Ministry Of Home Affairs Extends Ban On Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's Sikhs For Justice, Cites Threat To Unity And Integrity

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to continue the ban on Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), for an additional five years. The terror outfit was initially banned in 2019.

According to a report from Hindustan Times, SFJ has been implicated in anti-national and subversive activities in Punjab, with the intention of disrupting India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a notification, the MHA stated that SFJ has been involved in activities that are “prejudicial to the internal security of India and public order.” The ministry further added that SFJ's actions have the “potential of disrupting peace, unity, and integrity of the country.”

The SFJ has also been accused of “being in close touch with militant outfits and activists, and of supporting violent extremism and militancy in Punjab and elsewhere to carve out a sovereign Khalistan from the territory of India.”

The Centre expressed the opinion that if the “unlawful activities of SFJ” are not immediately controlled, the pro-Khalistani outfit will escalate its “subversive activities including attempts to carve out Khalistan Nation out of the territory of Union of India by destabilising the Government established by law."

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was designated as a terrorist by the Centre in 2020. He is one of the founders of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and actively lobbies for a separate state for Sikhs, referred to as Khalistan, in the US, Canada of whom he holds dual citizenship.