Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun issued a warning on Monday, asking passengers not to fly with Air India from November 1 to 19. According to him, this was because there may have been an attack on an Air India flight in that period, which is the “40th anniversary of the Sikh genocide.”
Pannun, who has dual citizenship in both Canada and the US, is the founder of Sikhs for Justice. Around this time last year, he had issued such a warning. His latest warning comes amidst bomb threat calls received by several airlines in India, all of which were later confirmed to be hoaxes.
The timing of all this is hardly a coincidence, coming as it does when diplomatic relations between India and Canada have been seeing some tense moments in the wake of allegations by Canada against India’s actions to eliminate Khalistani elements, including the murder of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In the video released in November 2023, Pannun claimed that the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi would be renamed and remain closed on November 19, cautioning against flying on Air India that day. The National Investigation Agency booked him under charges of criminal conspiracy, promotion of religious hostility, and other offenses under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Pannun has a history of issuing threats. Last December, he issued a warning of a possible attack on Parliament around December 13, the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the building in 2001. He had also threatened to kill Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Director General of State Police Gaurav Yadav on Republic Day this year and called upon the gangsters to unite against Mann.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had declared him a terrorist since July 2020 under sedition and secessionism. Pannun heads the SFJ, an outspoken proponent of the cause of an independent Sikh state. India declared SFJ an “unlawful association” in 2019 over its engagement in “anti-national and subversive” activities.
In a related development, on October 17, the US charged a former officer of India’s RAW for allegedly masterminding the foiled plot to kill Pannun, a charge New Delhi has strongly denied as unfounded.
