a ballot.”

“We are going to open this question up through the Khalistan referendum voter registration in Punjab on January 26, 2024,” he added. 

Speaking about the intelligence reports that suggested Biden holding a discussion with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit about potential role of India in an assassination plot which was targeting him, Pannun said, “I will say that on this particular question, and this is my official statement, the Indian government and the Modi regime want to kill me, they want to eliminate me for running the global Khalistan referendum voting campaign."

“I have seen how the Indian government wanted to eliminate civil disobedience during Operation Blue Star. So I decided I was going to use international laws to hold individuals accountable," he said.

This came two months after Canada said they had “credible” allegations which linked Indian agents to the killing of another Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver. The charges were denied by New Delhi and the issue further escalated diplomatic tensions between the two nations.