- Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said in a video, ‘Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and Canadian Constitution. Your destination is India. Leave Canada, go to India.’
By: Shubham Ghosh
AMID India’s diplomatic row with Canada over the killing of Khalistan separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June, firebrand Sikh secessionist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has threatened Indo-Canadian Hindus to return to India.
In a video that went viral in the middle of the New Delhi-Ottawa diplomatic tussle that also saw expulsion of diplomats by both sides, Pannun, leader of the banned pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), was heard saying, “Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and Canadian Constitution. Your destination is India. Leave Canada, go to India.”
Too clever by half, this Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. He knows how to threaten without getting into trouble.
Pannu is a US citizen. Rather than threatening Canadian Hindus, he should threaten Hindus in USA, asking them to get out of America. Now, wouldn’t that be something?
But… pic.twitter.com/22oEjcnkKD
— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) September 20, 2023
“Pro-Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada. They have always sided with Canada and they have always upheld the laws and the Constitution,” Pannun, who hails from the northern Indian state of Punjab and is based in the US and Canada, added.
Pannun’s words come just days after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of having “potential link” to the murder of Nijjar outside a gurdwara.
India rejected the claims, calling them “absurd” and “motivated” and retaliated by giving marching orders to a senior Canadian diplomat in India after the Trudeau government expelled an Indian diplomat in Canada who it identified as an intelligence officer.
The SFJ leader also urged all Canadian Sikhs to assemble in the Canadian city of Vancouver on October 29 for a referendum to vote on whether Indian high commissioner to the North American country Sanjay Verma was behind Nijjar’s murder.
There have been instances of Khalistani groups holding referendums in Canada and India has expressed concerns over it repeatedly and raised it with Ottawa. Pro-Khalistan leaders have also issued open threats to Indian diplomats. There was also an instance in June where the 1984 assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was ‘celebrated’ by the Khalistan activists.
A week ago, Pannun threatened Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and some other top leaders such as home minister Amit Shah and external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
In a video, the secessionist leader addressed G20 nations that met in New Delhi for the leaders’ summit saying while they met, a Khalistan referendum would be held in Canada.
