Terrorists’ threat to CM, DGP: Punjab BJP chief urges MEA to act

In the wake of a video release by Sikh for justice chief and terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, wherein he seemingly issued death threats against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, the state BJP has called upon the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to urgently address the matter with the United States.

In the video circulated on Tuesday, Pannu drew parallels between Chief Minister Mann and the late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated by Sikh terrorists in 1995. Pannu called on gangsters to unite and prevent Mann from hoisting the Tricolour on Republic Day.

Punjab BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar took to social media, urging Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to engage with the US administration swiftly, seeking action against Pannun, who holds dual Canadian-American citizenship, in light of the threats. While Punjab Police has heightened security measures for the Chief Minister, Mann, in an interview with a news channel on Tuesday, expressed that he did not take such threats seriously.

This latest threat from Pannu coincides with ongoing US investigations into an alleged plot to kill him. The indictment filed in a US court has implicated an unnamed “Indian government employee.”

Pannu, designated as a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), routinely issues threats concerning India and its leaders. In another video released on Tuesday, he asserted that his organization, the banned ‘Sikhs for Justice,’ would raise the Khalistani flag on India’s Republic Day. Pannu also challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to Delhi without security on Republic Day, vowing to avenge the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force in Canada last year.

Pannun’s recent series of threats include declaring a “Khalistan Mission 2024” earlier this month, targeting the Bombay Stock Exchange on 12 March 2024, asking Indian Muslims to oppose the “Ram Mandir ceremony,” and criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron for allegedly supporting Prime Minister Modi. Last month, Pannun released a video threatening to “shake the very foundation of Parliament” on the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack, and in November, he issued threats against Air India. The escalating situation underscores the complex challenges faced by authorities in dealing with extremist elements posing threats to national security.