- Friday, December 27, 2024
For many, the threat was seen as a veiled one to repeat the 1985 bombing of India-bound Air India flight ‘Kanishka’ from Canada above the Atlantic Ocean that resulted in deaths of all 329 people on board.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA will demand enhanced security and raise the threat issued by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of Canada-based terror outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), against Air India flights operating to and from the North American country on and after November 19, with authorities in Ottawa.
According to a report by India’s Hindustan Times, the Indian high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, told the newspaper that they would take up the threat against Air India flights going to Canada and originating from it, with the country’s concerned officials.
Pannun, designated as a terrorist in India, released a video message on Saturday (4) asking Sikhs to avoid flying in Air India flights after November 19 saying doing so could put their lives in danger.
“Sikh people, don’t travel by Air India after November 19. Your life can be in danger,” Pannun said in the video as reported by news agency Asian News International. India Weekly could not verify the veracity of the video.
For many, the threat was seen as a veiled one to repeat the 1985 bombing of India-bound Air India flight ‘Kanishka’ from Canada above the Atlantic Ocean that resulted in deaths of all 329 people on board.
Pannun also said that Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport should remain closed on November 19, adding that it was his warning to the Indian government.
He said the final of the ongoing 50-over cricket World Cup in India will be played on the same date and it will be then that the world will be shown that India had carried out a genocide of Sikhs. He said when Punjab, the Indian state which is home to Sikhs, will be liberated, the airports will be named after Shahid Beant Singh and Shahid Satwant Singh.
They were the assassins of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Pannun has threatened the World Cup in India earlier as well. A week before the tournament kicked off on October 5, he had said in a pre-recorded audio that the world cricket cup will be known as the World Terror Cup from October.
