U.S. free-speech poster boy Pannun involved in violent subversion against India

SF] operatives based in the US have been involved in the assault of moderate Sikh political leaders visiting that country.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

India’s highest decision-making body on security affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security, comprising the Prime Minister of India, Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Minister of External Affairs, thoroughly reviewed a dossier presented by security agencies containing detailed allegations, acts, and evidence against the Khalistani terrorist group Sikhs for Justice and its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Following this review, the group was eventually banned in July 2019 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Despite being given a chance to rebut the charges that were levelled, Pannun, his brother Avtar Singh Pannun and the SFJ chose not to appear before the court even as they were represented by a team of well-established lawyers in Delhi.

These developments assume significance as the Joe Biden administration in the United States—where Pannun is a citizen—has been defending him and his actions, directly and indirectly, by stating that he was not espousing terrorism against India but merely exercising his freedom of speech and expressions.

The material placed on record by the security agencies in front of the CCS, included transcripts, sensitive information, affidavits and statements that were given by officials and people involved with the probe bringing out how SFJ and Pannun were involved in anti-national and subversive activities in Punjab and elsewhere, to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.

These documents and inputs, that were also judicially scrutinized by a UAPA tribunal later