Targeting Amritpal Singh is a good sign, but what about those Canada shields

The Khalistan movement has been active for several years now. While the operations in India are essential, what about those who are being protected on foreign soil?

The crackdown on radical Sikh leader, Amritpal Singh may have begun, but it is equally important to reign in those who are spreading the Khalistan movement from abroad.

The Punjab police has launched a major search operation for Amritpal Singh and while it does so, the likes of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the terrorist heading the proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) continues to issue threats from abroad.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that the situation is dangerous. The radical Sikhs with the help or at the behest of the ISI have upped the ante. While Amritpal may be mobilising people on the streets, it is the online propaganda which remains highly dangerous.

The likes of Pannun have been fanning sentiments from abroad and even in his latest message, he raked up the farmers' protest and said that the Union Government is responsible for the death of so many people.

Pannun has been using SIM boxes to issue these threats. On March 8, scores of people in Gujarat received recorded audio notes from Pannun. In this message he threatened that the Narendra Modi cricket stadium in Gujarat would be blown up.

The official cited above said that countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom have been slow to react. They are not understanding the gravity of the situation. The movement will be quelled in India and there is no doubt about it. However, for these countries the situation will turn extremely dangerous as such groups will soon spiral out of control as they will become desperate. One is already witnessing incidents in Australia and other countries, where these radical Sikhs have turned violent, the official explained.

Every time India has raised the issue with these countries, Canada in particular, the administration has cited freedom of speech. It is actually quite surprising that these elements are having a free run in the name of freedom of speech. Under this garb, these elements have targeted Hindu Temples. The basic target in recent times have been the Hindus abroad and this is clearly what the ISI has been coaching them to do. While Khalistan is one part of the problem, the main agenda of the ISI has been to attack Hindus, another official explained.

The ISI's script is working perfectly as foreign nations have been slow to react. These countries need to understand that their soil is being used to carry out anti-India activities. Murders, terror strikes have been orchestrated from these foreign lands, and yet they are slow to react. India has had a very uncomfortable relationship with Canada, owing to this problem.

Further the raids by the National Investigation Agency in recent times have found that gangsters settled in Canada are being used by the ISI to carry out attacks in India. They are picking up locals, paying them well and undertaking these attacks. For the ISI, the motive is being achieved and the use of local gangsters gives the Pakistan spy agency the deniability factor as well.

Following the raids, an NIA spokesperson said, "it had emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was also engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware such as arms, ammunition, explosives, IEDs across border through a widespread inter-state network of gunrunners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers."