Farmer Leader Baldev Singh Sirsa Summoned By NIA In Connection With Case Against Khalistani Outfit's Chief

Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society (LBIWS) President Baldev Singh Sirsa has been summoned by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) in connection with a case filed against Khalistani outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) leader Gutpatwant Singh Pannu, reports Indian Express.

The LBIWS has been one of the leading parties in ongoing negotiations with the government over the recently enacted farm laws.

Birsa has been asked to appear at the NIA Headquarters in New Delhi on 17 January for questioning in the case against Pannu for the alleged conspiracy to create an “atmosphere of fear and lawlessness and to cause disaffection in people and to incite them towards rising in rebellion against the Government of India.”

However, Sirsa alleged that the Central government first tried to derail the farmers' protests through the Supreme Court and is now using the anti-terror probe agency to do the same.

It should be noted that Attorney General KK Venugopal had on Tuesday (12 January) informed the apex court that the government was apprised of Khalistani elements infiltrating the protests near the national capital.

Several activists have been issued summons by the NIA to answer certain questions pertaining to the case against Pannu that falls under different sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Sirsa claims that the government is trying to ‘terrorize’ people working for the farmers. However, he said that they will be undeterred by these summons and will refuse to ‘bend’.

“The NIA is working day and night to scuttle the kisan parade on January 26. The Government is bent on defaming the protest,” the LBIWS chief alleged.

On the other hand, the central investigative agency has made some telling claims against the SFJ in its FIR. “Huge funds are being collected abroad for on-ground campaigns and propaganda against the Government of India including staging demonstrations outside Indian missions in countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Germany and so forth,” the FIR says.

It is further alleged that these funds are transferred to the pro-Khalistani elements in the country through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to undertake terrorist activities in India. The FIR even states that the SFJ’s leadership plans to trigger large-scale disruptive activities to hamper the supplies of essential services to the citizens and to damage the government along with private properties.

“SFJ and other pro-Khalistani elements involved in this conspiracy, through their incessant social media campaign and otherwise, are radicalizing and recruiting impressionable youth to agitate and undertake terrorist acts for the creation of a separate nation of Khalistan,” Indian Express quoted the FIR.