Sikhs for Justice which backs Khalistan terror declared unlawful entity

New Delhi, July 10: The Sikhs for Justice, a group sympathetic towards the Khalistan movement has been declared as an unlawful association.

The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet after several reports by the security agencies making it clear that the outfit was openly backing the Khalistan movement.

In the past few years there have been a spate of incidents being reported from Punjab in the past couple of months, which have led to an uneasy sense of calm. It began with the Referendum 2020, which led to several modules being busted.

In this context, one would need to look at the role that is being played by the Sikhs for Justice, a pro-Khalistan front which works in Canada, Europe and the United States. This was the same organisation that promoted the London Declaration of the Referendum 2020, which was backed and funded by the ISI.

While the London Declaration event did not gain the traction that it would have hoped to, the fresh worry now is a programme that is being organised by the SJF. Reports state that the SJF is planning to fund the visit of nearly a lakh Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, which falls next year.

The worry for the agencies is that the ISI would try and propagate among the pilgrims the need for a pro Khalistan movement. The ISI would also look to evoke sentiments, the agencies believe.

The agencies also feel that the ISI and its agents would go all out to whip up passions.

This becomes necessary for both the ISI and pro-Khalistan groups as the movement has failed to generate any great mass support. While on one hand, the ISI could build a terror infrastructure, they realise that no movement would take off as desired unless and until there is mass support and sympathy among the people. In this context, all efforts would be made to utilise the pilgrimage to Pakistan, an Intelligence Bureau officer informed OneIndia.

On the other hand in December 2018, a meet at Nankana Sahib between some activists from the Sikh Community and the ISI came under the radar of the Indian security agencies. The meeting comes amidst a pilgrimage that the Sikhs for Justice has promised to sponsor.