LONDON: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's truthful statement in Washington DC acknowledging that Sikhs face an existential threat in India will serve as a catalyst for Sikhs For Justice's (SFJ) Khalistan referendum campaign and amplify and strengthen support for Punjab's independence, the group's general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said.
Pannun said that Hindutva extremist groups like BJP, RSS and Jana Sangh members, who are condemning Gandhi for acknowledging the facts, are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan.
Gandhi also briefed Congress members about the persecution faced by Sikhs in Modi's India, he said.
Pannun said in a statement: “Gandhi’s statement not only justifies the Khalistan referendum for Punjab’s independence, but also reflects an understanding on the part of the Congress party, the leader of the opposition, that Punjab is on the verge of seceding from the Union of India to become an independent Sikh country, a new neighbour of Pakistan and India.”
“That is why the opposition leader has launched a diplomatic initiative to strengthen ties with the future neighbour, Khalistan. Gandhi has signalled to the US that the Congress party has accepted Punjab as an independent country because the Sikhs face an existential threat in Modi's India,” he added.
The New York-based lawyer said: “These BJP, RSS and Jana Sangh leaders like Manjinder Sirsa and Iqbal Lalpura are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan and they will be held accountable. Prime Minister Modi, it is high time you realise that the people of Punjab are seeking independence from the Union of India through the comprehensive Khalistan referendum.”
Pannun was referring to Gandhi's speech at a gathering of Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on September 9 this year, in which the Congress leader accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of considering some religions, languages and communities inferior to others and said that the struggle in India is about this and not about politics.
Asked to name a turbaned person at the meeting, Gandhi said: “The struggle is about whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, will be allowed to go to a gurdwara. That is what the struggle is about. And not only for him, but for all religions.”
