New Delhi, January 20: The leader of pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has warned that the Chief Ministers of Delhi and Punjab will face a "political death" if his associates were not released by next month. Pannun's threat comes hours after the arrest of Jagdish Singh, Manjeet Singh and Davinder Singh, all residents of Rajpura, by the State Special Operation Cell of Punjab Police on Friday.
In a video message shared on Saturday, Pannun claimed that the three youths worked directly with the SFJ for Khalistan Referendum voter registration that is due to start on January 26. He warned that Delhi and Punjab Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, respectively, will face the wrath of Sikhs who helped their Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to win in Punjab.
"Kejriwal-Mann duo will face 'political death' if the three pro-Khalistan Sikhs are not released by February 15... they will face the wrath of Sikhs who helped AAP to win Punjab," SFJ's legal counsel Pannun said, speaking in Punjabi.
He claimed that the two AAP leaders collected donations to the tune of $6 million from Khalistan supporters in the US and Canada with an understanding that they will not intervene in their activities in Punjab.
He further accused Kejriwal of coercing Mann to follow the path of Beant Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 to 1995, who was assassinated by Khalistan separatist group, Babbar Khalsa International on August 31, 1995.
"Kejriwal-Mann duo must not forget August 31, 1995, the consequence they will face for ātorturingā pro-Khalistan Sikhs," Pannun, declared a designated terrorist in 2020 by India, said. Threatening to assassinate Mann again, he said that "hands that hold the Khalistan flag will not shy away from holding rocket launchers".
Reacting to a January 16 video in which Pannun urged gangsters to unite for an attack on Mann and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, the Punjab Chief Minister said he doesn't take these threats seriously.
Meanwhile, the three arrested men told police that Pannun had asked them to raise the Khalistan flag and spray paint walls with pro-Khalistan graffitti ahead of Republic Day. Pannun said that his three associates have not been given any arms, only the Khalistan referendum flag.
Pannun, wanted in nearly two dozen cases, including some of terrorism and sedition in India, recently called for shutdown of airports from Amritsar to Ayodhya ahead of the January 22 Ram temple Pran Pratishtha ceremony. In addition, he exhorted Muslims in the country to "oppose" the ceremony, and urged them to carve out āUrduistanā from India.
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